Plants of the Gods: Hallucinogens, Healing, Culture and Conservation podcast

Paul Stamets is a leading American mycologist, author of many books, and best known for his role in the award-winning documentary and accompanying book, Fantastic Fungi. An advocate of medicinal fungi, Stamets' interests overlap with those of ethnobotanist Dr. Mark Plotkin. In this episode, Stamets and Dr. Plotkin ponder mushrooms, magic, and mortality, challenging some Western beliefs with personal observations, experiences, and ideas.   Recorded by award-winning nature photographer Joshua Bloom (realityinbloom.com) at the ESPD55 – Ethnopharmacologic Search for Psychoactive Drugs – Conference (espd55.com). Special thanks to Joshua Bloom, Dylan Fitchett, Dennis McKenna, and the McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy.

In the previous episode, we learned how and why Absinthe was considered the ultimate creative elixir in 19th century Belle Epoque France. However, absinthe also served as an inspiration for artists in New Orleans, long regarded as the most European city in the US. As we heard in previous episodes on opium (S1E6) and cannabis (S2E7), New Orleans has long been awash in mind-altering plant products, all of which have played a vital role in the city's fecund creativity which gave rise to jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll. 

Wormwood - the basis of absinthe - has been valued medicinally since ancient times. However, the development of absinthe several hundred years ago created a drink which turbocharged the creativity of geniuses as diverse as Toulouse Lautrec, Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso. This episode details that story.   Sources: Adams, Jennifer, et al. Philip Collier's Mixing New Orleans: Cocktails and Legends. Philbeau, 2007.   Baker, Phil. The Book of Absinthe. Grove Press. 2001.  Conrad, Barnaby. Absinthe: History in a Bottle. Chronicle Books, 1997.   Crowley, Aleister. Absinthe, the Green Goddess. Contra/Thought, 1995.   Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom the Bell Tolls. Scribner, 2020.   Hepworth, David. Uncommon People: The Rise and Fall of the Rock Stars. Black Swann, 2018.   Mann, J. Turn on and Tune in: Psychedelics, Narcotics and Euphoriants. Royal Society of Chemistry, 2019.   Wittels, Betina J., and T. A. Breaux. Absinthe: The Exquisite Elixir. Fulcrum Publishing, 2017.   Wondrich, David, and Noah Rothbaum. The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails. Oxford University Press, 2022.  

Today, we'll follow Dr. Mark Plotkin as he shares the story of Richard Evans Schultes, who, as a busy work-study undergraduate student at Harvard, chose the shortest book he could find to serve as the subject of his term paper for his Plants & Human Affairs class. As fate would have it, this short book – which happened to be about peyote – would launch his career. Not only would he go on to teach this very same class years later, he has come to be revered as the father of ethnobotany.

Peyote is a tiny cactus that has had a giant impact on history and culture. It is one of the most ancient hallucinogens - finds near the Texas-Mexico border indicate that humans have been consuming this Plant of the Gods for over 6000 years. Many credit Aldous Huxley's 1954's book "The Doors of Perception" - based on his experiences with mescaline, the most active alkaloid in peyote - as launching the Psychedelic Renaissance. And this cactus and this alkaloid and this book impacted The Beatles, The Doors and The Who as well. This episode tells that story.

In this bonus episode, Dr. Mark Plotkin shares insights and personal experiences regarding the hallucinogens and arrow poisons of the uncontacted tribes of the Amazon rainforest. Join us for tales and observations regarding these extraordinary peoples who provide an unexpected and vivid link to a deep past, as well as a unique window onto the present and the future.

Dr. Plotkin continues the discussion of zoopharmacognosy with part two of “Plants of the Apes: How Animals Use Medicinal Plants." From the carefully selected flora used in certain birds’ nests as insect repellents, to the tropical daisy species eaten by chimpanzees as an antibiotic, we’ll learn how some creatures have a sophisticated knowledge of the healing power of plants.

We have all seen dogs eat grass to alleviate illnesses; why would we not think that other animals do not consume other plants for therapeutic purposes? In fact, it was the great Jane Goodall and other colleagues in East Africa who recorded chimps and even elephants eating medicinal plants. This episode ranges from Tanzania to eastern Brazil to Wisconsin to document animals' use of medicinal and even toxic plants.   Acosta, William. Bombardier Beetles and Fever Trees: A Close-up Look at Chemical Warfare and Signals in Animals and Plants. Addison-Wesley, 1997. Cowen, Ron. “Medicine on the Wild Side.” Science News, vol. 138, no. 18, 1990, p. 280., https://doi.org/10.2307/3974722. Engel, Cindy. Wild Health: How Animals Keep Themselves Well and What We Can Learn from Them. Phoenix, 2003. Huffman, Michael A. “Animal Self-Medication and Ethno-Medicine: Exploration and Exploitation of the Medicinal Properties of Plants.” Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, vol. 62, no. 2, 2003, pp. 371–381., https://doi.org/10.1079/pns2003257. Huffman, Michael A. “Current Evidence for Self-Medication in Primates: A Multidisciplinary Perspective.” American Journal of Physical Anthropology, vol. 104, no. S25, 1997, pp. 171–200., https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)1096-8644(1997)25+3.0.co;2-7. INGRAHAM, CAROLINE. Animal Self-Medication: How Animals Heal Themselves Using Essential Oils, Herbs and ... Minerals. INGRAHAM TRADING LTD, 2019. Link, K. P. “The Discovery of Dicumarol and Its Sequels.” Circulation, vol. 19, no. 1, 1959, pp. 97–107., https://doi.org/10.1161/01.cir.19.1.97. Montgomery, Sy. Walking with the Great Apes: Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Biruté Galdikas. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2009. Plotkin, Mark J. Medicine Quest: In Search of Nature's Healing Secrets. Penguin Books, 2001. Strier, Karen B. Faces in the Forest: The Endangered Muriqui Monkeys of Brazil. Harvard University Press, 1999. Strier, Karen B. Primate Behavioral Ecology. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2021.

In today’s episode, Dr. Plotkin will discuss the history and biology of magic frogs. From poison dart frogs to the hallucinogenic green monkey frog, we’ll learn how these amphibians have been used in traditional societies for a multitude of purposes, and their unexpected yet promising potential for therapeutic uses in western medicine.

From New Orleans bordellos to The Beatles, marijuana played a seminal - but often-overlooked - role in inspiring the greatest music of the 20th century. This episode - the third and final installment of the Marijuana Trilogy - delves into this history and tells the story of two remarkable African American Jewish men: Louis Armstrong and Mezz Mezzrow.