Rick Doblin, the founder of MAPS and a key figure in the psychedelic movement, teams up with filmmaker Nirvan Mullick, who spent a decade documenting this journey. They delve into the transformative power of psychedelics and storytelling in shaping narratives for societal change. Rick shares personal experiences and challenges faced in the fight for MDMA's FDA approval, while Nirvan reflects on the importance of compelling narratives in promoting public understanding. Together, they explore how these elements can catalyze a global shift in consciousness.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Early Influences
Rick Doblin's upbringing instilled a sense of responsibility to address global threats, influenced by his Jewish heritage, the Holocaust, and the Cold War.
These experiences, coupled with witnessing the Vietnam War, fueled his interest in psychology and the human psyche.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Dream Confirmation
A pivotal dream solidified Doblin's commitment to psychedelics, featuring a Holocaust survivor urging him to study these substances.
The dream emphasized the importance of interconnectedness to prevent dehumanization and othering.
insights INSIGHT
Integration is Key
Doblin's initial approach to personal growth with psychedelics was flawed, emphasizing quantity over integration.
He later realized the crucial role of integration and sought grounding through real-world activities for 10 years.
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Published in 1962, 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' is a seminal novel by Ken Kesey that delves into the dehumanizing effects of institutionalization and the struggle for individuality. The story, narrated by Chief Bromden, a half-Indian patient, takes place in an Oregon psychiatric hospital where the strict and oppressive regime of Nurse Mildred Ratched is challenged by the arrival of Randle P. McMurphy, a charismatic and rebellious patient. The novel explores the boundaries between sanity and madness, conformity and rebellion, and questions the power dynamics within institutions. It became a symbol of countercultural resistance and has had a significant impact on discussions surrounding mental health and societal treatment of the mentally ill.
Consciousness is one of the six themes of the Denizen podcast and the role of psychedelics is an important subset of that inquiry. It's an honor to bring Rick Doblin to the podcast with this episode; he has been at the forefront of the movement since founding the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) in 1986. Rick is joined by Nirvan Mullick, filmmaker and founder of Interconnected Media, who has been working on a documentary about Rick and MAPS for ten years.
This episode extensively explores the role of storytelling in the psychedelic movement. Rick takes us back to the cultural context of his childhood and shares his own experience of awakening through experimenting with psychedelics as a young adult. We discuss MAPS’s strategy and how storytelling complimented their data-driven approach with clinical trials. We talk about MAPS's corporate structure and how it evolved over time, with its incentives slowly corrupted as MAPS was forced to bring in venture capital to continue its work.
Rick shares the story of the year leading up to the FDA's response letter, and how MAPS's leadership inhibited his ability to contribute to a more balanced narrative about the treatment of MDMA for PTSD. We then look forward to what comes next, and how storytelling is critical for the movement to succeed in bringing psychedelics to the mainstream to enable a global shift in consciousness. Throughout, Nirvan shares his insights as a filmmaker documenting Rick's story over the last ten years.
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