Great Moments in Weed History

Whether portraying Bong Boy as part of the Upright Citizens Brigade or taping his solo stand-up special at a weed lounge, comedian Matt Besser never shies away from embracing cannabis culture.In an appropriately stoned interview, Matt shares some personal great moments from his own weed history, explores how cannabis enhances the creative process, and explains why he never goes on stage stoned—unless it's 4/20.EPISODE ARCHIVEVisit our podcast feed for 90+ episodes of our classic Great Moments in Weed History format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every Weednesday.PATREONPlease support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to video versions of this podcast and private seshes, plus cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible 

Cannabis has profound therapeutic properties, providing healing relief from ailments ranging from chronic pain and insomnia to cancer, seizure disorders, MS, ALS and digestive disorders. But how can you get the most out of this safe, versatile plant medicine? And why is your doctor so in the dark about weed? As a young hippie physician with hair well past his shoulders, Dr. Jeffrey Hergenrather witnessed firsthand the plant’s incredible potential for treating a wide variety of conditions during the seven years he served as in-house physician at the Farm, a legendary counterculture commune in rural Tennessee.Ever since, he’s been a tireless advocate for safe access to our favorite life saving plant. Including as a founding member and one-time president of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians—the oldest organization of physicians specializing in the use of cannabis as medicine. While hearing the good doctor’s long history with cannabis, we also discuss how to talk to your doctor about medical cannabis, how to convince Grandma to give it a try, and how exactly a single plant can be efficacious for so many different ailments. EPISODE ARCHIVEVisit our podcast feed for 90+ episodes of our classic Great Moments in Weed History format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every Weednesday.PATREONPlease support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to video versions of this podcast and private seshes, plus cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible 

The weed legalization movement has always embraced street theater, a tactic Adam Eidinger certainly put to good use the time he led a giveaway of 10,000 joints during a presidential inauguration. He also lead the charge to end cannabis prohibition in Washington DC and then followed up with an initiative that legalized psychedelic plants, including mushrooms, ayahuasca, and mescaline.EPISODE ARCHIVEVisit our podcast feed for 90+ episodes of our classic Great Moments in Weed History format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every Weednesday.PATREONPlease support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to video versions of this podcast and private seshes, plus cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible 

The War on Weed first started crumbling because of courageous cannabis patients like John, a super chill, funny and cool person to share some herb with who helps spread the word about the plant's miraculous medicinal properties among those who—like himself—have Friedreich’s ataxia.According to the National Organization for Rare Disorders, Friedreich’s ataxia is a genetic, progressive, neurodegenerative movement disorder affecting 1 in every 50,000 people. John explains how cannabis helps him treat and manage the condition, and also takes us through the truly great moment when he first spoke out (loud and proud) in public to let both the FDA and his fellow FA patients know about his own positive experiences with weed. An act that touched the lives of many other people who have since found therapeutic relief in cannabis!EPISODE ARCHIVEVisit our podcast feed for 90+ episodes of our classic Great Moments in Weed History format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every Weednesday.PATREONPlease support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to video versions of this podcast and private seshes, plus cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible 

Our annual celebration of cannabis concentrates explores the global phenomenon of contemporary hash with one of the leading innovators in the scene. Puffco founder and CEO Roger Volodarsky is truly and fully a hash-head and his commitment to spreading hashish culture is both longstanding and profound.The innovations that Puffco has introduced over the last ten years have elevated the modern hash experience in ways that truly have changed the game. All of it fueled by his personal passion for this plant, its resins and the culture.7/10 GMIWH ARCHIVESIf you want to know more about the earliest spiritual uses of hashish, dating back literally thousands of years, check out our recent episode titled “Cannabis in the Ancient World”To trace the spread of traditional hashish along the old Spice Routes and Silk Roads of yore, scroll back just a few episodes further, and tune in to “Weed History in the Middle East”For the incredible story of the birth of contemporary hash, check out our 7/10 special from last year, it’s called “Meet the Psychedelic Surfers Who Invented Dabs” about the legendary Brotherhood of Eternal Love and how they created the earliest known BHO.Or go back another year, to our first-annual 7/10 special, “Celebrating Hash’s High Holiday with an IRL sesh…” You’ll hear me get a crash course in cutting-edge cannabis concentrates on that one, so if you’re still a bit mystified by all the talk about oils, waxes, shatters, crumbles, resins, and rosins, I’m right there with you, and, spoiler alert, it’s by far the highest I’ve ever gotten on this show.EPISODE ARCHIVEVisit our podcast feed for 90+ episodes of our classic Great Moments in Weed History format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every Weednesday.PATREONPlease support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to video versions of this podcast and private seshes, plus cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible

Journalism is the first draft of history—so who better to explain the rapidly evolving cannabis scene of 2023 than a couple of dedicated reporters on the weed beat?Tauhid Chappell is an Executive Board Member of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists. He’s worked at the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Free Press.Jelani Gibson reports for New Jersey Cannabis Insider, a joint effort from NJ.com and The Star Ledger. They took a break from telling truth to power and following the money to give us an insider's peak behind the scenes of how legal weed really works—and who it works for.EPISODE ARCHIVEVisit our podcast feed for 90+ episodes of our classic Great Moments in Weed History format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every Weednesday.PATREONPlease support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to video versions of this podcast and private seshes, plus cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible

Starting in 1976, the National Institute on Drug Abuse supplied Robert Randall with enough government-grown cannabis to treat his severe glaucoma.While lighting a perfectly legal joint on CNN, Randall once explained to Larry King that keeping the condition in check required puffing 10 joints per day.To hear the incredible story of how he ended up as America's first federally legal cannabis patient, we spoke with Alice O'Leary Randall, his wife and partner in a decades-long campaign to make cannabis legally available to the millions of people who wish to use the plant medicinally.EPISODE SPONSORED BY PAXIt's time to puff, puff, PAX with the world's most advanced cannabis vaporizer. Check out PAX.com for exceptional cannabis experiences made easy. And use the promo code "great moments" for 10% off your order!EPISODE ARCHIVEVisit our podcast feed for 90+ episodes of our classic Great Moments in Weed History format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every Weednesday.PATREONPlease support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to video versions of this podcast and private seshes, plus cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible

"Weed taught me how to be American," chef Roy Choi says of his favorite leafy green. Weed also inspired his most iconic creation–the Kogi taco–easily one of the stoniest culinary sensations of all time.A life-long, loud-and-proud cannabis enthusiast, Roy Choi had to pretty much invent the modern gourmet food truck just to get his Kogi tacos out to the people. Fifteen years later, he's now among the most respected and influential chefs in the worldFrom his early adventures as a member of the 'United Stoners of America,' to his brand new line of edibles with Tsumo Snacks, we talk about cannabis, food, culture, and how to keep pot weird. NOTE: We discuss two scientific studies in the episode, one about how weed actually makes your taste buds more acute, and one about hyper-priming. EPISODE SPONSORED BY PAXIt's time to puff, puff, PAX with the world's most advanced cannabis vaporizer. Check out PAX.com for exceptional cannabis experiences made easy. And use the promo code "great moments" for 10% off your order!EPISODE ARCHIVEVisit our podcast feed for 90+ episodes of our classic Great Moments in Weed History format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every Weednesday.PATREONPlease support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to video versions of this podcast and private seshes, plus cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible

The archeological evidence proving weed played a central role in ancient spiritual practices—including the Judeo-Christian tradition—is irrefutable. But just as the plant's medicinal properties have long been denied by the medical establishment, the world's "mainstream" religious scholars consistently erase this inconvenient fact.But not Chris Bennet, a self-described “religious reformer” who has been intensively researching the ancient history of cannabis for nearly thirty years. He’s the author of five books, including Cannabis and the Soma Solution, Sex, Drugs, Violence and the Bible, and his latest—Cannabis: Lost Sacrament of the Ancient World—just published this month.Chris explains how the rise of monotheism led to the earliest prohibitions against "marijuana," as a way for the authoritarian theocrats of antiquity to wage a proxy war against a wide array of older spiritual traditions that revered weed as a sacrament.EPISODE SPONSORED BY PAXIt's time to puff, puff, PAX with the world's most advanced cannabis vaporizer. Check out PAX.com for exceptional cannabis experiences made easy. And use the promo code "great moments" for 10% off your order!EPISODE ARCHIVEVisit our podcast feed for 60+ episodes of our classic Great Moments in Weed History format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every Weednesday.PATREONPlease support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to video versions of this podcast and private seshes, plus cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible

With a homegrown cannabis culture dating back to antiquity, and a well-established reputation for growing the world's finest weed, Thailand has long ranked as a dream destination for herbally-infused travelers.But it's only in the last year that the local authorities have decriminalized cannabis and embraced green tourism, ushering in a new era of freedom and experimentation. To find out how things changed so rapidly, what's happening right now, and what the future holds for Thailand's cannabis movement, we share a sesh with journalist and professional partier Michelle Lhooq. Michelle Lhooq is a drugs and nightlife journalist, and author of the stoner cult classic, WEED: Everything You Want to Know But Are Always Too Stoned to Ask (Penguin Random House). She writes a newsletter called Rave New World, and throws a party called Weed Rave.EPISODE SPONSORED BY PAXIt's time to puff, puff, PAX with the world's most advanced cannabis vaporizer. Check out PAX.com for exceptional cannabis experiences made easy. And use the promo code "great moments" for 10% off your order!EPISODE ARCHIVEVisit our podcast feed for 60+ episodes of our classic Great Moments in Weed History format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every Weednesday.PATREONPlease support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to video versions of this podcast and private seshes, plus cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible