The Drug Science Podcast 135. Ethnomycology with Darren Le Baron
5 snips
Sep 3, 2025 In this discussion, mycologist Darren Le Baron shares his journey from East London, where he empowers at-risk youth through horticulture and mushroom programs. He dives into his series on psychedelics in Africa, highlighting ancient and modern links between psychedelics and African culture. By sharing insights on iboga, psilocybin, and the challenges of stigma, he emphasizes the importance of including indigenous perspectives in the psychedelic conversation, confronting the erasure caused by coloniality.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
From East London To Mycology
- Darren grew up in East London and discovered horticulture after learning his family were farmers in Barbados.
- That journey led him to study soil science, composting and ultimately mycology, which shaped his education work.
Teach Tangible Skills Not Theory
- Develop tangible, transferable skills that give young people alternatives to crime like food enterprises.
- Train teachers to scale programs so schools can sustain mushroom cultivation and sales initiatives.
From Weed Bags To Salad Bags
- Darren turned students who sold drugs into entrepreneurs selling food, summing it up as moving them from "weed bags to salad bags."
- He founded a youth mushroom academy that became a real enterprise and launched student-run businesses.