PSYCHOACTIVE

iHeartPodcasts and Protozoa
  • 5.0 (11)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED WEEKLY
PSYCHOACTIVE

Drugs, drugs, drugs. Almost everyone uses them. Almost everyone has an opinion about them. Drug policy pioneer Ethan Nadelmann gets to the bottom of our strange relationship to drugs by talking with those who love them, hate them, and study them. We’d love to hear your stories and ideas. Send us a note at psychoactive@protozoa.com or leave a voicemail at 1-833-PSYCHO-0 (1-833-779-2460).

  1. 26/01/2023

    Steve Rolles on Legalizing Drugs

    The notion of legalizing any sort of illicit drug seemed preposterous to most people just twenty years ago. Now cannabis is being legalized in a growing number of states and countries, psychedelic legalization is proceeding much faster than anyone expected, and in Colombia the president and other leading political figures are talking openly of legalizing cocaine. There are, of course, many ways to legally regulate previously illegal psychoactive drugs. Perhaps no one is more expert on these issues than Steve Rolles at the UK-based Transform Drug Policy Foundation. We talked and debated about various models of legally regulating cannabis, psychedelics and stimulants; the evolving role of the US government and UN agencies; and current developments in Europe, the Americas and Asia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    1h 32m

  2. 19/01/2023

    Charley & Shelley Wininger On Healthy Aging & Sex with MDMA

    It ain’t easy getting old but the right drugs, used in the right ways, can help. Charley Wininger is a psychotherapist, called “The Love Doctor,” who recently authored of Listening to Ecstasy: The Transformative Power of MDMA. I talked with him and his wife, Shelley, about the ways in which MDMA has proven invaluable in their love relationship, in building deep communities and enhancing sexuality, and in dealing with grief. MDMA, Charley says, “is not an antidote but a salve, a tonic, a rejuvenating vacation that can replenish the fountain of one’s youth.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    1h 4m

  3. 12/01/2023

    Paul Gootenberg on the Global History of Drugs

    There’s more or less never been a drug free society in human history but scholarly examination of the history of psychoactive drugs was surprisingly sparce until just a few decades ago. Paul Gootenberg is a distinguished professor of history, author of books on the history of cocaine, editor of the recently published Oxford Handbook of Global Drug History, and president of the rapidly growing Alcohol and Drugs History Society. We talked about the evolution of this interdisciplinary field of study from its mostly anthropological origins, its connections to commodity, consumption and cultural studies as well as medicine, sociology and politics, and the pioneering works shaping the field. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    1h 2m

  4. 05/01/2023

    Dennis McKenna on The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss

    The renowned ethnopharmacologist and research pharmacognosist, Dennis McKenna, wrote "The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss: My Life with Terence McKenna," ten years ago. That book is being republished, with a new afterword by Dennis, this month, so it seemed the right moment to talk about their relationship and respective evolutions, the experiences, people, literature and ideas that shaped them, and why Dennis regards the book that he and Terence co-authored in the mid-1970s, Magic Mushroom Grower’s Guide, as perhaps their most significant accomplishment. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    1h 1m

  5. 29/12/2022

    Neil Carrier on Khat

    I’ve long been fascinated by khat, the psychoactive plant that is legal and consumed widely in Yemen and the Horn of Africa (Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti) but that was criminalized in recent decades in the United States, Europe and other parts of the world as Somali and other émigré communities grew. Its history and uses are somewhat analogous to coca in Latin America. Neil Carrier, a social anthropologist teaching at the University of Bristol, is one of the world’s leading experts on khat – its history, economics, markets, social roles, consumption and conflicts over its benefits, harms and “quasi-legality.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    1h 4m

  6. 22/12/2022 · BONUS

    Bonus episode: Psychedelic Confessions - Speaking Personally

    I’m often a guest on other podcasts. Among the conversations I most enjoyed, and which many listeners may find particularly interesting, was with Giancarlo Canavesio on his Mangu.TV Podcast. He asked me to be his first guest in a series entitled “Psychedelic Confessions,” during which we reflected on our respective experiences with psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, ayahuasca, mescaline, ketamine, DMT, MDMA, cannabis, and other psychoactive substances. This was, perhaps not surprisingly, one of my most personal interviews. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    1h 10m

  7. 15/12/2022

    Lisa McGirr on Alcohol Prohibition and the Rise of the American State

    The Prohibition era (1920-33) plays a far more significant role in U.S. history than is commonly assumed. Yes, it clearly failed in its objectives. And, yes, the assumptions that led to the rapid enactment of the 18th Amendment were massively flawed. But Prohibition was, as Lisa McGirr, professor of history at Harvard, argues in her book, The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the Rise of the American State, “one of the boldest and most radical social efforts to alter personal behavior in the nation’s history and one that would have dramatic though unintended consequences for nation-state building and for politics.” It is also, not surprisingly, inseparable from the broader history of drug prohibition and drug wars since the start of the 20th century. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    1h 6m

  8. 08/12/2022

    Gabor Maté on Trauma and the Myth of Normal

    “Our culture’s skewed idea of normality,” says the well known physician and author, Dr. Gabor Maté, “is the single biggest impediment to fostering a healthier world, even keeping us from acting on what we already know.” Some years ago, his book, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, touched and helped a tremendous number of people looking for insight into their addictive behaviors with his focus on traumas suffered at a young age. Addiction, he stressed, is one result of inadequate and counter-productive efforts to treat one’s pain. In his new book, The Myth of Normal, Gabor makes the case for viewing trauma as the common template underlying most physical and mental maladies. We discussed Gabor’s perspectives and personal evolution, including his growing appreciation for the value of psychedelics in identifying and healing trauma. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    57 min
See All (88)

Trailers

Hosts & Guests

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
11 Ratings

About

Drugs, drugs, drugs. Almost everyone uses them. Almost everyone has an opinion about them. Drug policy pioneer Ethan Nadelmann gets to the bottom of our strange relationship to drugs by talking with those who love them, hate them, and study them. We’d love to hear your stories and ideas. Send us a note at psychoactive@protozoa.com or leave a voicemail at 1-833-PSYCHO-0 (1-833-779-2460).

Information

  • Creator
    iHeartPodcasts and Protozoa
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2023
  • Episodes
    88
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    2024 iHeartMedia, Inc. © Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from iHeartMedia
  • Show Website
    PSYCHOACTIVE

You Might Also Like

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes and get the latest updates.
Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada