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.

The birth of the Psychedelic Renaissance is often attributed to Richard Schultes' research on peyote and magic mushrooms in the 1930's. Nonetheless, it was his collaboration with both Gordon Wasson and Albert Hofmann that brought this indigenous wisdom and chemistry to a wider world. At the same time, the equally extraordinary contributions of Valentina Wasson and Maria Sabina merit equal recognition and appreciation.   Allen, John W. “Mushroom Pioneers.” Www.erowid.org/Library/Books, 2002. De Rios, Marlene Dobkin. “María Sabina: Her Life and Chants.” Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, vol. 14, no. 3, 1982, pp. 259–260., doi:10.1080/02791072.1982.10471940. Erowid, www.erowid.org/. Estrada, Alvaro. María Sabina, Her Life and Chants. Ross-Erikson, 1981. Forte, Robert. Entheogens and the Future of Religion. Park Street Press, 2012. Furst, Peter T. Hallucinogens and Culture. Chandler & Sharp Publishers, Inc., 1997. Johnson, Cody. Magic Medicine: A Trip through the INTOXICATING History and Modern-Day Use of Psychedelic Plants & Substances. Fair Winds Press, 2018. Letcher, Andy. Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom. Ecco, 2007. Pfister, Donald H. “R. Gordon WASSON: 1898-1986.” Mycologia, vol. 80, no. 1, 1988, p. 11., doi:10.2307/3807487. Riedlinger, Thomas J. Sacred Mushroom Seeker: Essays for R. Gordon Wasson. Dioscorides Press, 1990. Schultes, Richard Evans, and Siri Von Reis. Ethnobotany: Evolution of a Discipline. Timber Press, 2008. Schultes, Richard Evans. “Plantae Mexicanae II, the Identification Of TEONANACATL, a Narcotic Basidiomycete of the Aztecs.” Botanical Museum Leaflets of Harvard University, vol. 7, no. 3, 1939, pp. 37–54. Schultes, Richard Evans. “Teonanacatl: The Narcotic Mushroom of the Aztecs.” American Anthropologist, vol. 42, no. 3, 1940, pp. 429–443., doi:10.1525/aa.1940.42.3.02a00040. Sheldrake, Merlin. Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures. Random House, 2021. Wasson, Gordon. “The Death of Claudius, or Mushrooms for Murders.” Harvard Botanical Museum Leaflets, vol. 23, no. 3, 1972, pp. 101–128.

"Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of rum!” This immortal chant from Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic “Treasure Island” encapsulates much of the history of sugar and rum and the role they played not only in piracy, but also the rise of capitalism and slavery. This episode covers those issues as well as the underappreciated role these plant products played in the American Revolution. Also discussed is the rebirth of rum culture in the 21st century with an emphasis on all things Tiki.

The much-heralded Psychedelic Renaissance began in 1938 when Harvard graduate student Richard Schultes traveled to southern Mexico to investigate reports that the Mazatec peoples were ingesting mind-altering mushrooms for healing and divinatory purposes. His findings led to further research in both the field and the lab by folks like Gordon Wasson and Albert Hofmann, and this in turn eventually brought the healing potential of these and other mind-altering natural substances to the outside world.    

Palms- The Sacred Princes of the Plant Kingdom - In the words of the late ethnobotanist Richard Schultes, “A panorama does not seem tropical unless palms occupy a distinct and conspicuously visible part of the flora.” Although primarily associated with lowland rainforests, palms range as far north as Scotland and as high as 10,000 feet in the Andes. Furthermore, palms are considered sacred by many if not most of the world’s religions.

Hemp—a fiber of the Cannabis plant—has played an outsized role in world history. It was not only one of the first crops cultivated by our species, but also one of the crops planted by the first Europeans who landed in the eastern US. The Pilgrims grew it, as did George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. The foundational documents of American democracy, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, were initially drafted on hemp paper. Hemp fiber played a role in the rise of the American military and the Allies’ subsequent victory in WWII. This episode tells that story—and more.