Plus Three dives deep into the world of drugs, from local decriminalization and emerging psychedelic corporations to leftist politics and mass incarceration. Each week the team and guests attempt to make sense of the complex connections between drugs, science, capitalism, policy, and culture.

Plus Three dives deep into the world of drugs, from local decriminalization and emerging psychedelic corporations to leftist politics and mass incarceration. Each week the team and guests attempt to make sense of the complex connections between drugs, science, capitalism, policy, and culture.

Plus Three dives deep into the world of drugs, from local decriminalization and emerging psychedelic corporations to leftist politics and mass incarceration. Each week the team and guests attempt to make sense of the complex connections between drugs, science, capitalism, policy, and culture.


Power Tripping #6: Open Heart Surgery

The Psymposia team discusses the reticence of psychedelic advocates to consider cases of unequivocal abuse and neglect of participants in MAPS clinical trials. We provide background on the gap between the public image of MAPS and the experiences shared by Meaghan, Mel, and Leah in New York Magazine's Cover Story Season 1, Power Trip.

#48 – Drugs and Anti-Capitalism with Hilary Agro

We talk drugs and anti-capitalism with anthropology PhD candidate, Hilary Agro. Ranging from prohibition to psychedelic clinical trials and beyond, we explore the overlaps and differences in our analyses of the current psychedelic (and broader drug policy) landscape.

#47 – Part Two: Right Wing Psychedelia

We continue our discussion about Brian Pace and Neşe Devenot's recently published paper: "Right-Wing Psychedelia: Case Studies in Cultural Plasticity and Political Pluripotency" 

#46 – Part One: Right Wing Psychedelia

We discuss Brian Pace and Neşe Devenot's recently published paper: "Right-Wing Psychedelia: Case Studies in Cultural Plasticity and Political Pluripotency" 

Power Tripping #5: House Full of Sh*t

What the hell is going on in this house full of shit? And where do we go from here? We don’t have answers, but we have ideas and plenty of questions. House Full of Sh*t was a montage of stories that illustrate a bigger picture. From the structural features of the psychedelic therapy marketplace, to the cognitive biases that encourage conformity and groupthink, we explore how the status quo of psychedelic therapy encourages bad behavior and complicity.

Power Tripping #4: Bad Hug

Many people are familiar with MK-ULTRA, the CIA's illegal human experimentation program, which involved psychedelics and resulted in torture techniques that have since been used at CIA black sites around the world. What if someone tried to tell you these techniques were, in fact, a novel therapy that could revolutionize mental healthcare and transform dissidents into better citizens? In this episode, we discuss Dr. Salvador Roquet, a man who tortured people for the Mexican state and also parlayed those techniques to become an influential pioneer of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. What does it mean that Roquet's trainings and ideologies have influenced an untold number of present-day psychedelic practitioners?

Power Tripping #3: I Am the Wolf

Michael Pollan, Tim Ferriss, Gabor Maté, and a number of other "thought leaders" have offered glowing endorsements of Françoise Bourzat and her approach to training psychedelic guides. However, amidst the wave of allegations and revelations about Bourzat, her husband Aharon Grossbard, and their training program, many of these individuals have refrained from weighing in on these events, or even retracting their endorsements. In light of "Susan's" experiences, detailed in episode three of Power Trip, what does it mean to have such visible figures endorsing such questionable methodologies?

#46 – Part One: Right Wing Psychedelia

We discuss Brian Pace and Neşe Devenot's recently published paper: "Right-Wing Psychedelia: Case Studies in Cultural Plasticity and Political Pluripotency" 


Power Tripping #5: House Full of Sh*t

What the hell is going on in this house full of shit? And where do we go from here? We don’t have answers, but we have ideas and plenty of questions. House Full of Sh*t was a montage of stories that illustrate a bigger picture. From the structural features of the psychedelic therapy marketplace, to the cognitive biases that encourage conformity and groupthink, we explore how the status quo of psychedelic therapy encourages bad behavior and complicity.


Power Tripping #4: Bad Hug

Many people are familiar with MK-ULTRA, the CIA's illegal human experimentation program, which involved psychedelics and resulted in torture techniques that have since been used at CIA black sites around the world. What if someone tried to tell you these techniques were, in fact, a novel therapy that could revolutionize mental healthcare and transform dissidents into better citizens? In this episode, we discuss Dr. Salvador Roquet, a man who tortured people for the Mexican state and also parlayed those techniques to become an influential pioneer of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. What does it mean that Roquet's trainings and ideologies have influenced an untold number of present-day psychedelic practitioners?


Power Tripping #3: I Am the Wolf

Michael Pollan, Tim Ferriss, Gabor Maté, and a number of other "thought leaders" have offered glowing endorsements of Françoise Bourzat and her approach to training psychedelic guides. However, amidst the wave of allegations and revelations about Bourzat, her husband Aharon Grossbard, and their training program, many of these individuals have refrained from weighing in on these events, or even retracting their endorsements. In light of "Susan's" experiences, detailed in episode three of Power Trip, what does it mean to have such visible figures endorsing such questionable methodologies?


Power Tripping #2: That’s an Old Story

The Psymposia team, discusses how the "Psychedelic Community" responded to T's abuse of Lily in the Ecuadorian Amazon and her attempts to call attention to the wider issues around her experience. We recall our own experiences of Lily's efforts dating back to 2012, and consider a number of individuals and institutions we've experienced as insulating harmful people in psychedelic communities. It takes a village to enable and cover up ongoing harm; how many people in psychedelic communities are complicit?


Power Tripping #1: I See a Sh*tshow

Power Tripping is Psymposia's weekly deep-dive into New York Magazine's Cover Story: Power Trip podcast, co-produced with Psymposia.


#45 – Part Two: Digital Capitalism on Psychedelics with Emma Stamm

In part two of our conversation with Villanova visiting professor of philosophy Emma Stamm, we discuss the "psychedelic industry's" increasing fixation on digital capitalism. Looking at apps like MyDelica and hardware like Kernel's brain-scanning helmet, we discuss how the social implications of this technology extend well beyond psychedelia.


#44 – Part One: Talking Acid Communism with Emma Stamm

In part one of our conversation with Villanova visiting professor of philosophy Emma Stamm, we discuss Mark Fisher’s Acid Communism, leftist thought in psychedelia, Jacques Derrida’s hauntology, and Byung-Chul Han’s Psychopolitics: Neoliberalism and New Technologies of Power.


#43 – Part Two: Dave Rubin Courts Right-Wing Psychedelic Billionaire Christian Angermayer

In Part Two, the crew continues their break down of Atai Life Sciences' founder and COMPASS Pathways investor Christian Angermayer's recent appearance on right-wing YouTuber Dave Rubin's "The Rubin Report."


#42 – Part One: Dave Rubin Courts Right-Wing Psychedelic Billionaire Christian Angermayer

In Part One, the crew breaks down Atai Life Sciences' founder and COMPASS Pathways investor Christian Angermayer's recent appearance on right-wing YouTuber Dave Rubin's "The Rubin Report."