49 episodes

The Brom Podcast covers the emerging psychedelics industry from a business, investing, cultural and social impact perspective. Episodes feature psychedelic CEOs, scientists, investors, and other change-makers operating in the weird, wonderful world of psychedelic medicine.

Brom Rector is the founder and general partner of Empath Ventures, a venture capital fund that invests in early stage startups focused on psychedelic medicine.

Brom Podcast Brom Rector and Empath Ventures

    • Technology
    • 5.0 • 5 Ratings

The Brom Podcast covers the emerging psychedelics industry from a business, investing, cultural and social impact perspective. Episodes feature psychedelic CEOs, scientists, investors, and other change-makers operating in the weird, wonderful world of psychedelic medicine.

Brom Rector is the founder and general partner of Empath Ventures, a venture capital fund that invests in early stage startups focused on psychedelic medicine.

    48: Can Kanna Treat Premature Ejaculation? The Plant Medicine Solution for Male Sexual Health with John Boghossian and Dr Ryan Protzko

    48: Can Kanna Treat Premature Ejaculation? The Plant Medicine Solution for Male Sexual Health with John Boghossian and Dr Ryan Protzko

    Can Kanna, a plant medicine from South Africa treat premature ejaculation? John Boghossian and Dr Ryan Protzko from Kanna Health are here to educate us.



    https://www.kanna.health/

    • 1 hr
    Can Skull Implants Treat Depression? Jacob Robinson & Motif Neurotech (Crossover Episode on Business Trip)

    Can Skull Implants Treat Depression? Jacob Robinson & Motif Neurotech (Crossover Episode on Business Trip)

    Can brain implants treat your depression? Ok, technically this would be a skull implant, not a brain implant - but still!



    Jacob Robinson from Motif Neurotech discusses the future of minimally invasive electronic medicine from mental health and beyond.



    This is a crossover episode from the Business Trip podcast.

    • 55 min
    46: Why Academics & PhDs Should Consider Starting a Startup - Fireside chat with Brom Rector and Sam Tabone at the USC Neuroscience Graduate Program Retreat

    46: Why Academics & PhDs Should Consider Starting a Startup - Fireside chat with Brom Rector and Sam Tabone at the USC Neuroscience Graduate Program Retreat

    Why Academics & PhDs Should Consider Starting a Startup - Fireside chat with Brom Rector and Sam Tabone at the USC Neuroscience Graduate Program Retreat

    • 1 hr 5 min
    45: Elliot Marseille - UC Berkeley Healthcare Economist on the Financial Viability of Psychedelic Therapy

    45: Elliot Marseille - UC Berkeley Healthcare Economist on the Financial Viability of Psychedelic Therapy

    Will MDMA and psychedelic therapy be affordable?

    There are lots of questions about the economic and financial future of psychedelic therapies. How much will they cost? Will insurance cover them? And more fundamentally, how does one even begin to quantify the value of a psychedelic experience?

    Today’s guest, Elliot Marseille, PhD is here to explore all these questions and more.

    Dr. Marseille is a leading expert on the economics of the emerging psychedelic-assisted therapies. He is the founding Director of the UC Berkeley's Global Initiative for Psychedelic Science Economics (GIPSE), a network of health economists and health services researchers dedicated to realizing the potential of psychedelic therapies for high-priority mental health conditions. Through the application of policy-relevant economic analyses, GIPSE seeks to enhance the efficiency of service delivery, and increase access to these promising therapies.

    Follow Dr. Marseille's work: https://cghdde.berkeley.edu/projects/global-initiative-psychedelic-science-economics-gipse


    Brom on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealbrom

    Sam on Twitter: https://twitter.com/samalanascience

    Brom & Sam's VC Fund: https://www.empath.vc/

    Make sure to subscribe to the show!

    • 52 min
    44: Founder of the AI Responsibility Lab, Ramsay Brown on AI Safety, AI Coworkers & ChatGPT doing DMT

    44: Founder of the AI Responsibility Lab, Ramsay Brown on AI Safety, AI Coworkers & ChatGPT doing DMT

    🤖 ChatGPT & Dall-E today - misinformation, bias & worker displacement tomorrow. In a world where artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly advanced, it's more important than ever to ensure that AI systems are aligned with our values and behave in ways that are safe for humanity. But what exactly does it mean to align an AI system, and how do we go about ensuring its safety?   

    Here to answer these questions and more (including the most important question: will AIs take psychedelics?) is Ramsay Brown. Ramsay is the Founder of the AI Responsibility Lab (AIRL). AIRL builds venture-scale deep tech solutions for AI Safety and AI Resilience. AIRL's flagship product, Mission Control, integrates Responsible AI training, AI Risk Management, and AI Governance orchestration to drive fairness, explainability, and trust throughout the entire AI lifecycle.  



    Check out AIRL here: https://www.takecontrol.ai/  

    Ramsay on Twitter: https://twitter.com/_ramsaybrown 

    Brom on twitter: https://twitter.com/therealbrom



    5:30 - What are the major concerns in AI safety? 

    10:30 - Examples of AI gone bad  

    16:00 - What is the hardest part of AI alignment? 

    21:00 - What is Ramsay’s unique angle on AI alignment?  

    24:00 - Is the world ready for conversations about responsible AI?   

    25:30 - Who is responsible for responsible AI?  

    32:00 - What regulations would Ramsay put into place?  

    41:00 - Eliezer Yudkowsky 

    47:00 - The era of synthetic labor 

    55:00 - The Turing Test is a red herring  

    1:04:00 - What jobs are safe from the AI takeover?  

    1:14:00 - Will machines do psychedelics?

    • 1 hr 24 min
    43: India Oxenberg, NXIVM Cult Survivor - Psychedelics for Cult Deprogramming & Healing Sexual Trauma

    43: India Oxenberg, NXIVM Cult Survivor - Psychedelics for Cult Deprogramming & Healing Sexual Trauma

    🍄 India Oxenberg is a survivor of the NXIVM cult.  While her 7 years in NXIVM have been covered extensively in multiple documentaries, articles and books, this is the first interview in which she details the role that psychedelics played in her post-NXIVM healing journey.    



    India is the author of "Still Learning", a memoir documenting her seven-year experience with and escape from the toxic cult, NXIVM.  She is the executive producer of "SEDUCED: INSIDE THE NXIVM CULT", a Starz documentary.  By sharing her story, she hopes to raise awareness about the insidious nature of coercion and hopes to offer other survivors a platform to share their stores.   



    India's mother, Catherine Oxenberg was instrumental in taking down NXIVM.  She is the founder of The Catherine Oxenberg Foundation, a foundation dedicated to helping individuals and families recover from the devastating effects of unresolved trauma. Their mission is to shift the paradigm of trauma from one of stigma and disability to one of growth, opportunity and a gateway to wisdom and empowerment.  



    Keith Raniere, the founder of NXIVM was found guilty of sex trafficking, racketeering, wire fraud and a litany of other charges in 2019.  He is currently serving a 120 year prison sentence.   



    Follow India on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indiaoxenberg/ 



    The Catherine Oxenberg Foundation: https://catherineoxenberg.com/foundation/ 



    Follow Brom on Twitter:  https://www.twitter.com/therealbrom  



    ⏰ Timestamps   

    01:36 India's time in NXIVM  

    21:52 How did psychedelics become a part of India’s healing journey? 

    34:00 Advice from India to other women who’ve experienced sexual trauma  

    38:16 How psychedelics healed India’s relationship with her family  

    41:17 Other substances that India experimented with 

    45:00 Self-guided VS Guided trips? 

    48:50 How psychedelics helped India see Keith Raniere in a different light  

    54:12 Bad trips: ketamine nightmares  

    58:45 Trying psychedelics while being in a cult  

    1:07:58 Psychedelic cults and how to identify them

    • 1 hr 23 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
5 Ratings

5 Ratings

Emery Goossens ,

Professional Analysis, Novel Content

brom provides an insiders view into an up and coming industry with amazing interviews and detailed company analyses. Topics can be quite complex, but he covers them in an approachable way. I’m always excited to see new content from this guy!

Top Podcasts In Technology

Lex Fridman Podcast
Lex Fridman
All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg
All-In Podcast, LLC
No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Machine Learning | Technology | Startups
Conviction | Pod People
Acquired
Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal
BG2Pod with Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley
BG2Pod
Hard Fork
The New York Times