Cover of How to Change Your Mind

Book · 2019 · Body, Mind & Spirit

How to Change Your Mind

What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence

by Michael Pollan · Recommended by 28 people on 18 podcasts

#40 of 15,601 books, ranked by how many different people bring it up on podcasts

mentions
53
people
28
podcasts
18
episodes
42
recommendations
19

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Michael Pollan's book How to Change Your Mind and then the Netflix series the four series of that has changed lots of people's minds.
Joe Rogan · The Joe Rogan Experience · Jun 2024 Listen at 2:04:04

What they say about it

Grouped from 53 mentions
  • Reads the book“read Michael Pollen's book”
    6
  • Praises as great book“great book by michael pollan”
    3
  • Discusses psychedelic research“what the new science of psychedelics teaches us”
    3

The best things said about it

6 of 53 · every mention
Recommended
How to change your mind by Michael pollen I have a number of copies of in part because I get so many questions about psychedelics and psychedelic assisted therapies is in the science and that's very very good primer.
Tim Ferriss Modern Wisdom · May 2024
Recommended
In 2018, I read Michael Pollan's book How to Change Your Mind. I went through it like a bag of peanuts.
Bob Parsons On Purpose with Jay Shetty · Apr 2023
Discussed
It was like I wasn't allowed in the industry until I'd read your book, right? How to Change Your Mind. It was that much of a pivotal book for my colleagues at the time.
Steven Bartlett The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett · Jul 2022
Discussed
You have Michael Pollan's great book on psychedelics, How to Change Your Mind.
Ezra Klein The Ezra Klein Show · May 2024
Discussed
I did what a lot of people did. I read the book How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan.
Sam Parr My First Million · Sep 2021
Recommended
Michael Pollan has an excellent book that came out this year about psychedelics called How to Change Your Mind which I recommend to everybody, just a wonderful read.
Robert Lamb Stuff They Don't Want You To Know · Jan 2025

Where and when it comes up

Mentions per year

Counted mentions by episode date. Our archive is deeper for recent years; 2026 so far.

How it comes up

Recommended means the speaker tells listeners to read it.

Most mentions, by podcast

Top 9 of 18 shows

28 people who brought it up

Most recommendations first

Also: Shaan Puri · Michael Pollan · Anna Lembke · Andrew Huberman · Bessel van der Kolk · Dr. Sanjay Gupta · Edward Slingerland · Ezra Klein · Gary Gulman · Gilbert Cruz · Jason Sudeikis · Kevin Ryan · Nir Eyal · Paul Stamets · Sam Parr · Steven Bartlett

Why people recommend it

How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan is a compelling non-fiction investigation into the history, science, and cultural renaissance of psychedelic substances like psilocybin and LSD in therapeutic settings. The book has been widely celebrated for shifting public perceptions. Kegan Gill credited the book on The Shawn Ryan Show with altering his perspective on psychedelic-assisted therapy. Joe Rogan praised the text on The Tim Ferriss Show and The Joe Rogan Experience, emphasizing its powerful role in changing minds and challenging cultural dogmas regarding altered states of consciousness. Tim Ferriss discussed the volume in depth during an appearance on EconTalk, highlighting the exploration of innovative mental health treatments. Robert Lamb recommended the read on Stuff They Don't Want You To Know, describing it as an exceptional examination of the ineffable aspects of human consciousness. Pamela Paul praised the volume on The Book Review as an extraordinarily persuasive piece of non-fiction. Across these discussions, speakers highlighted how Pollan's thorough research and accessible narrative style helped destigmatize the exploration of psychedelics and revolutionized modern conversations surrounding mental health treatment and neurological healing.

Every mention

53 counted mentions · 20 passing or ad reads below
Joe Rogan I think the uh Michael pollin's book how to change your mind and then the Netflix series the four series of… 7
Discussed
“Like, what is he talking about? He's running wrote a book about psychedelics called Change Your Mind? Like, what?”
Recommended
“I think that's the title of Michael Pollan's book, and it's a great way to describe it. Change your mind.”
Discussed
“I mean, you you've kind of explored consciousness a little bit with your psychedelic book, yeah. How to change your mind.”
Recommended
“I mean i think of michael pollan's but you had michael pollan on you know and and and how to change your mind”
Recommended
“I think the uh Michael pollin's book how to change your mind and then the Netflix series the four series of that has changed lots of people's minds”
Discussed
“Michael Pollan's book probably Michael Pollan's book was was the big bridge”
Recommended
“I'm reading this book now about speaking of changing your brain it's called how to change your mind”
Tim Ferriss ...maybe my first conversation with Michael Pollen, the author. Sure. Around his book, How to Change Your M… 5
Recommended
“...maybe my first conversation with Michael Pollen, the author. Sure. Around his book, How to Change Your Mind.”
Recommended
“how to change your mind by Michael pollen I have a number of copies of in part because I get so many questions about psychedelics and psychedelic assisted therapies is in the science and that's very very good primer”
Discussed
“He had just given the people at the dinner galleys of what would later be How to Change Your Mind. Oh, cool. Which is about the history of psychedelics and the potential of psychedelics therapeutics.”
Recommended
“And one first step there is to introduce them to How to Change Your Mind, the book by Michael Pollan.”
Discussed
“Speaking personally, because I at least as I recall it, you did not set out to have a quarter or a third of your book comprised of personal experiences. ‑ Uh but ‑ maybe it wasn't that high percentage, but it's a decent chunk.”
Pamela Paul um it's uh the Michael pollen um how to change your mind 7
Discussed
“Paul Michael pollen whose latest book is called how to change your mind what the new science of psychedelics teaches us about Consciousness dying addiction depression and Transcendence joins us now from Berkeley”
Discussed
“but you write in the book that psychedelics are being used or at least studied to be used in the treatment of depression”
Discussed
“and I thought perhaps you could tell us a little a little bit about one of your trips that you describe in the book and about how that connection sort of actually works when you when you're on psychedelics”
Recommended
“well it's an incredibly persuasive book”
Discussed
“Michael pollen is the author of how to change your mind what the new science of psychedelics teaches us about Consciousness dying addiction depression and Transcendence”
Discussed
“the other book that I thought of and there are shades of this in in his subtitle was how to change your mind by Michael pollen which came out a few years ago”
Recommended
“um it's uh the Michael pollen um how to change your mind”
Bob Parsons In 2018, I read Michael Pollan's book How to Change Your Mind. I I went through it like a bag of peanuts 3
Discussed
“I read um Michael Pollen's book, How to Change Your Mind.”
Recommended
“In 2018, I read Michael Pollan's book How to Change Your Mind. I I went through it like a bag of peanuts”
Discussed
“I read Michael Pollan's book, 'How to Change Your Mind.' I went through it like a bag of peanuts, and I told my wife, Renee—who is the love of my life—that I had never done psychedelics before in my life.”
Anil Seth I think Michael Pollan has done a good job in his book how to change your mind well if Aldous Huxley you kn… 2
Discussed
“I think Michael Pollan has done a good job in his book how to change your mind”
Recommended
“I think Michael Pollan has done a good job in his book how to change your mind well if Aldous Huxley you know if we have to call on one of the greatest wood Smiths of all time to try and tell us what he thinks and does a perception then yeah yeah it's it's hard”
Charles Hoskinson There's a great book called from Michael Pollan, How to Change Your Mind, where he was really the first jou… 2
Discussed
“So after I started noticing that, I read Michael Polland's book, you know, how to change your mind and he's a great guy and I said, 'Wow, there's a there there's something interesting.'”
Recommended
“There's a great book called from Michael Pollan, How to Change Your Mind, where he was really the first journalist in a long time to go and roll up his work his way through the Johns Hopkins studies.”
Jordan Harbinger the book how to change your mind will link to it in the show notes as well a lot of good stuff in here 2
Discussed
“I read Michael pollins how to change your mind a few years ago he was on the shows episode 81 by the way and he's I was left with the impression that psychedelics are largely the cure for a lot of this stuff or could be what do you think of substances like LSD camine”
Recommended
“the book how to change your mind will link to it in the show notes as well a lot of good stuff in here”
Robert Lamb Michael pollen has an excellent book that came out this year about psychedelics called how to change your m… 2
Recommended
“Michael pollen has an excellent book that came out this year about psychedelics called how to change your mind which which I recommend to everybody just just a wonderful read”
Discussed
“Michael pollen talks about this in his book a little bit where he actually shops around for the right people to go to to have this experience”
Dan Murray-Serter there's a great book by michael pollan called um how to change your mind and in it he talks about this prob… 1
Recommended
“there's a great book by michael pollan called um how to change your mind and in it he talks about this problem with psychedelics”
Graham Hancock well uh michael pollan who uh later in life experienced psychedelics and uh wrote pretty brilliantly about… 1
Recommended
“well uh michael pollan who uh later in life experienced psychedelics and uh wrote pretty brilliantly about them for me that is he's one of the more interesting uh people to discuss it because michael is an investigative journalist he he he dot takes deep dives into these subjects and his deep dive into psychedelics was incredibly illuminating and so”
Hannah Claire Brimlow michael pollan has been great there's a new documentary on netflix that comes out this month all about the… 1
Recommended
“michael pollan has been great there's a new documentary on netflix that comes out this month all about the medicinal uses of psilocybin by michael pollan who his book is called i think it was the number one bestseller how to change your mind was his book all about um psychedelics”
Kegan Gill And the book that really changed it was uh in defense of food or not in defense of food, how to change your… 1
Recommended
“And the book that really changed it was uh in defense of food or not in defense of food, how to change your mind by Michael Poland, which is now a Netflix documentary on the use of psychedelic assisted therapy”
Shaan Puri and the second thing I like right now is how to change your mind I don't drink any alcohol 1
Recommended
“and the second thing I like right now is how to change your mind I don't drink any alcohol”
Michael Pollan and also in the underground therapies that I describe in the book they know what to say when you reach a po… 3
Discussed
“and also in the underground therapies that I describe in the book they know what to say when you reach a point of you know uh that you're melting or disappearing or going crazy”
Discussed
“there's a really interesting story from Andrew wild that I tell in the book”
Discussed
“i said in how to change your mind that you know it could be that psychedelics are wasted on the young”
Anna Lembke So that's very concerning to me 'cause like, you know, Pollan's "How to Change Your Mind", I respect that w… 2
Critiqued
“So that's very concerning to me 'cause like, you know, Pollan's "How to Change Your Mind", I respect that work, but on the other hand, it's penetrated the culture-”
Critiqued
“to me 'cause like, you know, Pollan's "How to Change Your Mind", I respect that work, but on the other hand, it's penetrated the culture-”
Andrew Huberman but this is why I think you know there was so much interest a few years ago with Michael pollen's book and… 1
Discussed
“but this is why I think you know there was so much interest a few years ago with Michael pollen's book and and other things happening about psychedelics as a pathway to exploration and all this kind of thing”
Bessel van der Kolk because as Michael pollen says how to change your minds but we not measuring how people change their minds 1
Discussed
“because as Michael pollen says how to change your minds but we not measuring how people change their minds”
Dr. Sanjay Gupta i read you had michael pollan on i saw a while ago i read him read his book how to heal your mind 1
Discussed
“i read you had michael pollan on i saw a while ago i read him read his book how to heal your mind”
Edward Slingerland um you had michael pollan on at one point and i watched part of that show and he he repeated an analogy tha… 1
Discussed
“um you had michael pollan on at one point and i watched part of that show and he he repeated an analogy that he uses in his book that i quote in my book which is that psychedelics are for cultural evolution what mutagens are for genetic evolution”
Ezra Klein you have Michael pollen's great book on psychedelics how to change your mind 1
Discussed
“you have Michael pollen's great book on psychedelics how to change your mind”
Gary Gulman but they are still in tests of psilocybin mushrooms Michael Pollan wrote that book how to change your mind… 1
Discussed
“but they are still in tests of psilocybin mushrooms Michael Pollan wrote that book how to change your mind and it was yeah it's very influential”
Gilbert Cruz Michael pollen will give us some very good reasons when he joins us to talk about his new book how to chang… 1
Discussed
“Michael pollen will give us some very good reasons when he joins us to talk about his new book how to change your mind”
Jason Sudeikis I will say that that you know a book that came out right as we were writing the pilot was how to change you… 1
Discussed
“I will say that that you know a book that came out right as we were writing the pilot was how to change your mind by michael pollan who who's talking about the use of you know”
Kevin Ryan How to change your mind by Michael Pollen. What did that do for you? So I reached the age of 54 which was 8… 1
Discussed
“How to change your mind by Michael Pollen. What did that do for you? So I reached the age of 54 which was 8 years ago and had never thought about psychedelics at all. Certainly never tried anything. Just never and didn't know very much. Read the Michael Pollen book.”
Nir Eyal This is why we see Mike and Michael Pollan's book, How to Change Your Mind, where why psychedelics are so… 1
Discussed
“This is why we see Mike and Michael Pollan's book, How to Change Your Mind, where why psychedelics are so interesting for for treatment of depression, anxiety, and various conditions.”
Paul Stamets And in this in his book, How to Change Your Mind, when I said, "I took two steps out of this little cabin w… 1
Discussed
“And in this in his book, How to Change Your Mind, when I said, "I took two steps out of this little cabin we were at."”
Sam Parr But I was getting really curious about uh uh psychedelics. So like mushrooms, MDMA therapy, ketamine therap… 1
Discussed
“But I was getting really curious about uh uh psychedelics. So like mushrooms, MDMA therapy, ketamine therapy. I did what a lot of people did. I read the book How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan.”
Steven Bartlett It was like I wasn't allowed in the industry until I'd read your book, right? Um How to change your mind. I… 1
Discussed
“It was like I wasn't allowed in the industry until I'd read your book, right? Um How to change your mind. It was that much of a pivotal book for my colleagues at the time.”

Also mentioned in the same episodes

Other mentions (20: passing, ad reads, own books)
Passing
“My guest today is Michael Pollan, author of landmark books, including How to Change Your Mind, which is about psychedelics, the botany of desire”
Plugged
“I remember how nervous I was when I published how to change your mind. I was talking about my own psychedelic experience.”
Passing
“Michael Pollan wrote that book, "How to Change Your Mind." Right, it was very influential.”
Passing
“He has written several best-selling books including The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food, and How to Change Your Mind.”
Passing
“So I would just say probably unfairly but I would be biased towards people who have been doing this since before Michael Pollen's exceptional book how to change your mind right”
Plugged
“I got interested in that two ways, one through meditation and the other through the psychedelic experiences I had for for my book how to change your mind.”
Plugged
“I mean, I'll never forget this one experience I had on psilocybin for my for my book. I had a complete dissolution of self.”
Plugged
“So I'm very interested in the science of psychedelics and I wrote about it in How to Change Your Mind.”
Plugged
“I interviewed some of these people for How to Change Your Mind, and I would ask them to describe their trip, and this woman who smoked for 50 years had had this incredible trip.”
Passing
“And then actually his last book, How to Change Your Mind, from 2018 started looking at psychedelics and how they play with our very plastic consciousnesses.”
Passing
“It makes it into Michael Pollen's How to How to Change Your Mind um docue series, the MDMA episode, right?”
Passing
“and the thing that made me pick it up was reading recently in Michael pollen's book how to change your mind that Clara Booth loose was a major fan of LSD”
Passing
“i mean i think of michael pollan's but you had michael pollan on you know and and how to change your mind”
Passing
“this is a topic of great interest these days one example being Michael pollan's best-selling book how to change your mind what the new science of psychedelics teaches us about Consciousness dying addiction depression and Transcendence”
Passing
“he's the other guy Elementary I think called How to Change Your Mind which is on Netflix the documentary about that”
Plugged
“So in How to Change Your Mind, I tried LSD and psilocybin and 5-MeO-DMT and all these things that were really scary and hard for me, but this was harder.”
Passing
“then you have how to change your mind by Michael pollen”
Passing
“Dr. Johnson and his work have also been featured prominently in the popular press, such as articles in "The New York Times" and Michael Pollan's book, "How to Change Your Mind," and in a feature in "60 Minutes" about psychedelics and the new emerging science of psychedelic therapies for treating mental disorders.”
Passing
“In 2010, Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world and his newest book which I have personally gifted to hundreds of people at this point is How to Change Your Mind, subtitle What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence.”
Plugged
“So I I decided I like the word psychedelic and I try and I would try in my book to rescue it from all the incrustation of '60s dayglow, you know, acid rock, all that stuff, ‑ and see if we could we could reclaim it cuz cuz it means the right thing.”

Portraits from Wikimedia Commons: Joe Rogan, The White House / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain); Tim Ferriss, Mukhatir at English Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0); Ezra Klein, SWinxy / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0); Charles Hoskinson, Charles Hoskinson / Wikimedia Commons (CC0); Graham Hancock, [Cpt.Muji] / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0).