Michael Pollan
Thursday, March 12, 2026, at 7:30 p.m.
Congregation Emanu El, 1500 Sunset Blvd., Houston, TX 77005
Tickets On Sale February 9, 2026
The Progressive Forum is pleased to welcome back the #1 New York Times bestselling author, Michael Pollan, to discuss his new book, A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness, a dazzling exploration of the essence of our humanity. He’ll be in conversation with Randall Morton, Progressive Forum executive director.
When it comes to consciousness, it feels like something to be us. Yet the subjective experience remains one of nature’s greatest mysteries. How is it we can have feelings and a sense of self? In A World Appears, Pollan traces the unmapped continent of consciousness from radically different perspectives---scientific, philosophical, literary, spiritual, and psychedelic---to see what each can teach us about this centrality of life.
For example, Pollan introduces us to “plant neurobiologists” searching for the first flicker of consciousness in plants; scientists striving to engineer feelings into AI, and psychologists and novelists seeking to capture the felt experience of our slippery stream of consciousness. He discovers a world far deeper and stranger than everyday reality. Mind expanding, A World Appears takes us into the laboratories of our own minds, ultimately showing us how we might make better use of the gift of awareness.
About Michael Pollan
For more than thirty years, Michael Pollan has been writing books and articles about the places where the human and natural worlds intersect: on our plates, in our farms and gardens, and in our minds.
Pollan is the author of four immediate #1 New York Times bestsellers, among his ten books. Just a few of his acclaimed books include: The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals; The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World; and How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence. His work has been the subject of several documentaries on Netflix and PBS and films.
He was named among the top 10 “New Thought Leaders” by Newsweek magazine and among the “100 Most Influential People in the World” by Time magazine.
He is a professor of the graduate school of UC Berkeley and a Research Professor at Harvard.
He lives in the Bay Area with his wife, the painter Judith Belzer.
Pollan has appeared at The Progressive Forum twice before. View his event webpage for recordings of his appearances in November 2023 for How to Change Your Mind and in October 2011 for In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto.
Generously sponsored by Jenny and Mike Blocher, and Melanie Gray and Mark Wawro.
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Theater doors open at 6:30 p.m. when ticket holders can take their seats.
Door search, no large bags. Please refrain from bringing backpacks and anything larger than a small clutch purse into the event. Large items will be asked to be returned to your vehicle. All items are subject to search at the door.
Program is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. at Congregation Emanu El, 1500 Sunset Blvd, Houston, TX, 77005, across from Rice University.
Please present your PDF ETicket on your mobile device or print your PDF ETicket and bring it with you to the venue for entry. Our greeters or box office can help you.
Free parking is available in the Congregation Emanu El campus garage. Enter on Sunset Blvd where uniformed officers will direct you.
Discounted books on sale at the Blue Willow Bookshop table in the lobby.
No book signing at the evening’s conclusion.
No private speaker reception.
Ticket prices are $115, $75, and $49 plus fees.
Box office services (credit card only) are available at the door on event night. In case of a sellout, there is no waiting list. Prior to event night, there are no tickets sold at Congregation Emanu El or any other physical location.
For box office assistance or for any other issues, please call 832-509-0262 or email boxoffice@progressiveforumhouston.org.
Guests who need special access are eligible for any ticket price. Ushers will seat special access guests in the aisles in the rear nearest restrooms. All rows are close to the speaker podium in the intimate seating environment.
During the lecture program, we will ask the audience to silence their personal digital devices, asking for no photography or videography.
Feel free to contact The Progressive Forum by email at staff@progressiveforumhouston.org.