Psymposia Advisory Board member Alex Zaitchik drops in to chat about his work and experiences as an investigative journalist with a critical analysis of capitalism. Alex has covered topics ranging from the effects of extractive industry on Indigenous communities, to the existential need for degrowth, and the economics of vaccine development.

In this episode, we're joined by our new advisory board member Yarelix Estrada to discuss her experiences with organizing psychedelic societies, psychedelic exceptionalism, and harm reduction on the streets of New York. Yarelix shares insights from her formal and practical training in public health as well as her interactions with frontline communities and her personal experiences.

Brian Normand and David Nickles are joined by Psymposia Senior Writer Russell Hausfeld to discuss MindMed's CEO, Jamon Rahn's, recent claims that his company "may be creating effectively the Tesla of mental health,” and that the company is now a "$1B+ Unicorn.”

In this episode, we discuss a prominent participant in the bumbling coup attempt of January 6: "QAnon Shaman" Jake Angeli. Along with a coalition of Donald Trump supporters and assorted right wing ideologues, Angeli stormed the Capitol following a speech by Trump. Featuring a dissection of an "Ascension Masterclass" that was hosted on Angeli's now-deleted Star Seed Academy Facebook page, we (once again) wade into the disturbing world of psychedelic authoritarianism.

This episode explores the rise of self-styled “thought leaders” within the psychedelic community, using Anand Giridharadas’ book “Winners Take All” as a jumping off point. Although people have been on the conference circuit for years, the recent explosion of capital investments means that there’s an unprecedented potential for money, celebrity, and status in the space.

We kicked off the start of our ongoing livestreams with the announcement of Psymposia's 501(c)(3) non-profit status, discussions of corporadelic dynamics, fond memories of helping people learn how to extract psychedelic drugs during an Ivy League University's psychedelic conference, and a whole bunch of back and forth with the audience about the current state (and future) of psychedelia.

In this episode we explore the myriad of problems that result from media outlets treating corporate press releases as though they're legitimate news sources, rather than advertisements. We examine "science by press release" cases ranging from psychedelic pharmaceutical firms who claim their barely-studied compounds are superior to (and safer than) psilocybin (one of the safest psychoactive compounds in the human pharmacopoeia), to students who claimed Oreos were as addictive as cocaine, to pineal DMT, cold fusion, and more.

Recorded live at the Capital Psychedelic Summit, hosted virtually in Washington D.C., Russell Hausfeld joins Brian Normand and David Nickles to discuss the infiltration of the psychedelic pharmaceutical industry by companies, investors, and executives from extractive industry. This episode explores the destructive nature of extractive industry and the effects of introducing those dynamics into psychedelia. If the same people destroying Indigenous lands told you they believed in "sacred reciprocity," would you believe them?

Recorded live (online) at the Capital Psychedelic Summit in Washington D.C., the Plus Three crew picks up the threads of a recent panel discussion about the effects of corporations and capitalism on the emerging psychedelic landscape. Examining the logic of capitalism, the realities of medicalization, and the need for radical social transformations, we explore philosophies underlying the "Grow, Gather, Give" model, which the Capital Psychedelic Summit organizers explicitly centered for this event.

Terence McKenna once mused, “Conspiracy theory is a kind of epistemological cartoon about reality.” Looking around at the world, things appear awfully cartoonish at the moment. We're joined by Psymposia Senior Writer, Russell Hausfeld, to discuss the propagation of coronavirus conspiracies, recent revelations about QAnon, and the likelihood that some "conspiracy" claims are simply warped articulations of systemic critique. 5G won't give you COVID-19, but it sure will help you download this episode faster.