# Michael Pollan explores consciousness, AI and the brain

An episode of [Science Quickly](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/189330872), 6 Mar 2026, 24 min.

Audio: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/SAM3183527935.mp3

In this episode of Science Quickly, journalist Michael Pollan joins Scientific American’s Bri Kane to unpack why consciousness is so hard to define in a discussion that explores what brain science, artificial intelligence experiments and even psychedelics might reveal about how awareness works. Recommended Reading: A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness. Michael Pollen. Penguin, 2026 Your guide to 29 wildly different theories of consciousness Why consciousness is the hardest problem in science E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Kendra Pierre-Louis, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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