The Iboga Leadership Summit Podcast

Iboga Leadership Summit
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The Iboga Leadership Summit, taking place in Gabon from 21–24 June, brings together dedicated voices around Iboga and Ibogaine. Bridging living Bwiti culture, advancing scientific progress, and time-honoured traditions, the summit offers a unique space for listening and learning. This podcast features reflections from speakers and conversations with guests who will speak at the summit, sharing perspectives that shape the gathering's dialogue and vision.

Episodes

  1. #6 — The Gobbledygook of Medicalization & Wonder of Plant Medicine with Simeon Schnapper

    3D AGO

    #6 — The Gobbledygook of Medicalization & Wonder of Plant Medicine with Simeon Schnapper

    This interview with entheogenic entrepreneur and philanthropist Simeon Schnapper celebrates the “apparent oxymoron” of introducing the wonder and awe of Bwiti and, more broadly, Indigenous sacred plant medicine traditions into a medical context.  Simeon is the founding partner of JLS, a pioneering plant medicine venture fund, and is widely recognised as the first psychedelic venture capitalist. In conversation with Ros Stone from the Iboga Leadership Summit team, he explores how business and entrepreneurship can holistically be put into conversation with plant medicine. He shares the ethos of the JLS Fund, an early-stage venture fund focused on brain health, mental health, and neurodegenerative disease, guided as much by impact as by returns, and by the question: “What impact did you make to lives, and souls, and healing?” This conversation also discusses the complexities of defining “addiction,” and the interpolation of various ideas of what “recovery” can look like in relation to plant medicine, leading to reflections on the central role Bwiti ethics needs to play in all aspects of the potential medicalisation of Iboga and Ibogaine, and the need for genuine cross-pollination between Indigenous wisdom and clinical, psychiatric, and neurological perspectives.  Simeon is already witnessing growing alignment between ancestral knowledge and biomedical research, and expresses cautious yet infectious optimism for the relational future of humanity (though not entirely extending to the potential impacts of AI). He also underscores the importance of engaging Bwiti intelligence and genuine reciprocity early in pharmaceutical and therapeutic development,  “not as a moral tax,” but as deep intelligence that could de-risk drug development if engaged from the beginning rather than as a neocolonial afterthought.At the Iboga Leadership Summit in June, Simeon looks forward to exploring whether clinical acknowledgement of traditional Bwiti practices as the original protocols for working with Iboga and Ibogaine could be a key next part of science’s journey towards respectful collaboration.  The Iboga Leadership Summit is hosted by Moughenda and the Bwiti community in Gabon, for physicians, pharmacists and providers, neuroscience researchers, farmers and agricultural technicians, students and community leaders, lawyers, policymakers, and environmentalists. And everybody called to Bwiti, Ibogaine, and Iboga. On 21-24 June, in Libreville, Gabon. Details and tickets: www.ibogaleadershipsummit.com

    28 min
  2. #4 — ‘Advocacy: An Extension of the Love We Have for Our Children’ with Susan Ousterman

    FEB 2

    #4 — ‘Advocacy: An Extension of the Love We Have for Our Children’ with Susan Ousterman

    In the fourth episode of the Iboga Leadership Summit podcast, harm reduction advocate Susan Ousterman offers insights into what speaking truth to power is like in a reality where it’s easier to access illicit substances than mental health care.  Susan is the Executive Director of the Vilomah Foundation. Vilomah: A Sanskrit word meaning “out of natural order,” which relates to the experience of losing a child, or another loved one, in a tragic, unexpected, or premature way. After losing her son, Tyler, in 2020, Susan made a list of the issues that haunted her most; all the systemic intersections that had failed to save him. She wanted to address each one to prevent these tragedies from happening to others. The Vilomah Foundation has formed resultantly over the last five years and includes policing personnel, harm reduction advocates, grief educators, and Iboga/ine treatment providers.  In this conversation, Susan tells Ros Stone from the Iboga Leadership Summit team about how the nature of advocacy work changes when it’s done from a wellspring of love and grief; we explore working definitions of “addiction” within a policy landscape sculpted by social stigmas and racial prejudices, and how “hierarchies” of stigmatisation can affect treatment choices and availability.  We also discuss the Vilomah Foundation’s commitment to the North Star Ethics Pledge, and the need for the Global North to avoid repeating “what we’ve done to tobacco, cannabis, and opium” in relation to Iboga and Ibogaine. This includes resisting the treatment of Ibogaine as just another commodity or molecule, and instead recognising its interrelation with Iboga and its cultural lineage, protecting its sustainability, and ensuring that the communities who steward it are neither erased nor exploited. Susan Ousterman will be joining the Iboga Leadership Summit, where she’s keen to understand “what responsible reciprocity really looks like.”  The Iboga Leadership Summit is hosted by Moughenda and the Bwiti community in Gabon, for physicians, pharmacists and providers, neuroscience researchers, farmers and agricultural technicians, students and community leaders, lawyers, policymakers and environmentalists. And everybody called to Bwiti, Ibogaine and Iboga. On 21-24 June, in Libreville, Gabon Details and tickets:  www.ibogaleadershipsummit.com

    29 min
  3. #3 — Healing, Acceptance and Orientation with Spencer “Missambo” Burton

    FEB 2

    #3 — Healing, Acceptance and Orientation with Spencer “Missambo” Burton

    In this episode of the Iboga Leadership Summit Podcast, Spencer “Missambo” Burton speaks with Ryan “Ghenigho” Rich of the Iboga Leadership Summit team about his personal journey from Ibogaine treatment for opiate addiction to becoming a provider grounded in traditional Bwiti lineage and founding the Boga Rebirth Church in the United States. Born with cystic fibrosis and introduced to opiates through medical treatment at a young age, Spencer reflects on how addiction emerged alongside chronic illness and repeated hospitalisations. He shares his decision to seek Ibogaine treatment twelve years ago, the questions it left him with, and how those questions ultimately led him to the roots of the medicine in Iboga and the Bwiti tradition. Spencer and Ryan discuss the significance of lineage, direct transmission, and traditional ceremony in supporting genuine healing, as well as the challenges and responsibilities involved in translating Bwiti practices into Western cultural and legal frameworks without diluting their integrity. He reflects on apprenticeship, training in Gabon, and a pivotal moment during his initiation process that reshaped his understanding of self-responsibility and healing. This conversation explores the differences between Western medical models and indigenous approaches to health and spiritual growth; the role of language, directness, and cultural values in facilitation; and the importance of readiness, ethical frameworks, and integration in psychedelic work. Spencer also shares his vision for the Missoko Bwiti Alliance and the need to honour lineage while allowing tradition to grow and adapt.  Spencer and Ryan will be continuing this conversation on Spencer’s podcast, “Get to the Root.” Spencer Burton will be speaking at the Iboga Leadership Summit (21–24 June 2026), hosted by tenth-generation Missoko Bwiti shaman Patrick Moughenda Mikala Nzamba, in collaboration with the Bwiti community and the Government of the Republic of Gabon. The Iboga Leadership Summit brings together physicians, pharmacists and providers, neuroscience researchers, farmers and agricultural technicians, students and community leaders, lawyers, policymakers, environmentalists, and all those called to Bwiti, Iboga, and Ibogaine. 21–24 June 2026Libreville, Gabon Details and tickets:www.ibogaleadershipsummit.com

    1h 16m
  4. #2 — Lit Up by Non-Extractive Research Ethics with Sidsel Marie Henriksen

    FEB 1

    #2 — Lit Up by Non-Extractive Research Ethics with Sidsel Marie Henriksen

    In the second episode of the Iboga Leadership Summit Podcast, anthropologist Sidsel Marie Henriksen shares details with Ros Stone of the Iboga Leadership Summit team about the gradual, relational process that her fieldwork involves; academic and cultural power dynamics that must be navigated in a commitment to ethical, non-extractive research; and the importance of dexterously understanding Iboga as an interlocutor within her project. Sidsel Marie Henriksen is a PhD student at the University of Bergen. Her PhD project examines the therapeutic use of Iboga/ine across different contexts in Gabon and Europe. Sidsel is particularly interested in how relational and contextual circumstances influence the therapeutic potential of the psychedelic experience, and in exploring contextual variations between locally rooted use of Iboga and Ibogaine within the context of global movements. This conversation covers the different natures of undertaking ethnographic research in clinical trials, hospital and spiritual settings, and approaches to respectfully engaging with the oral tradition that is Bwiti within academic research. Sidsel also shares insights on the ethics of researching the vulnerable states that can pertain to both the Iboga/ine experience and a person's preparatory and integrative processes, as well as balancing conflicting views on Iboga/ine within the project. Sidsel Marie Henriksen will be speaking at the Iboga Leadership Summit (21-24 June 2026). Hosted by Patrick Moughenda Mikala Nzamba, a 10th-generation Missoko Bwiti shaman, collaboration with the Bwiti community and the Government of the Republic of Gabon. The Iboga Leadership Summit is for physicains, pharmacists and providers, neuroscience researchers, farmers and agricultural technicians, students and community leaders, lawyers, policymakers and environmentalists. And everybody called to Bwiti, Ibogaine and Iboga. On 21-24 June, in Libreville, Gabon Details and tickets: https://ibogaleadershipsummit.com/

    38 min
  5. #1 — It's Happening Now with Patrick Moughenda Mikala Nzamba

    JAN 31

    #1 — It's Happening Now with Patrick Moughenda Mikala Nzamba

    This is the first episode of the Iboga Leadership Summit podcast. With Patrick Moughenda Mikala Nzamba, a 10th-generation Missoko Bwiti shaman who is hosting the Iboga Leadership Summit (21-24 June 2026), in collaboration with the Government of the Republic of Gabon. In this conversation with Ros Stone from the Iboga Leadership Summit team, Moughenda unpacks cultural perceptions of authenticity in the context of Bwiti and Iboga, exploring the misconceptions surrounding these traditions, as well as differing cultural conceptualisations of what good healthcare looks like, and how the spiritual preparations and impacts of Iboga reside outside the construct of 'time.' Moughenda is recognised as a leading authority for introducing global explorers to the world of Iboga, with over 30 years of experience and thousands of initiations. For those seeking Bwiti initiation, healing, or training, he serves as an authentic gateway to truth. The Iboga Leadership Summit is hosted by Moughenda and the Bwiti community in Gabon, for physicains, pharmacists and providers, neuroscience researchers, farmers and agricultural technicians, students and community leaders, lawyers, policymakers and environmentalists. And everybody called to Bwiti, Ibogaine and Iboga. On 21-24 June, in Libreville, Gabon Details and tickets: https://ibogaleadershipsummit.com/

    55 min
  • 5 Episodes

About

The Iboga Leadership Summit, taking place in Gabon from 21–24 June, brings together dedicated voices around Iboga and Ibogaine. Bridging living Bwiti culture, advancing scientific progress, and time-honoured traditions, the summit offers a unique space for listening and learning. This podcast features reflections from speakers and conversations with guests who will speak at the summit, sharing perspectives that shape the gathering's dialogue and vision.

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