Expanding Mind

A conversation with philosopher and religious studies professor Dustin Atlas about ancient skepticism, Madhyamaka Buddhism, the taste of honey, Montaigne, Robert Anton Wilson, and the path of doubt.

A talk with gnostic scholar Matthew Dillon about religious mourning, the Nag Hammadi library, sex magick Jesus, the gnostic Eden, David Icke’s lizards, and the power of the archons as an allegory of contemporary technological and political power.

A talk with journalist Adam Fisher about virtual reality, the cyberculture underground, libertarianism, and his Silicon Valley oral history Valley Of Genius.

A conversation with author Michael Pollan about psychedelic awe, trip reports, the mental health crisis, underground therapists and his book How to Change your Mind (Penguin).

A talk with music scholar and ethnographer Owen Coggins about amplifier worship, sonic pilgrimage, “as if” listening, metal humor, and his new book Mysticism, Ritual and Religion in Drone Metal.

A wide-ranging conversation with writer and teacher Miranda Mellis about uncanny climates, thinking with fables, empathic fictions, “don’t know” politics, Buddhist meditation, and the entanglement with the nonhuman.

A discussion with anthropologist Joanna Steinhardt about her study of DIY mycology, psilocybe politics, PF Tek, and psychedelic naturalism.

A conversation with esoteric writer Gary Lachman about postmodernism, Positive Thinking, chaos magic, Putin's esoteric tricksters, and Gary's hot new book Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump (Tarcher).

Guru’s Child   A conversation with artist and man-about-town Naropa Sabine about Shakti, self-formation, rural ashrams, and growing up with a Tantric guru for a dad.

A conversation with author Gregory Alan Thornbury about 70s Jesus Music, apocalyptic politics, and his biography of the Christian rock star Larry Norman: Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?