

Great Moments in Weed History
David Bienenstock
Great Moments in Weed History delves deep into humanity's 10,000+ year relationship with cannabis (a.k.a. marijuana) to explore the humor, heart, and historical importance of the planet's most revered and maligned plant. Hosted by David Bienenstock.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Apr 19, 2023 • 1h 3min
Let's Overgrow the Government!
It's a call to farms! If everyone with the legal ability to home grow their own weed gets started right now, by this fall we'll be flooded with so much high-quality, low-cost herb that we can essentially de-commodify cannabis and all smoke for free.Okay, maybe not in the first year, but another weed world is definitely possible, and our guest—Danny Danko, author of Cannabis: A Beginner's Guide to Growing Marijuana—will demystify the process and help you get started. 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

Apr 12, 2023 • 59min
4/20 Started w/ a Treasure Map to a Weed Garden
Get lit and settle in for our annual re-telling of the incredible true story of 4/20. We trace the origins of this high holiday to a single weed crew in the 1970s called the Waldos, and then track precisely how April 20th came to be officially unofficially a global celebration of the world's most wonderful plant. 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

Apr 5, 2023 • 1h 24min
2nd Annual Weed-A-Thon
Time to roll a joint, split a blunt, pack a bong, endabulate a dab—or do all of that everywhere all at once. Because it's the freaking Weed-A-Thon, my friends!'Tis the weediest episode of the year, as we puff tough while revisiting top shelf clips from all of the best episodes and interviews in the long run of Great Moments in Weed History. All to raise money for a very good cause, namely keeping this podcast from disappearing into the ash tray of history.And if you do find it in your heart to throw in on this, and help us preserve cannabis history and spread knowledge of the plant around the world, well... all you've got to do is visit greatmomentsinweedhistory.com.Help Make This Podcast Possible!Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to a video version of the show and extra seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. EPISODE ARCHIVEVisit our Great Moments in Weed History podcast feed for 90+ episodes of our classic format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every other Weednesday.

Mar 22, 2023 • 1h 5min
Weed History in the Middle East
In a fertile band stretching from North Africa to Southeast Asia, cannabis cultivation and hashish production dates back countless centuries. From the ancient history of the plant throughout the Middle East to the evolution of cannabis culture in Morocco, India, Egypt, Nepal, and other traditional hashish regions, get ready to have a fascinating time getting high on history with this weed's guest.Dr. Maziyar Ghiabr is Director for the Centre of Persian And Iranian Studies at the University of Exeter’s Institute for Islamic and Arabic Studies. Maziyar is also the author of a fascinating new book called We Smoke Flowers: On Being High in Postrevolutionary Iran that traces the custom's roots to a pre-Islamic faith called Zoroastrianism, and explores its flowering in modern day Iran. Help Make This Podcast Possible!Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to a video version of the show and extra seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. EPISODE ARCHIVEVisit our Great Moments in Weed History podcast feed for 90+ episodes of our classic format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every other Weednesday.

Mar 8, 2023 • 58min
Can Hemp Really Save the World?
Cannabis and hemp are the same plant put to different uses. One varietal gets you lit, one helps you through chemo, while others make incredibly strong rope or highly nutritious food.Our guest, author Doug Fine has written several books on how incorporating hemp into our society as a source of food, fuel, fiber, building materials and other industrial uses could create an entirely new, decentralized, re-localized economic system, one that would end conflict over fossil fuels while reversing climate change.Hemp, hemp, hooray!Help Make This Podcast Possible!Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to a video version of the show and extra seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. EPISODE ARCHIVEVisit our Great Moments in Weed History podcast feed for 90+ episodes of our classic format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every other Weednesday.

Feb 22, 2023 • 44min
The History of Hip Hop is Lit (feat. Busy Bee)
Since 1977, legendary MC Busy Bee has been rocking crowds and smoking loud as one of the true originators of hip hop music, style and culture. He was there for the earliest rap battles and the arrival of blunt smoking, starred in the movie Wild Style and sold loose joints of Acapulco Gold–all a decade before Snoop and Dre released The Chronic.In this interview, we discuss how he's stayed true to hip hop's original mission of bringing "peace, love and unity" through music, how outlaw weed culture and underground hip hop have evolved over the years, and how he learned to grow his own "fire" weed from a bunch of hillbillies up in Northern California.Help Make This Podcast Possible!Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to a video version of the show and extra seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. EPISODE ARCHIVEVisit our Great Moments in Weed History podcast feed for 90+ episodes of our classic format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every other Weednesday.

Feb 8, 2023 • 58min
How Underground Comix Spread Outlaw Weed Culture
Getting high featured prominently in the work of many underground comix artists of the 1970s, from R. Crumb's "Mr. Natural" and "Stoned Again" to Kim Deitch's "Sunshine Girl" and Gilbert Shelton's indomitable Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers.In his new book Dirty Pictures: How an Underground Network of Nerds, Feminists, Geniuses, Bikers, Potheads, Printers, Intellectuals, and Art School Rebels Revolutionized Art and Invented Comix, author Brian Doherty traces the fascinating history of this transgressive art.A movement led by a bunch of stoned wise-asses who took a decidedly outlaw approach to publishing, capitalism and cannabis. As summed up in the Freak Brothers' sage advice:"Weed will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no weed."Help Make This Podcast Possible!Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to a video version of the show and extra seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. EPISODE ARCHIVEVisit our Great Moments in Weed History podcast feed for 90+ episodes of our classic format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every other Weednesday.

Jan 11, 2023 • 1h 9min
Let's Nerd Out About Weed
From terpenes to THC, the biochemistry of the cannabis plant is endlessly fascinating. So get yourself rolled up and ready to delve into "the weeds" with someone who's seen and smoked as much cannabis as anyone on Earth.As co-founder of SC Labs—one of the first cannabis analytical laboratories—Alec Dixon helped pioneer the use of scientific assessment to increase our understanding of cannabis, while providing the public with third-party verification that their stash is free of potentially dangerous contaminants.From how cannabis labs helped identify the first high CBD strains, to the shift in focus from potency to terp profile as the standard of quality, it's an episode for full-on weed nerds and newbies alike to learn more about our favorite plant.Help Make This Podcast Possible!Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to a video version of the show and extra seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. EPISODE ARCHIVEVisit our Great Moments in Weed History podcast feed for 90+ episodes of our classic format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every other Weednesday.

Dec 28, 2022 • 55min
Meet the Brains Behind the OG Guide to Growing Weed
In 1970, Bill Drake wrote the first modern guide to growing cannabis. Despite an FBI campaign to suppress this groundbreaking book, The Cultivator's Handbook of Marijuana would change the game forever by teaching millions of people how to overgrow the government.Based on his journeys around the world—including Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean and Mexico—Bill's writings on cultivation and connoisseurship over the last fifty years have served as the first draft of the modern history of this plant we all love.And at 81, he's most definitely still smoking.Help Make This Podcast Possible!Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to a video version of the show and extra seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. EPISODE ARCHIVEVisit our Great Moments in Weed History podcast feed for 90+ episodes of our classic format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every other Weednesday.

Dec 14, 2022 • 1h 14min
The Year in Weed 2022 + Trippin' Balls w/ Santa Claus
It's been a wild year in the world of weed, and we're ready to get lit and reflect on the highs and lows. Starting with an in-depth look at the most shocking and impactful cannabis news story of 2022.Plus: This episode includes Abdullah and Bean's annual re-telling of the classic yuletide tale: "Santa Claus is a Siberian Mushroom Shaman."Help Make This Podcast Possible!Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to a video version of the show and extra seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. EPISODE ARCHIVEVisit our Great Moments in Weed History podcast feed for 90+ episodes of our classic format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every other Weednesday.


