With
Writer Michael Pollan turns his attention to psychedelic mushrooms and the new science of psychedelics. He joins us.
Guests:
Michael Pollan, journalist and author of: 鈥� : What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence鈥� ( )
From The Reading List:
Excerpt Of 鈥淗ow To Change Your Mind鈥�:
The New York Times: 鈥� 鈥� 鈥� 鈥淚f Pollan鈥檚 wide-ranging account has a central thesis, it鈥檚 that we鈥檙e still doing the hard work of rescuing the science of psychedelics from the 鈥榗ountercultural baggage鈥� of the 1960s. Timothy Leary and his tuning-in, dropping-out crowd so successfully branded the drugs as accouterments of hippie culture that in the mid-60s 鈥榯he exuberance surrounding these new drugs gave way to moral panic,鈥� and soon after that 鈥榯he whole project of psychedelic science had collapsed.鈥�
Before collapsing, though, that project discovered in psychedelics the same potential that scientists are exploring as they reclaim it today: possible help in treating addiction, anxiety and depression, and 鈥榚xistential distress鈥� 鈥� common in people 鈥榗onfronting a terminal diagnosis,鈥� which of course, broadly speaking, is all of us.鈥�
The New Yorker: 鈥� 鈥� 鈥淚 was struck by how the descriptions of psychedelic journeys differed from the typical accounts of dreams. For one thing, most people鈥檚 recall of their journey is not just vivid but comprehensive, the narratives they reconstruct seamless and fully accessible, even years later. They don鈥檛 regard these narratives as 鈥榡ust a dream,鈥� the evanescent products of fantasy or wish fulfillment, but, rather, as genuine and sturdy experiences. This is the 鈥榥oetic鈥� quality that students of mysticism often describe: the unmistakable sense that whatever has been learned or witnessed has the authority and the durability of objective truth. 鈥榊ou don鈥檛 get that on other drugs,鈥� as Roland Griffiths points out; after the fact, we鈥檙e fully aware of, and often embarrassed by, the inauthenticity of the drug experience.鈥�
Tune in, turn on, and鈥� maybe change your mind. Author Michael Pollan revisits psychedelic drugs, a mainstay of the counterculture in the 60鈥檚, long since fallen out of fashion. Turns out Timothy Leary may have been right about the therapeutic potential of these mind-bending drugs. Could magic mushrooms finally help people quit smoking? Could LSD be an effective treatment for depression, anxiety, or addiction?
This hour, On Point: Michael Pollan and his new book 鈥淗ow To Change Your Mind.鈥� (He might change yours.)
鈥� David Wright
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