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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

• Connect with Michael Pollan:

Website | Twitter | Facebook

• How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michael Pollan
• Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation by Michael Pollan
• Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual by Michael Pollan
• The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
• In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan
• The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan
• Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education by Michael Pollan
• The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley
• Psychotomimetic Effects of PCP, LSD, and Ecstasy: Pharmacological Models of Schizophrenia? by Vibeke Sorensen Catts and Stanley V. Catts
• Psycholytic and Psychedelic Therapy Research 1931-1995: A Complete International Bibliography compiled by Torsten Passie
• Bogus Science: LSD and Chromosome Damage, The Vaults of Erowid
• LSD Users Stare at Sun, Snopes
• The Time and Life Acid Trip: How Henry R. Luce and Clare Boothe Luce Helped Turn America On to LSD by Jack Shafer, Slate
• The Blood Feud That Launched the War on Drugs by Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis, Politico Magazine
• How Ken Kesey’s LSD-Fuelled Bus Trip Created the Psychedelic ’60s by Edward Helmore, The Guardian
• Thirty Years of Psychedelic Research:The Spring Grove Experiment and Its Sequels by Richard Yensen, Ph.D. and Donna Dryer, M.D., M.P.H.
• Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Research Unit
• Rapid and Sustained Symptom Reduction Following Psilocybin Treatment for Anxiety and Depression in Patients with Life-Threatening Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Trial by Stephen Ross et al., Journal of Psychopharmacology
• I Took a Psychedelic Drug for My Cancer Anxiety. It Changed My Life by Dinah Bazer, Time
• Psilocybin Can Occasion Mystical-Type Experiences Having Substantial and Sustained Personal Meaning and Spiritual Significance by R.R. Griffiths et al., Psychopharmacology
• Long-Term Follow-Up of Psilocybin-Facilitated Smoking Cessation by Matthew W. Johnson et al., The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse
• The New Science of Psychedelics by Michael Pollan, The Wall Street Journal
• Psilocybin with Psychological Support for Treatment-Resistant Depression: Six-Month Follow-Up by R.L. Carhart-Harris et al., Psychopharmacology
• A Double-Blind Trial of Psilocybin-Assisted Treatment of Alcohol Dependence, New York University School of Medicine
• The FDA Approved a New Ketamine Depression Drug — Here’s What’s Next by Angela Chen, The Verge
• A Dose of Anesthesia Could Blunt Traumatic Memories by Stephanie Pappas, Live Science
• Ego-Dissolution and Psychedelics: Validation of the Ego-Dissolution Inventory (EDI) by Matthew M. Nour, Lisa Evans, David Nutt, and Robin L. Carhart-Harris, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
• What Is the Difference between 5-MeO DMT and DMT? Choosing a DMT Therapy by Roger R., Psychedelic Times
• Ibogaine Therapy for Drug Addiction, MAPS
• The Brutal Mirror: What the Psychedelic Drug Ayahuasca Showed Me about My Life by Sean Illing, Vox
• Basic Cocktails: How To Make An Old Fashioned, Cocktail Chemistry
• The Psychedelic Toad, Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia S2 EP1
• The Rotating Mask Illusion, eChalk
• Maria Sabina and the Psychedelic Revolution by Robert Bitto, Mexico Unexplained
• Bach Cello Suite No. 2 in D Minor by Yo-Yo Ma
• Depression as a Disease of Modernity: Explanations for Increasing Prevalence by Brandon H. Hidaka, Journal of Affective Disorders
• Psychedelics Panel Invited to Mainstream Healthcare Conference by Adam Snider, Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines
• Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), The Mayo Clinic
• Discovering a New Form of Communication in the Brain, Case Western Reserve University
• Marcus Raichle on the Default Mode Network, VPRO Labyrint TV
• fMRI Brain Imaging: Classic Hallucinogens vs. Mindfulness Meditation by Gary Weber, Science and Nonduality Conference 2012
• The Science of Psilocybin and Its Use to Relieve Suffering by Roland Griffiths, TEDMED
• The Entropic Brain: A Theory of Conscious States Informed by Neuroimaging Research with Psychedelic Drugs by Robin L. Carhart-Harris et al., Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
• MDMA-assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD Set for FDA Approval by 2021 by Rich Haridy, New Atlas
• FDA Approves Psychedelic Magic Mushrooms Ingredient Psilocybin for Depression Trial by Kashmira Gander, Newsweek
• After Dropping Bannon, The Mercers Are Looking Into Dropping Ecstasy by Cale Guthrie Weissman, Fast Company
• Molly at the Marriott: Inside America’s Premier Psychedelics Conference by Casey Schwartz, The New York Times
• LD50: 50% Lethal Dose, The MSDS HyperGlossary
• Tusko: The Elephant who Died on LSD, Audible484
• The Grateful Dead Dosed Everyone with LSD, RockTalk TV
• Could Psychedelics Become an Accepted Treatment for Mental Health Problems? by Guy Kelly, The Telegraph
• Powerful Hallucinogen Eyed as Treatment for Alzheimer’s, Chronic Pain, MAPS
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5): The Latest Edition of the DSM Makes Some Controversial Changes by Marcia Purse, Verywell Mind
• Stan Grof, Lessons from ~4,500 LSD Sessions and Beyond, The Tim Ferriss Show #347
• Like Cannabis, Investors Are Shoving Millions into a Growing Psychedelic Industry by Reilly Capps, Rooster
• The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)
• What Do Babies Think? by Alison Gopnik, TEDGlobal 2011
• Two Kinds of Consciousness by Alan Watts, AMP3083
• Do Psychedelics Expand the Mind by Reducing Brain Activity? by Adam Halberstadt and Mark Geyer, Scientific American
• Shortcuts to an Infant-Like View on the World by Shaoni Bhattacharya, New Scientist
• Magic Mushrooms As Therapy for Long-Term HIV Survivors? by Emily Land, BETA
• Have More Died from Opioids in Two Years than in Vietnam War? by Douglas Soule, Politifact
• “Trip of Compassion” — The Most Compelling Movie I’ve Seen In The Last Year by Tim Ferriss
• Fantastic Fungi
• The Heffter Research Institute
• Acid Test: LSD, Ecstasy, and the Power to Heal by Tom Shroder
• The Secret Chief Revealed by Myron J. Stolaroff
• The Healing Journey: Pioneering Approaches to Psychedelic Therapy by Claudio Naranjo
• The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys by James Fadiman
• American Society of Ketamine Physicians Directory
• Michael Pollan’s Psychedelic Resources Page

SHOW NOTES

• What are psychedelics? [08:05]
• Why are so many declaring a renaissance in the field of psychedelic research, and what caused the dark age preceding it? [10:46]
• Psychedelic applications Michael finds most promising. [16:30]
• How do the effects of these substances linger long after their physical presence in the body? [22:33]
• What compounds have most captured Michael’s curiosity, and why? [28:41]
• Have any of Michael’s psychedelic excursions had a lasting effect? [33:37]
• Michael describes his guided high-dose psilocybin experience and brush with ego death. [36:00]
• What is the opposite of spiritual? [46:25]
• What kind of pushback — and support — has Michael received since How to Change Your Mind was published? [47:34]
• While some medical professionals decry psychedelic therapies as unquantifiable by science, Michael points out a lot of currently accepted treatments are equally mysterious. [52:25]
• What is the default mode network (DMN), and what are the pros and cons of having an ego? [55:45]
• A look at the path forward for therapeutic access to psychedelics: from federal approval to financing. [59:50]
• While current press seems positive about the merits of psychedelic therapies, what can we do to avoid a ’60s-style public backlash and subsequent dark age? [1:05:28]
• Are psychedelics physiologically safer than Tylenol? What are the psychological risks? [1:07:49]
• What progress has been made in the acceptance of psychedelics as a topic of mainstream discussion since How to Change Your Mind was published? [1:11:32]
• Psychedelics are not a panacea: a look at what they’re good — and probably not so good — at treating. [1:14:12]
• In this field of study that’s so woefully underfunded, where might a potential investor best allocate their funds? [1:18:11]
• Two recent documentaries anyone interested in this field should see. [1:25:27]
• Worthwhile resources Michael recommends. [1:27:03]
• How to find a guide for whatever journeys you may decide to take. [1:29:24]
• Parting thoughts. [1:34:06]

PEOPLE MENTIONED