

Mind & Matter
Whether food, drugs or ideas, what you consume influences who you become. Learn directly from the best scientists & thinkers alive today about how your mind-body reacts to what you feed it. The weekly M&M podcast features conversations with the most interesting scientists, thinkers, and technology entrepreneurs alive today. Not medical advice. At M&M, we are interested in trying to figure out how things work, not affirming our existing beliefs. We prefer consulting primary rather than secondary sources and independent rather than institutional voices. If we encounter uncomfortable truths or the evidence suggests unfashionable ideas may be valid, so be it. As the host, my aim is to help you better understand how the body & mind work by curating & synthesizing information in a way that yields science-based insights that you can choose to use or disregard in your own life. Taking ownership of your health starts with taking ownership of your information diet. I am motivated to connect the dots and distill general principles from what I learn, preferring to ask questions and play devil’s advocate to debating or incessantly pushing my own viewpoint. My beliefs: Taking ownership of your health starts with taking ownership of your information diet . All knowledge is provisional and we must work hard to prevent ourselves from becoming attached to our favorite ideas & preferred conclusions. Wisdom comes from an iterative, trial-and-error process of learning and unlearning. Letting go of pre-conceived notions can be painful, but pain is information. Sometimes modern discoveries teach us we must unlearn received wisdom. Other times, modern information overload & historical chauvinism cause us to forget ancient wisdom which stills applies. The framework for learning that I embody is inspired by three Ancient Greek maxims inscribed in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi: “Γνῶθι σεαυτόν” ( Know thyself ) “Μηδὲν ἄγαν” ( Nothing in excess) “Ἐγγύα πάρα δ Ἄτα” ( Certainty brings insanity)
Episodes


Psychedelics, Consciousness, Mental Health & the Entropic Brain | Robin Carhart-Harris | 173

Immune System, Gut Microbiome, Vitamin D, Cancer, Innate Immunity, Inflammation & Gut-Immune Interactions | Caetano Reis e Sousa | 172

Comparative Brain Evolution: Mammals, Primates & Humans | Robert Barton | 171

Sex Differences, Drugs & the Brain: Psychedelics, Psilocybin, Alcohol & Nicotine | Melissa Herman | 170

Epigenetics, Chromatin Plasticity & the Neural Basis of Memory | Giulia Santoni | 169

Sleep: Neural Circuits, Orexin/Hypocretin, Hypothalamus, Neuromodulators, Stress & Cortisol, Sleep Drugs & Ultrasound Technology | Luis de Lecea | 168

Plant Chemistry & the Chemical Basis of Marijuana Aroma | Iain Oswald | 167

History of Diet & Food, Population Size & Social Stability, Psychological Pandemics, Physical & Mental Health in Civilization Cycles | Rudyard Lynch | 193

Evolution: Natural Selection, Genetic Drift, Origin of Life, Cellular Complexity, Epigenetics | Michael Lynch | 166

PUFAs in Brain Health & Disease, Dietary Fats, Brain Lipids, Nutrition | Richard Bazinet | 165

Seed Oils, Chronic Disease, Diet & Religious Cults, Mainstream Medicine vs. Independent Research | Tucker Goodrich | 192

Dopamine, Reward, Motivation, Lateral Hypothalamus, Feeding Behavior & Eating Disorders | Melissa Sharpe | 164

Anesthesia, Placebo Effects, Consciousness, Subjectivity, MDMA, Ketamine, Opioids, Psychedelics | Boris Heifets | 163

Drugs, Addiction & Neuroplasticity: Psychedelics, MDMA, Opioids, Cocaine, Amphetamine (Adderall), Nicotine, Marijuana & Alcohol | Robert Malenka | 162

GLP-1, Weight Loss Drugs, Ozempic, Obesity, NMDA Receptors, Metabolism & Brain Health | Christoffer Clemmensen | 161

Diet, Hunting, Culture and Evolution of Paleolithic Humans & Hunter Gatherers | Eugene Morin | 160

Neuroscience of Social Behavior, Pain, Empathy, Emotion, Brain Mechanisms of MDMA | Monique Smith | 159

Ketosis & Ketogenic Diet: Brain & Mental Health, Metabolism, Diet & Exercise, Cancer, Diabetes | Dominic D'Agostino | 158

Preventative Medicine & Lies Taught in Medical Schools | Robert Lufkin | 157
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