Bookshop Santa Cruz is delighted to welcome back Michael Pollan, author of five New York Times bestsellers, for a discussion and signing of his latest book, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence. Pollan will be in conversation with author and journalist David Bienenstock. This off-site and ticketed event, cosponsored by 90.3 KAZU, will take place at Peace United Church, 900 High Street, Santa Cruz. Ticket packages are $33 and include one copy of How to Change Your Mind. Purchase tickets below or in the store.

For the past 25 years, Michael Pollan has been writing about the places where nature and culture intersect; on our plates, in our farms and gardens, and, now, in the plants and fungi humans use to alter consciousness. His unique and elegant blend of science, history, travel writing, and first person reportage, has inspired millions of readers to look at familiar experiences in a whole new light while sparking vital national conversations about our relationship to the natural world. In his new book, Pollan explores these same themes while charting bold new territory. HOW TO CHANGE YOUR MIND: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence is Pollan’s brilliant and brave investigation into psychedelic drugs and what they reveal about the human mind, the self, and our connection to the natural world and each other.

Michael Pollan is the author of seven previous books, including Cooked, Food Rules, In Defense of Food, The Omnivore’s Dilemma and The Botany of Desire, all of which were New York Times bestsellers. A longtime contributor to the New York Times Magazine, he also teaches writing at Harvard and the University of California, Berkeley.

David Bienenstock is the author of How to Smoke Pot (Properly), and co-creator of the podcast Great Moments in Weed History w/ Abdullah and Bean. A contributor to VICE, GQ, Motherboard, the Guardian, and other publications, he has been profiled by The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, LA Weekly, Food & Wine, Slate, and elsewhere, while making frequent media appearances, including on CNN, NPR, MSNBC, HBO and Fox News.

KAZU, event cosponsor: 90.3 KAZU NPR for Monterey, Salinas, and Santa Cruz. KAZU’s mission is to serve the communities in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties by broadcasting local, national and international news and cultural programming that informs and enriches the lives of its listeners.