Turn a Controversial Subject into a Book or Creative Business with Charlie Wininger

In this episode, I chat with therapist Charley Wininger.

He's the author of the new book, Listening to Ecstasy: The Transformative Power of MDMA. Writing about the therapeutic benefits of psychedelic substances is pretty controversial, depending on where you live in the world. 

It's a topic that I'd like to write about, but I'm not quite there yet, so I was fascinated to hear from an author who's not afraid to write about something controversial.

Charley started writing in his mid-60s. He's now 72, and it took him seven years to write the book. If you ever feel like you've missed your chance to write a book, take heart from his experiences. 

I ask Charley about the correlation between psychedelics, meditation and flow state, and the creative process. He also describes his writing process and how he got around some issues like writer's block.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How Charley wrote his memoir
•  Why the book took 6 years to write
• Advice given to Charley about writing
• The comparison between meditation and psychedelics
• Charley's memories of Andy Kaufman
• Reactions to the book
• Strategies for selling the book 

Resources:

• Charley Winiger
• Charley on Instagram
• Charley on YouTube
• Listening to Ecstasy: The Transformative Power of MDMA - Charley Winiger
• Waking Up - Sam Harris

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Thanks for listening!