In this episode, Kyle interviews Simon Yugler: psychedelic-assisted therapist, educator, and author of the book, Psychedelics & the Soul: A Mythic Guide to Psychedelic Healing, Depth Psychology, and Cultural Repair, which comes out this fall.

He digs into depth psychology and why it’s a beneficial framework for navigating non-ordinary experiences – a practice he believes will be the next focus in psychedelic education and understanding, alongside more analysis into the archetypes and myths that reside within (and all around) us. In an age of hyper-individualism and isolation, the stories and archetypal energies we share (which can be brought more to the forefront with psychedelics) can be incredibly healing and connecting.

He discusses:

• The challenges of reintegrating to reality after the classic Hero’s Journey, and how some people don’t want to
• The time he ate 7 grams of strong mushrooms and nothing happened, confirming to him the omnipresence of trickster energies
• Jung’s theory on individuation, and how true individuation actually creates deeper engagement with the world
• How myths offer windows into deeper realms, and a breakdown of his Mythopoetic Integration Method
• How psychedelics show us our souls, and how so much of the chaos in the world can be related to a denial of the soul

and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, David interviews Sami Awad: Palestinian peace and nonviolent activist and founder of Holy Land Trust in Bethlehem; and Leor Roseman, Ph.D.: Israeli neuroscientist, researcher, and senior lecturer at the University of Exeter.  

They talk about Roseman's 2021 paper, "Relational Processes in Ayahuasca Groups of Palestinians and Israelis," which looked at what happened when people with fiercely different opinions moved beyond fear, anger, and othering, and sat together in a safe container and drank ayahuasca with the purpose of healing collective trauma. When the focus of the participants moved toward understanding each other, Roseman and Awad saw a unity that gave them a lot of hope, leading to the creation of their nonprofit, RIPPLES, which is focused on using psychedelics for peacebuilding – first in the Middle East, and hopefully soon, everywhere. As Awad says, "If it can happen here, it can happen almost anywhere."

They discuss: 

• The efficacy of psychedelics as a tool for nonviolent activism, building peace, and recognizing – and healing – collective trauma
• The balance between the idealistic and the practical, or 'the irony of harmony' – if you focus too much on the connectivity of psychedelics, do you actually exclude voices?
• The concept of "my liberation depends on your healing and your liberation depends on mine"
• The challenge in doing something with the hope and enthusiasm that comes after a powerful experience: How do you make sure that wave of hope continues rippling through choppy waters? 

Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Joe interviews two members of the Heroic Hearts Project team: Director of Donor Development and founder of The Hope Project, Allison Wilson; and Director of Research and founder of Hystelica, Dr. Grace Blest-Hopley.

They discuss how The Hope Project – a nonprofit that supports spouses of veterans, Gold Star Wives, and female veterans with scholarships to psychedelic healing retreats, integration, community, etc. – merged with Heroic Hearts Project, and why this is such a necessary part of the veteran healing story: How does a family hold space for a vet returning to a suddenly alien civilian life (especially after a psychedelic journey)? How does a spouse deal with their own trauma from constant worry and isolation? Wilson and Blest-Hopley are learning that, for many spouses, having their own experience (and with other spouses) has been incredibly beneficial.

They talk about:

• The concept of secondary PTSD (often referred to as ‘compassion fatigue’) and the many ways it can manifest
• How Heroic Hearts is working with Imperial College London to use veteran retreats as real-world observational research
• The importance of involving family in the healing process, and how positive outcomes can trickle down to children
• The need for more research into how PTSD and the effects of psychedelics are different in women based on their unique physiology (as most studies have focused on men)

and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe and Kyle interview William Richards, STM, Ph.D.: senior advisor at Sunstone Therapies, psychologist at the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, contributor to Vital, and author of Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics & Religious Experiences.

He talks about the first time he experienced psilocybin in a research study in 1963, his early studies on the psychology of religion, working with Abraham Maslow, how he became one of the early psychedelic therapists, and what it was like for all of that to disappear when Nixon came into office and shut everything down. He discusses his move into psychedelics and end-of-life care after seeing patients’ fear of death completely disappear, and contemplates whether psychedelics could help people prepare for death – how would we live if we no longer feared death?

He also discusses:

• How the integration of psychedelics into palliative care should be a huge step in cultural acceptance
• How psychedelics could be used for education and boosting creativity, problem solving, and even new perspectives on history and classic works
• The study of comparative religion and the potential for psychedelics to find the connections and commonality between seemingly disparate religions
• The impact of psychedelic experiences on the perception of the sacred
• How fascinating it is that the same substance, dose, and set and setting can create such incredibly different experiences

and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Shahar Amit: psytrance musician who has created what may be the world's first modular album for psychedelic exploration under his project, Held By Sound. 

He talks about his background in the rave and festival scene, the moment he realized he wanted to make music, and the realization that he could create soundscapes specifically for journeys into non-ordinary states. And he digs into the 'choose your own adventure' framework of the free album: how he actually recorded 3 different albums and figured out how to transition into different moods based on which direction the listener wants to go – from more still to more expansive, to darker or more bittersweet. He has also created music for DMT trials in the UK, and talks a lot about the potential in extended-state DMT experiences.

He also discusses: 

• How he came up with the flow of the album related to phases of the trip
• How much of a catalyst and safe container music can be, with or without a complimentary substance
• How psychedelics in a fun, festival experience with lots of laughter can be extremely beneficial – you don't need to do them the 'correct' way
• Graham Hancock, Donald Hoffman, and the concept of consciousness as the building block of all reality
• Psytrance, classical music, traditional Bwiti music, Lady Gaga, and what music he feels is best for exploration 

and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe and special guest, Court Wing, interview Tommy Aceto: former Navy Seal and trauma medic, NCAA athlete, Michigan State Champion Wrestler, and now, psychedelic advocate and ambassador for the Veteran Mental Health Leadership Coalition.

He discusses his journey from childhood to wanting to become a SEAL, and the toll that military life and its programming can take on a person: how a life built on high levels of endurance, deprivation, and constantly surviving in a fight-or-flight mindset often manifests in Operator Syndrome, chronic pain, depression, and addiction. Veterans are seeing the potential of psychedelics to rewire their brains and allow them to process pain differently, by allowing them to feel emotions they were trained to turn off: “You’ve got to feel to heal.”

Aceto discusses:

• The affirmation and approval many who join the military seek, and how that often translates into needing to stay at certain levels of risk to truly feel alive
• The similarities between soldiers and professional athletes and high performers
• Dealing with chronic pain, and how forcing movement is often the best tactic
• The Controlled Substances Act and how opioids became a business
• Why the most important thing vets can do today is to tell their healing stories

and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Kyle and Johanna catch up, interviewing each other about psychedelic education and what they’ve learned, the biggest challenges, and what advice they would give to anyone looking to get involved in the psychedelic field.

They discuss:

• How sometimes it’s not about the substance: If you want to be a psychedelic therapist, do you see yourself doing therapy without the psychedelics?
• How no part of education is exempt, and becoming truly psychedelically-competent can involve studying psychology, neuroscience, somatics, religion, history, etc.
• How people’s experiences are evidence – it doesn’t have to come from a research study to be valid
• The importance of figuring out what your gifts are and how you could best contribute to progress, and then finding the job that matches it

and more!

The next round of our year-long training program, Vital, begins in September, but for those who feel that that may be too much of a commitment, our most popular course – the 9-week Navigating Psychedelics for Clinicians and Wellness Practitioners, LIVE – begins on May 8. Head to the Psychedelic Education Center for more details! Click here to head to the show notes page.

In this episode, Joe interviews Philip Wolf: writer, member of Rolling Stone's Culture Council, founder of Cultivating Spirits (the first company in the U.S. to offer legal culinary cannabis experiences), and founder of CashoM, an education company offering a certificate in cannabis stewardship.

He discusses his recent Rolling Stone article about the need to divorce ourselves from the colonial mindset that pervades the psychedelic movement, and he talks about the difficult conversation that came about when he asked a very critical group of psychedelic leaders how they felt about the article, and how it taught him just how powerful having these difficult conversations can be. 

He also discusses: 

• The importance of asking questions and not making assumptions
• Why we may need to abandon the "no justice, no peace" attitude if we ever want to move forward
• The idea that instead of endlessly battling the establishment, maybe it makes more sense to change our consumer mindset and allow capitalism to do its thing
• The importance of reaching out to local Indigenous tribes and allocating resources to go to them, not make them come to you
• The challenge of merging spirituality and science, especially for a regulatory model focused on profit

and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe and Kyle interview Lenny Gibson, Ph.D.: philosopher, Grof-certified Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator, 20-year professor of transpersonal psychology at Burlington College, and the reason Joe and Kyle met many years ago.

He talks about his early LSD experiences and how his interest in the philosophy of Plato and Alfred North Whitehead provided a framework and language for understanding a new mystical world where time and space were abstractions. He believes that while culture sees the benefits of psychedelics in economic terms, the biggest takeaway from non-ordinary states is learning that value is the essence of everything. And as this is being released on Bicycle Day, he discusses Albert Hofmann’s discovery and whether or not it’s fair to say that Hofmann intentionally had the experience he did on that fateful day.

He also discusses:

• The end of Cartesian thinking and the need for a new understanding of reality that incorporates the insights of quantum mechanics
• How philosophy has been taught as an intellectual endeavor, and how we need to embrace the practical and conceptual side of life
• John Dewey and quantitative thinking, William James and pragmatism, and was Aristotle a Platonist?
• The novelty of the creation of LSD, and how it gave us a path to a mystical experience that wasn’t culturally bound

and more! For links, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Joey Lichter, Ph.D.: professor in the Chemistry & Biochemistry department at Miami’s Florida International University, and one of the few professors in the U.S. teaching a course about psychedelics at the collegiate level.

He talks about his path towards the course, the challenge of creating a curriculum that covers everything in a few months, and the importance of teaching young minds about psychedelics the right away; shifting drug education from the “Just say no!” D.A.R.E. model to a more balanced, honest, and evidence-based approach. He aims for his students to think critically, ignore the hype, and see all possible angles with a fairly simple approach: Present the full story.

He discusses:

• The importance of teaching history, from Stan Grof to MKUltra
• The work of David Nichols, David Nutt’s drug harm scale, and the greatest lesson William Leonard Pickard took from LSD
• The representation of Spravato as a new drug, and his concerns with the over-medicalization of psychedelics
• Teaching about the complexities of Timothy Leary: Was he a positive or negative force?
• Decriminalization, legalization, and how he gets students to think about drug policy

and more! For links and more, head to the show notes page. 

In this episode, Joe interviews Devon Phillips: community & partnerships officer for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).

Phillips works on strategies to tackle the questions: How do we responsibly mainstream psychedelics? And how do we get culture engaged? He's focusing on being the bridge to psychedelics outside of research, facilitating workshops and psychedelic coming-out stories at music festivals and conferences. He talks about harm reduction and drug checking at festivals, the concept of training big names to become trustworthy resources, the differences found in a hop hop crowd compared to EDM, and the power in using psychedelics for pleasure and celebration – not just healing and growth. 

He also discusses: 

• MAPS' involvement with the NFL for their 'My Cause, My Cleats' campaign, and how the San Francisco 49ers' Jon Feliciano is bringing awareness to psychedelic healing
• Details about MAPS' first responders training, fiscal sponsorship program, international therapist education program, and upcoming membership program (launching in June)
• The success of MAPS' Psychedelic Science and his hopes for the 2025 edition, taking place June 16 - 20 at the Denver Convention Center
• Dr. Carl Hart, drug exceptionalism, and the importance of creating safe containers and inclusive drug policy 

and more! For links and more, head to the show notes page.