Psychedelics Today

In this episode, Joe and Kyle finally meet up again for the first episode of Psychedelics Lately: the updated version of the much-missed Psychedelics Weekly, where they'll meet each month to talk about the most interesting stories in psychedelics. The main story this month is the fate of Massachusetts' Question 4: Regulated Access to Psychedelic Substances Initiative (The Natural Psychedelic Subst...

In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes: philosopher, lecturer at the University of Exeter, co-director of the Breaking Convention conference, and author who most recently co-edited Philosophy and Psychedelics: Frameworks for Exceptional Experience. He discusses how the work of William James and an early psilocybin experience led him to an interest in philosophy and psychedelics,...

In this episode, Joe interviews 4 members of the Penn Psychedelics Collaborative: Co-Founder, Taylor Andrews Flatt, PMHNP; Associate Director, Victor Pablo Acero, Ph. D.; Professor in Fine Arts and Co-Director of the Weitzman School of Design, Jackie Tileston; and Executive Director and Director of the Penn Program for Mindfulness, Michael Baime, MD. Recorded earlier this month at the PhilaDelic c...

In this episode, Joe interviews two people on the frontlines of the campaign for Massachusetts' Question 4: The Natural Psychedelic Substances Act: Graham Moore and Community Engagement Director, Jamie Morey. They discuss the specifics of the initiative, listed on the ballot as the "Limited Legalization and Regulation of Certain Natural Psychedelic Substances," including the removal of criminal pe...

In this episode, Joe interviews Diana Quinn, ND: naturopathic doctor, healing justice practitioner, and director of clinical education at the Naropa Center for Psychedelic Studies, where she directs their Psilocybin Facilitator Training certificate program. She discusses her path from anthropology to naturopathy, and eventually to psychedelics and activism, finding a framework for psychedelic educ...

In this episode, Joe interviews Rick Doblin, Ph. D.: founder and president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), and former board member at Lykos Therapeutics, MAPS' public benefit subsidiary. Doblin tells his side of the story: that the FDA's concerns with double blinding not working had been fully addressed ahead of time, that they had negotiated agreements that we...

In this episode, Kyle interviews Gabriela Galindo: program coordinator of FLOWS (Foundations for Leaders Organizing for Water and Sustainability), an organization working towards social and environmental justice, ecosystem restoration, community building, and the preservation and protection of Indigenous medicines. She discusses her entry point to psychedelics and how she got involved with Colorad...

In this episode, Joe interviews Mareesa Stertz: lead of strategy/communications at the Global Psychedelic Society, co-founder of Lucid News, and filmmaker, currently finalizing her second feature film, "Confessions of a Psychonaut." She discusses her path to wanting to create the film: how she always felt like something was wrong with her but didn't know exactly how to start her healing path, how...

In this episode, Joe interviews Micah Stover: certified psychedelic somatic therapist and author of the upcoming book, Healing Psychedelics: Innovative Therapies for Trauma and Transformation; and Craig Heacock, MD: adolescent, adult, and addiction psychiatrist, and host of the Back from the Abyss podcast. Stover discusses the inspiration for the book: the ancestral voices she started hearing afte...

In this episode, David interviews Glauber Assis, Ph. D.: research associate at the Interdisciplinary Group for Psychoactive Studies, director of the Psychedelic Parenthood community, Vital instructor, and leader of Jornadas de Kura, a plant medicine center in Brazil. He talks about growing up in Brazil in the shadows of colonialism, and how he felt his early experiences with ayahuasca and the Sant...

In this episode, Joe interviews award-winning novelist and screenwriter, Norman Ohler. Following in the footsteps of "Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich," his newest book, "Tripped: Nazi Germany, the CIA, and the Dawn of the Psychedelic Age," tells the story of how the Nazi's passion for methamphetamine turned into a curiosity about LSD, and how their experiments with trying to harness LSD as a tru...

In this episode, Kyle interviews Lana Pribic, M.Sc: host of the Modern Psychedelics podcast, certified professional life coach, and founder of Kanna Wellness.  She talks about her early days of rave culture and MDMA, to exploring other substances, to where she is today: finding joy in the simple things in life, embracing recreational psychedelics, and continuously working on herself while understa...

In this episode, Joe interviews Ingmar Gorman, Ph. D.: clinical psychologist and co-founder and CEO of Fluence, a psychedelic education company. Gorman served as a co-principal investigator and study therapist on MAPS' Phase II and III clinical trials for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD, and works with drug sponsors: training, developing the components for clinical trials, and designing thera...

In this episode, Kyle interviews Beth Weinstein: spiritual business coach, host of the "Medicine For These Times" podcast, and founder of the Psychedelics, Sacred Medicines, Soul's Purpose & Business summit. She talks about a pattern she noticed of people working with psychedelics and seeing progress on what they set out to heal, but with a short-lived afterglow, as they remained in unfulfilling j...

In this episode, David interviews Daniel Shankin: psychedelic integration coach, Vital instructor, and founder and director of Tam Integration. He talks about the underrated importance of integration circles, how he created Tam Integration out of a personal need for them, how simple it can be for people to create their own groups, and how open-ended newly formed groups can be. He also discusses hi...

In this episode, Joe interviews Joanna Kempner, Ph. D.: associate professor in the Department of Sociology at Rutgers University and author of the recently released, Psychedelic Outlaws: The Movement Revolutionizing Modern Medicine. The book profiles the history and groundbreaking work of ClusterBusters, a nonprofit researching and spreading awareness about what someone named Flash discovered deca...

In this episode, Kyle interviews Mustapha Khan: Emmy Award-winning director with over 100 film and television credits, who has worked with clients such as Coca-Cola and Honda, and celebrities ranging from Maya Angelou to Snoop Dogg. Khan is finalizing a film about Lenny and Elizabeth Gibson and their ongoing work at Dreamshadow – the people and community responsible for Joe and Kyle meeting and th...

In this episode, Joe interviews Danielle Nova: founder of Psychedelic Recovery, founding team member of Decriminalize Nature Oakland, and Executive Director of the San Francisco Psychedelic Society. As a recovering addict, Nova discusses how working with psychedelics helped her find her way to recovery, and how she's spreading that knowledge to others through her Psychedelic Recovery program, whic...

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews Deanna Rogers: Registered Clinical Counselor and Vital instructor. She discusses how trauma grows in our bodies, and the importance of practitioners and facilitators becoming trauma-informed before working with clients. She stresses the need to create the right conditions for clients to be able to work with trauma – to bring comp...

In this episode, Joe interviews Jean Lacy: Executive Director of the Illinois Psychedelic Society; and La Shawn K. Ford: 17-year member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 8th District. Together, they are working on the CURE (Compassionate Use and Research of Entheogens) Act, which aims to decriminalize plant medicines and bring a state-regulated model for psychedelic use to...

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews Rachelle Sampson, Ph. D.: researcher and founder of Blue Prism Coaching; and Bennet Zelner, Ph. D.: researcher, speaker, and creator of the Pollination Approach. They are both Vital instructors and Associate Professors at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland. Based on a passion for regenerative economics...

As the psychedelic renaissance continues to spread throughout the West, we learn more about these substances and experiences every day. But are we losing the important ancestral teachings and Indigenous knowledge that got us here? In this episode, Kyle interviews Alonso Del Río: author, musician, filmmaker, founder of the Center for Healing and Consciousness Studies (Ayahuasca Ayllu), and facilita...

In this episode of VItal Psychedelic Conversations, Vital instructor, Diego Pinzon hosts his first podcast, interviewing Vital graduate and clinically-trained psychologist, "The Kinki Buddhist": Kate Amy. As Amy's interest in psychedelics grew, she began to see a clear intersection between psychedelic states and the non-ordinary states she'd reached through years of meditation practice, as well as...

In this episode, Chris Koddermann interviews two members of the Center for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics at Mass General Hospital: founding director, author, and co-founder of three drug development companies, Dr. Jerry Rosenbaum; and psychiatrist and associate director and director of cognitive neuroscience, Sharmin Ghaznavi, MD, Ph. D. Rosenbaum and Ghaznavi bonded over an interest in ruminat...

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews Tiffany Hurd: microdosing coach, speaker, business leadership advisor, and student in our current cohort of Vital. After 15 years in the corporate healthcare industry and several years on antidepressants, she started microdosing psilocybin and saw an immediate change in her life, tapering off antidepressants within a few months....