Psychedelic Women

Rainbow Valentine

Producer/Host, Rainbow Valentine was born into the inner circle of the San Francisco counterculture which didn’t seem unusual until she grew up and discovered not everyone’s family and friends were pot smugglers, rock stars and artists activating for peace, justice and equality. Rainbow Valentine’s mom, her friend’s moms and her mom’s friends were the bedrock of the world famous 1960’s counterculture - they were the first women in history to have access to (and take advantage of) The Pill, LSD and Rock’n’Roll. Psychedelic Women: Conversations with the Women of the Counterculture reveals never-before recorded stories of the sex, drugs and rock’n’roll of the paradigm-shifting 1960’s American counterculture.

  1. Smuggler Family Album Ep 7: Truth is the Only Thing I Remember

    3D AGO

    Smuggler Family Album Ep 7: Truth is the Only Thing I Remember

    Don’t everyone’s parents have smuggler friends who disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle? In the subculture host, Rainbow Valentine grew up in, yes, but the rest of the world, maybe not. And because of this, RV shares ho-hum lunch convos with her and her former pot-smuggler counterculture parents from the podcast, Disorganized Crime. In this trio of Lunch with the Lemurs, RV's parents tell us true stories of missing smugglers, a power-crystal shaman, a San Francisco smuggler soiree, the most infamous Mill Valley cop of the 80’s, plus RV’s dad’s love of Costco, the hippie kid’s carob conundrum and that time RV’s parents took LSD and mistakenly went hot-tubbing with a motorcycle gang.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    47 min
  2. The Dancing Detective

    JAN 28

    The Dancing Detective

    Before she was a 17 year old groundfloor member of the 1960's San Francisco counterculture, Rosie McGee was the child of French Holocaust survivors who, after WW2, flipped a coin on where to emigrate and as Rosie says, “I won” because San Francisco in the early 60’s was a city of beatniks melding into hippies – the perfect place for a teenage detective to become a psychedelic woman.  Before she wrote her memoir, Dancing with the Dead, Rosie McGee was Florence Nathan, a naïve, theater enthusiast who lived a double life, secret from her conservative French parents who had no idea their daughter’s job with Big Daddy Tom Donahue would lead her into the arms of comedian, Lenny Bruce, Grateful Dead bassist, Phil Lesh and to the Far East with the SF counterculture’s most infamous smuggler.  This episode unpacks true stories of the Muir Beach Acid Test, the Human Be In,  Janis Joplin, The Coffee Gallery, The Committee, the Warlocks and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    57 min
  3. Smuggler Family Album Ep 6: Ungovernable

    JAN 26

    Smuggler Family Album Ep 6: Ungovernable

    “You can smuggle anything except for drugs and guns…” These were the rules laid down by a Brazilian beauty queen to her Uraguyan Jewish husband, who smuggled everything from hi-fis to Hindus.  In this episode of Smuggler Family Album, host Rainbow Valentine chats with her Brazilian drummer friend, Pedro Strasser, whose father (also named Pedro) was a smuggler during the Brazilian dictatorship of the 1970s and 80s.  Everyone in the counterculture smuggler scene or those interested in the smugglers of yore, will relate to/be fascinated by Pedro Jr.’s memories of his scrappy smuggler dad’s innovative creativity and entrepreneurial spirit as he moved everything but drugs and guns, in his handmade yacht, in order to support his wife, kids and art. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    55 min
  4. Bonus Ep 6: The Psychedelic Breast: Deep Diving with Dr. M on Ep 10

    JAN 26 · BONUS

    Bonus Ep 6: The Psychedelic Breast: Deep Diving with Dr. M on Ep 10

    In this bonus episode host, Rainbow Valentine, continues to put the psychedelic puzzle pieces of her culture together as Dr. Maria Mangini, PHD, co-founder of the Women’s Visionary Congress, nurse practitioner and psychedelic historian, tells RV and listeners about her friendship with Nicky Scully, subject of Episode 10 and takes us down some serious counterculture rabbit holes.  Topics include insider Grateful Dead trivia, Timothy Leary, the Emerald Tablets movement, Goldfinger the smuggler, Esalen, Millbrook, Fred and Bill Wahpepah, the Sundance Ceremony, a gem called the Seva Diamond, a secret room stuffed with psychedelic goodies, women’s colleges and the Academy Award winner in Dr. Maria's theater program and much more…   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1h 2m
  5. Radiate Bonus Ep 7: The Astrologer's Daughter

    JAN 26 · BONUS

    Radiate Bonus Ep 7: The Astrologer's Daughter

    Cults! Kidnapping! Concubines!  This epic bonus episode of the Radiate story (Eps 1 - 6) with Rainbow Valentine and her Zelig artist mom, Kathy Mason Lerner aka the Astrologer’s Daughter, gets into RV’s mom’s life before she gave her signature fur hat to Janis Joplin.  True stories of RV’s mom’s godparents who were California Bohemians of the 1930s, 40’s and 50’s, astrologers and friends with Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and their secret girlfriend. Plus, we learn about RV’s Grandma Kitty’s secret girlfriend (who was a psychic), the esoteric cults Grandma Kitty was into and RV’s mom’s friendships with musician Richie Valens (La Bamba) and racecar driver Donnie “the Snake” Prudhomme (the first driver to go 140 mph).   This juicy prequel to Radiate Ep 1 ends with new details about Sam Gee’s murder, his courtesan mother and the Wobblies.  If you’re into revolutionary art, artists and revolutionaries... this is for you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1h 2m
  6. The Psychedelic Healer

    11/07/2025

    The Psychedelic Healer

    How many counterculture brides can say that Janis Joplin sang at their wedding?   At least one and her name is Nicki Scully and host, Rainbow Valentine’s mom made her wedding rings.  Shamanic healer, Nicki Scully was an LSD-taking teenager who arrived in San Francisco during the 1967 Summer of Love, where she met and married Goldfinger, the infamous, one-handed smuggler who kept Nicki doped up and in a gilded cage before she left him for one of the managers of the Grateful Dead. In this gritty episode, Nicky Scully shares dark stories about surviving relationships with famous counterculture men, which gave her the tools to becoming a healer.  Along with Nicki's stories, Rainbow Valentine gets into the history of women’s shelters, abortion laws in America and Janis Joplin’s veterinarian… plus that time Nicki took LSD and delivered a baby without midwifery training, let alone the internet.  If you like counterculture history don’t miss the trippy true stories shared by Grateful Dead family member/shamanic healer, Nicki Scully. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    53 min
  7. Smuggler Family Album Ep 5: The True Saga of Goldfinger Part 2

    10/24/2025

    Smuggler Family Album Ep 5: The True Saga of Goldfinger Part 2

    What do you call a deranged smuggler who asks you to stash a brick of gold under your pillow for 6 months?  A friend or an acquaintance?  Rainbow Valentine’s mom’s art patron, Goldfinger, was a one-handed smuggler who regularly moved thousands of pounds of hashish from Lebanon to the US before being busted by the CIA, which only turned him into a fugitive. Goldfinger was a bigger-than-life real outlaw in the SF counterculture scene of the 1960’s and 70’s...but then he disappeared in the 1980’s; everyone assumed he was dead but none of the psychedelic pioneers knew how he died. The second part of the saga of Goldfinger reveals brand new, never-before-heard information about the notorious, one-handed, counterculture smuggler, including details on his outlaw life in Europe, how he died and the major secret he kept from everyone in the SF counterculture scene; never revealed… until this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    55 min
  8. Smuggler Family Album Ep 4: The True Saga of Goldfinger Part 1

    10/10/2025

    Smuggler Family Album Ep 4: The True Saga of Goldfinger Part 1

    When your parents tell you about a real one-handed smuggler named Goldfinger who lost his hand in a smuggling trip gone wrong, there’s only one thing to do: dive deeper.  In The True Saga of Goldginger Part 1, Rainbow Valentine talks to psychedelic woman/counterculture, groundfloor member, Raechel Donahue (wife of Big Daddy Tom Donahue), about Goldfinger - the larger-than-life, counterculture smuggler who disappeared in the 1980’s and may or may not be dead… Raechel reveals all she remembers about the unhinged outlaw who traveled everywhere (including court) with a duffle bag-chemistry lab and eventually became a fugitive after running over a movie star’s kid, smuggling thousands of pounds of illegal drugs and being taken down by the CIA and Lebanese airforce. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    41 min
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Trailer

4.8
out of 5
55 Ratings

About

Producer/Host, Rainbow Valentine was born into the inner circle of the San Francisco counterculture which didn’t seem unusual until she grew up and discovered not everyone’s family and friends were pot smugglers, rock stars and artists activating for peace, justice and equality. Rainbow Valentine’s mom, her friend’s moms and her mom’s friends were the bedrock of the world famous 1960’s counterculture - they were the first women in history to have access to (and take advantage of) The Pill, LSD and Rock’n’Roll. Psychedelic Women: Conversations with the Women of the Counterculture reveals never-before recorded stories of the sex, drugs and rock’n’roll of the paradigm-shifting 1960’s American counterculture.

Information

  • Creator
    Rainbow Valentine
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    26
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Rainbow Valentine

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