# #475 — The Hard Problem of Consciousness

An episode of [Making Sense with Sam Harris](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/733163012), 12 May 2026, 26 min.

Audio: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/wakingup/474_MS_Michael_Pollan_paywall.mp3?dest-id=480596

Sam Harris speaks with Michael Pollan about consciousness, the mind, and the self. They discuss Pollan's new book, the relationship between consciousness and intelligence, whether consciousness is a product of evolution, the role of psychedelics in consciousness research, AI and the question of machine consciousness, the illusion of the self, and other topics. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samharris.org/subscribe.

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