We talk with best selling author Michael Pollan about the paperback release of his book, “This is Your Mind on Plants,” in which he analyzes the complex relationship between humans, their brains, and the psychoactive molecules in plants, and how these plants are used to alter our consciousness. In the book, he uses a trio of psychoactive substances in plants (opium, caffeine, and mescaline) to look at these relationships, challenge what we characterize as a "drug," and look at why some drugs are legal, commonly and openly used, while others are cast into the shadows of crime of punishment.

Michael Pollan, co-founder of the Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics and author of the books “This is Your Mind on Plants,” and "How to Change Your Mind." He is also the host of the Netflix series, “How to Change Your Mind.”