#537: The Hidden Knowledge of Animals — Mark Plotkin on Nature’s Medicine Cabinet

The Hidden Knowledge of Animals — Mark Plotkin on
Nature’s Medicine Cabinet | Brought to you by
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This special episode of The Tim Ferriss Show features Dr.
Mark Plotkin (@DocMarkPlotkin).


Mark is an ethnobotanist who serves as president of the
Amazon Conservation Team, which has partnered
with ~80 tribes to map and improve management and protection of
~100 million acres of ancestral rainforests. He is best known to
the general public as the author of the book Tales of a Shaman’s
Apprentice, one of the most popular books ever written about the
rainforest. His most recent book is The Amazon: What Everyone
Needs to Know. You can find my first interview with Mark at
tim.blog/MarkPlotkin. 


He is also the host of the Plants of the Gods podcast, through
which you can learn about everything from hallucinogenic snuffs
to the diverse formulations of curare (a plant mixture which
relaxes the muscles of the body and leads to asphyxiation), and
much, much more.


Today’s episode focuses on how animals use medicinal plants, and
it has some wild stories featuring cows, penguins, pigs, frogs,
and everything in between. It’s pulled from a chapter in Mark’s
book Medicine Quest: In Search of Nature's Healing Secrets. I
loved the chapter, and I asked Mark if he’d be willing to record
it in audio to share it with you all. He agreed and here we
are. 


Please enjoy!


If you prefer to read the chapter, you can find the full
text here. 


This episode is also brought to you
by UCAN. I
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*


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For show notes and past guests, please
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Past guests on The Tim Ferriss
Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh
Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin
Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew
McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth
Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah
Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine
Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary
Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael
Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria
Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de
Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly
Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard
Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael
Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan
Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit
Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim
Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval
Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth
Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard
Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid
Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick
Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many
more.


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