This is Your Mind on Plants: A conversation with Monty Don and Michael Pollan

Human beings have relied on plants throughout our evolved history - to alter consciousness, to stimulate, to calm and to radically alter the way we see the world. For this unmissable 5x15 event, award-winning author, activist and journalist, Michael Pollan joins us to talk about his groundbreaking new book This Is Your Mind On Plants in conversation with gardener and broadcaster Monty Don who for years has been leading us down all kinds of garden paths to show us why our relationship to the natural world is vital to our wellbeing and culture. This Is Your Mind On Plants explores our deep relationship with three very different plants from which we derive opium, caffeine and mescaline, and what they can do for us. Pollan reckons with the powerful human attraction to psychoactive plants, and the equally powerful taboos, in this personal journey of exploration and participation in the cultures that have grown up around these drugs. He finds there is much more to say about these plants than simply debating their regulation, for when we take them into our bodies and let them change our minds, we are engaging with nature in one of the most profound ways we can. To discuss this unique blend of history, science, memoir and reportage, Michael will be joined by the brilliant Monty Don, who has written candidly about depression and how gardening can help to restore a sense of wellbeing. Michael himself has experimented with psychedelic drugs and has written extensively about how they are being used in treatments for depression and addiction. Between them they will shine a fresh light on a subject that holds up a mirror to fundamental human needs, the operations of our minds and our entanglement with the natural world. Michael Pollan is an award-winning author, activist and journalist. His international bestselling books about the way we live today - including How to Change Your Mind, In Defence of Food and Food Rules - combine meticulous reporting with anthropology, philosophy, culture, health and natural history. Time magazine has named him one of the hundred most influential people in the world. He lives in the Bay Area of California with his wife. Monty Don OBE is a well-known gardening writer and broadcaster. He lives with his family, garden and dogs in Herefordshire. His books include the Sunday Times bestseller Nigel, The Jewel Garden, Paradise Gardens and Japanese Gardens with Derry Moore, which was shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Awards. His most recent books are; My Garden World and American Gardens. Chaired by Rosie Boycott, food campaigner, co-founder of 5x15 and author of Our Farm. Learn more about 5x15 events: 5x15stories.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/5x15stories Facebook: www.facebook.com/5x15stories Instagram: www.instagram.com/5x15stories