The Mushroom Hour Podcast

Today on Mushroom Hour it is our great privilege to be joined by Tess Burzynski - founder, head educator and cultivator at Fungi Freights Urban Lab and Environmental Studio. A Science degree graduate from Wayne State University, she works as an Environmental Scientist and continues doing research with mycoremediation in the city of Detroit. Tess is a member of the Michigan Mushroom Hunters Club and the North American Mycological Association. Throughout her studies she has learned the role mycelium plays in the environment and how beneficial, tenacious and magical it truly is. Through Fungi Freights, her goal is to educate Detroit and its surrounding neighbors about the benefits fungi have on health, food security and the environment. Fungi Freights offers an array of educational workshops and events revolved around mushrooms and their never-ending abilities. From identification, foraging and fungi biology, to DIY cultivation and mushroom art, their events never get dull. Their goal is to enlighten the community on the fascinating world of fungi! TOPICS COVERED:Lebanese & Polish Wild Food InfluencesFinding Healing & Self-Love in MushroomsBiochemical Processes in Fungi DecompositionDecomposers & MycoremediationIllustrative Example of Mycoremediation ResearchCommunity Science Leading in MycoremediationUnique Ecology of DetroitFounding of Fungi FreightsFungi Freights Projects and Community InvolvementImportance of Reciprocity in Community BuildingAdvice for Our Mushroom ProjectsWorldwide Modular, Shipping Container Mushroom FarmsBright Potential for DetroitFastest Organism on Earth is a Fungus?!EPISODE RESOURCES:Fungi Freights Website: https://www.fungifreights.net/Fungi Freights IG: https://www.instagram.com/fungifreights/Fungi Freights Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fungifreights/NAMA: https://namyco.org/Pilobolus crystallinus (Fungus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilobolus_crystallinus

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the privilege of speaking with John Rensten. John lived and worked and foraged in London for 20 years before finally escaping to Dorset, via Hampshire, in 2016 to concentrate on mushroom hunting and coastal foraging. He runs and organizes numerous urban foraging events, wild food walks and mushroom forays. On a daily basis, John studies wild food, picks wild food and really obsesses about wild food! He has a deep passion for sharing what he has learned, running city foraging walks and taking groups mushroom hunting in The New Forest or combing the seashore in Dorset. John founded Forage London to give city dwellers a chance to enjoy and discover some of the amazing wild foods that grow all around us.   TOPICS COVERED:   Lush Diversity Found Urban Foraging  Complex Interlocking Ecologies of Greater London  Avoiding Terrestrial Mushrooms in Urban Environments?  Understanding Historical Land Use Where You Forage Fungi  Emotional Relationship with Local Green Spaces  Permaculture and Wild Foraging Permeating the Mainstream  Foraging Cycles, Seasonality, Multiple Crops & Geographic Variation in Fruiting  Edible and Medicinal Winter Mushrooms in the UK  Ancient Practice of Foraging Dovetailing with Modern Technology  Secrets of Wild Food Preservation & Preparation  Wending Path of Forage Knowledge Accumulation Through Gentle Repetition  Importance of Foraging & Learning Local  The Association of Foragers  Foraging Love Story  EPISODE RESOURCES:   Forage London Website: https://www.foragelondon.co.uk/   Forage London IG: https://www.instagram.com/foragelondon/  The Edible City (Book): https://www.amazon.com/Edible-City-Year-Wild-Food/dp/0752266136   Andy Overall: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andy-Overall  Clifford Davy: http://forestforagers.co.uk/about-us/  Pascal Baudar: https://www.instagram.com/pascalbaudar/  Phillip Stark/Berkeley Open Source Food: https://osfood.berkeley.edu/  "Restharrow": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ononis_repens  "Sneezewort": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achillea_ptarmica  Sea Arrowgrass: https://gallowaywildfoods.com/sea-arrowgrass-identification-distribution-edibility/  "Velvet Shank": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enokitake  "Scarlet Elf Cup": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcoscypha_coccinea  

 *WARNING - This episode in no way condemns or condones the use of any substance. For educational and research purposes only*  Today we are joined by entheogenic researcher Amanita Dreamer. In her former life, Amanita Dreamer was a scientist, an educator and a homesteading mother. Today she shares important information on that most famous of mushrooms, the Amanita muscaria. She looked for years for a natural alternative for help with chronic panic and anxiety and when she found this most iconic mushroom, she delved into the world of fungi and now lives to help others learn what she knows about Amanita muscaria – a mushroom that according to her, "Could save the humans on the planet".  She started a YouTube channel and founded a Forum solely dedicated to the Amanita muscaria for those who needed a safe space to get accurate information. After severe and harsh censorship on social media platforms, that are quick to declare any mushroom deadly, dangerous and illegal, she is moving all of her content to a website, AmanitaDreamer.Net. Drawing from what little research there is, Dreamer works to sift through, interpret, share, challenge and ask tough questions. She is controversial at times but scathingly honest about her path and her use of entheogenic medicines and hopes that others will open up to the simplicity, spirit and beauty that is the Amanita muscaria. She brings together the history of lore and indigenous use with modern data, research and science and hopes that this is the beginning of a future where we will know much more about this versatile, functional and magical entheogenic medicine and teacher.    TOPICS COVERED:   Discovering Amanita Muscaria at the Brink of Personal Destruction  The Fight or Flight Response System  The Transformative Healing Potential of Amanita muscaria  The “Power Mushroom"  Modern Masculinity & Amanita muscaria  Amanita muscaria Online Community   Amanita Dreamer's Dosing Protocols   Microdosing Amanita muscaria   Preparation of Amanita muscaria for Therapeutic Use   Conversion of Ibotenic Acid into Muscimol   Learning from Lore and Records of Ancient Usage   Experimenting with Novel Preparations and Uses of Amanita muscaria   Future of Research on Muscaroid Fungi   Embracing Spirituality and Communing with Mushroom Entities   EPISODE RESOURCES:   Amanita Dreamer Website: https://www.amanitadreamer.net/  Amanita Dreamer YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVDN2oZZ3mgaIEVuEUm3YPw  Amanita Dreamer Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amanitadreamer/  Amanita Dreamer Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AmanitaDreamer  Amanita Research Forum: https://forum.amanitaresearch.com/  Dr. Trent Austin Patent Converting Ibotenic Acid: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20140004084A1/en  Fly Agaric: A Compendium of History, Pharmacology, Mythology, & Exploration (Book): https://www.amazon.com/Fly-Agaric-Compendium-Pharmacology-Exploration/dp/0578714426

Today on Mushroom Hour we are joined by adventurer and mycologist Danny Haelewaters PhD. Danny Haelewaters holds a Bachelor’s in Veterinary Sciences, a Master of Science in biology, and a PhD in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. During his Masters program he developed a new technology to analyze forensic relevant fungi in casework at the Netherlands Forensic Institute. Between 2012 and 2018, he worked at the Farlow Herbarium of the Harvard University Herbaria (Cambridge, MA) as a PhD student. In 2018, he did a short postdoc at the University of South Bohemia in the Czech Republic, and from November 2018 until late 2020 he was a USDA-funded postdoctoral research assistant at Purdue University, where he worked on characterizing the fungal microbiota of Romaine lettuce. Currently he works at Ghent University as a junior postdoctoral fellow on a project dealing with Laboulbeniales associated with bat flies. In addition, he  writes popular science articles for different sources. Since the very beginning of his student career at Ghent University (Belgium), he has has loved the interdisciplinary research in biology. It probably contributed to his choice to study the ecto-parasitic Laboulbeniales fungus. I’m excited to learn more about these unique organisms as well as the secrets of other little-known parasitic fungi. TOPICS COVERED:From Vet to MycologistFungal Inspiration at the University of GhentDiscovering LaboulbenialesUncovering Phylogeny of Rare, Microscopic FungiBat Fly Research in PanamaTripartite System of Bats, Bat Flies and FungiFuture of Laboulbeniales Research on Bat FliesOther Entomopathogens Including HerpomycesPhysiology of LaboubienialesInvasive Species & "Enemy Release” HypothesisImportance of Conserving Fungal PathogensExploring Laboubeniales as a BioControl AgentDiscovering new Clades of Cryptic Fungal OrganismsUnderstudied Habitats (Romaine Lettuce & Dead Bodies?!)EPISODE RESOURCES:Danny Haelewaters Website: http://www.dannyhaelewaters.com/Danny Haelewaters Twitter: https://twitter.com/dhaelewa/Laboulbeniales (Fungal Order): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaboulbenialesHerpomyces (Fungal Genus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HerpomycesBeauveria bassiana (Fungal Species): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beauveria_bassianaMetarhizium brunneum (Fungal Species Complex):https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metarhizium_brunneumOphiocordyceps (Fungal Genus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiocordyceps

Get your tickets now for "THE FUTURE IS FUNGI" Event on 6/26/21:https://ffungi.org/eng/the-future-is-fungi/   Today we are joined be two powerful advocates for queendom fungi, Giuliana Furci and Nathalie Kelley. Giuliana’s journey began at the age of 19, looking for native foxes in a forest on the Island of Chiloé when she came across a fungus that changed her course. Giuliana believes that fungi choose you, and she heard that call. She did not find field guides on fungi in Chile, so she decided to write one in 2006. She studied Aquaculture and went from studying algae and studies on the negative impacts of salmon farming, to leaving everything and starting the Fungi Foundation – the world’s first NGO dedicated to fungal organisms.  Nathalie Kelley was born in Peru and raised in Australia by her Indigenous mother and grandmother. After working with street children in São Paulo, Brazil and Aboriginal inner-city youth in Redfern, Australia - she began her degree in Social Science and Policy at the University of UNSW. Not long after she started to work as an actress in film and television US, with notable roles in shows like Unreal, Dynasty and most recently as the star of ABC’s The Baker and the Beauty.  Despite this change of course she remained inwardly mindful of her privilege and responsibility to her indigenous heritage and people. She has become an advocate for Indigenous peoples, regenerative agriculture, the soil and the undervalued but invaluable role of fungi in our ecosystem. She is now committed to using her story telling skills to be a voice for the voiceless - creating narratives of hope around the power of nature to regenerate and heal and the integral part humans have to play in this process. Nathalie is on the board of Kiss the Ground and the Fungi Foundation.   TOPICS COVERED:   How Nat Discovered Queendom Fungi  Giuliana & Nat Connection with Divine Timing  Fungi Foundation’s Origins in Chile  Growth of the Fungi Foundation & Evolving Global Mission   Documenting Ancestral & Traditional Indigenous Interactions with Fungi  Indigenous Technologies will Yield the Biggest Future Discoveries in Mycology  Importance of Consent when Working with Indigenous Communities  Examples of Indigenous Communities Using Fungi  Indigenous Communities’ Responses to the Program  Fungi Foundation Transcending Its Foundress  Future of Fungi Event  Lineup of Inspirational Presenters  How to Get Involved with the Fungi Foundation  EPISODE RESOURCES:"Future is Fungi" Event: https://ffungi.org/eng/the-future-is-fungi/   Fungi Foundation Website: https://ffungi.org/   Fungi Foundation IG: https://www.instagram.com/fungifoundation/   Giuliana Furci IG: https://www.instagram.com/giulifungi/   Nat Kelley IG: https://www.instagram.com/natkelley/   Calostoma (Genera): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calostoma   Alloclavaria purpurea (Fungus): http://www.mushroomexpert.com/alloclavaria_purpurea.html

Today on the Mushroom Hour Podcast we are joined by Dr. Michael Perlin, Professor in Biology at the University of Louisville. Dr. Perlin’s interests drew him to study host/pathogen interactions at the University of Chicago and his PhD work centered on the evolution of bacterial resistance to certain classes of antibiotics/antimicrobials. As he was near to completing his degree, a friend of his stopped by the lab and introduced him to a different microbial system: a fungal pathogen that infects flowering species in the Carnation family and replaces the pollen of the flower with fungal spores. From that point he was hooked. Over the years he has continued to work on bacterial resistance, but in the last 10 years, he has shifted the focus of his lab exclusively to that on fungal plant pathogens, with projects encompassing three different types of pathogens on different hosts and the use of the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as a model tool in the exploration of some questions more easily investigated in this well-developed system. Dr. Perlin has roughly 70 peer-reviewed scientific articles in reputable journals, including Nature; mBio; BMC Genomics; Genes, Genomes, Genetics (GGG); Fungal Genetics and Biology; Journal of Bacteriology; Eukaryotic Cell; and Molecular Microbiology. As a member of a number of scientific organizations and a prolific teacher and mentor, Dr. Perlin has a far-reaching influence on his field and has directly played a role in the careers of many PhD students. I’m excited to learn more about how fungal phytopathogens that have a massive impact on human culture.   TOPICS COVERED:   Journey into the Life Sciences   Influence of Dr. Stephen Lerner   Antibiotic Era & Understanding Microbial Evolution in Preventing Antibiotic ResistanceFungal Phytopathogen Interactions   Emerging Disease from Fungal Plant Pathogens as Primary Threat to Modern Human Society   Physiology and Life Cycle of Smut Fungi  Systems Studied Over Three Decades of Research at University of Louisville  Extrapolating Insights from Fungal Pathogens to Other Systems  Dimorphic Switch from Benign Yeast Form to Infectious Filamentous Form  Signaling Pathways in Cells Triggering Dimorphic Transformation  Precautionary Principle in Science   Protein “Effectors” Produced by Pathogens that Manipulate Hosts   Perlin Lab and Collaborative Science   Studying Mitochondria Inheritance in Model Fungal Systems   EPISODE RESOURCES:   Dr. Perlin Website: https://louisville.edu/biology/faculty/perlin   Stephen Lerner (Inspiration): https://photoarchive.lib.uchicago.edu/db.xqy?one=apf1-10357.xml   Microbotryum violaceum (fungus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbotryum_violaceum   Ustilago maydis (fungus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_smut   Coccidia (pathogen): https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/coccidia   Ophiocordyceps unilateralis (fungus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiocordyceps_unilateralis   

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the privilege of speaking with Darren Springer AKA Darren Le Barron. Darren Springer is an educator, researcher and event organizer based in the UK. Known around the world for his Shroomshop Master classes he is a keen mushroom cultivator and teacher and has been growing gourmet and medicinal mushrooms for the last ten years. By day he is an Organic Horticulturist and Food Enterprise tutor and has translated his home growing experience into a social enterprise. Darren is the mycologist in residence at Somerset House, one of the largest communities of arts and creative enterprises in the UK. He is also a qualified Permaculture teacher and facilitator and supports businesses and communities to create sustainable working systems and environments. He is a member and presenter at the London Psychedelic Society, and is a chair and Breaking Convention committee member. Collectively his work aims to inform and empower individuals from diverse backgrounds to cope with social challenges and contribute to community development as well as self-improvement in an innovative, creative and culturally-aware style.   TOPICS COVERED:   The Kid Who Questioned Everything   Reconnecting with African Culture   Influence of Kilindi Iyi   Knowledge of Psychedelics within Traditional African Culture   Diaspora from the African Continent   Benefits of Reconnecting with Indigenous Ancestry   Psychedelic Plants & Fungi as Technology to Speak with the Ancestors   Rediscovering Who You Are, Where You’re From and Where You’re Going   Checking in with Indigenous Cultures Before Moving Forward   Creating New Systems vs. Petitioning the Old to Change   Growing Plants & Mushrooms is a Revolutionary Act   Shroomshop Classes & Mushroom Cultivation   Ancestor Project 3-Week Course & UK Mushroom Academy   Unlocking the Organic, Crystal Technology Inside the Human Body   EPISODE RESOURCES:   Darren Le Baron Website: https://www.darrenlebaron.com/   Darren Le Baron IG: https://www.instagram.com/darren_le_baron/   Psychedelic Emancipation Course Collaboration with The Ancestor Project: https://www.theancestorproject.com/psychedelic-emancipation   Shroomshop Master Classes: https://psychedelicsociety.org.uk/mushroom-cultivation-for-beginners   Jamaican Mushroom Growing Retreat w/ Silo Wellness: https://www.silowellness.com/retreats-programs/19/mushroom-growers-workshop-retreat/   Kilindi Iyi (Inspiration): http://babakilindi.com/

 Today on Mushroom Hour we are graced by the presence of wild food expert and author Robin Harford. Robin is a plant-based forager, ethnobotanical researcher and wild food educator. He has published numerous foraging guidebooks and established his own wild food foraging school in 2008. His foraging courses were recently voted #1 in the UK by BBC Countryfile. Robin is the creator of Eatweeds which is listed in The Times Top 50 websites for food and drink. He has travelled extensively documenting and recording the traditional and local uses of wild food plants in indigenous cultures. His work has taken him to Africa, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and the USA. Robin regularly appears on radio and occasionally on television. His work has been recommended in BBC Good Food magazine, Sainsbury’s magazine as well as in The Guardian, The Times, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph among others.     TOPICS COVERED:   Childhood in the Wilds of the Devon Countryside   Finding Freedom, Questioning Big Brother   Reconnecting with Nature as Somatic Healing   Sensory Method of Plant Identification    Power of Contemplative Practice & Bio-Individualism   Developing Relationship with Wild Plants as a Form of Activism   Finding Perspectives on Anger and Love   Foraging as an Act of Reverence   Processing Trauma & Addiction Through Somatic Experience with Plants   Living Wild Food Tradition of the Roamer Communities in England   In Search of Nomadic Hunter Gatherer Communities   The Oceanic Moken People & Anthropological Diversity   Getting Started Foraging & Preparing Wild Plants   Joining the Eatweeds Community   EPISODE RESOURCES:   Eatweeds Website:  https://www.eatweeds.co.uk/   Eatweeds Facebook Community:  https://www.facebook.com/foragingcourses   Frank Cook (Inspiration):  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_C._Cook_IV   Hildegard of Bingen (Inspiration):  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hildegard_of_Bingen    Laurel Luddite Paper:  https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/laurel-luddite-this-is-anarcha-herbalism-thoughts-on-health-and-healing-for-the-revolution    Latcho Drom (Film):  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latcho_Drom    Moken Culture:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moken    Against the Grain (Book):  https://www.amazon.com/Against-Grain-History-Earliest-States/dp/0300182910    Botanyeveryday:  http://www.botanyeveryday.com/  

Today on the Mushroom Hour Podcast we have the privilege of speaking with Dr. Matt Kasson, Associate Professor of Forest Pathology and Mycology at West Virginia University. Dr. Kasson received his Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from the Pennsylvania State University where his research focused on using a native fungus, Verticillium nonalfalfae, as a biological control of the invasive tree, Ailanthus altissima (tree-of-heaven). He also holds an A.A.S. from Paul Smiths College and a B.S. and M.S. from the University of Maine. His current research areas include fungal-arthropod interactions, biological control of invasive plants and pathogens, and the biology and ecology of historic and emerging diseases of forest trees. Dr. Kasson is currently the Director of the International Culture Collection of (Vesicular) Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (INVAM) and currently has research focused on the metabolites associated with interactions between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and their plant partners. Dr. Kasson teaches undergraduate courses on general plant pathology and forest pest management and offers special topics courses for graduate students including advanced plant disease diagnostics.  TOPICS COVERED:   Origin as a Young Naturalist in Susquehanna  Overview of Forest Pathology and Fungal Pathogens  Chestnut Blight, Dutch Elm Disease, Laurel Vascular Wilt  Reproductive Strategies of Pathogenic Fungi  Fungal Pathogens as a Bio-control Agent  The Precautionary Principle  Changing Environments & the Emergence of Pathogenic Disease  Adaptive, Facultative Capacities of Fungi  Massospora Fungi & Zombie Cicadas  Discovery of Psilocybin & Amphetamine in Massospora-Infected Cicadas  Future Research into Massospora Effects on Cicadas  Fungus Feeding Millipedes as Biodiversity Hotspots  Meeting the Team in the Kasson Lab at West Virginia University  Sage Advice for Academic Pursuits into Mycology  EPISODE RESOURCES:   Matt Kasson WVU Profile: https://www.davis.wvu.edu/faculty-staff/directory/matthew-kasson  Matt Kasson Twitter: https://twitter.com/kasson_wvu  Tree of Heaven: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ailanthus_altissima  Verticillium nonalfalfae (Fungi): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verticillium_nonalfalfae  Colletotrichum (Fungi Genus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colletotrichum  Cryphonectria parasitica (Fungi): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chestnut_blight  Massospora cicadina (Fungi): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massospora_cicadina  Brachycybe lecontii (Millipede): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachycybe_lecontii  Neonectria (Fungi Genus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonectria  

Today on Mushroom Hour we are joined by magnanimous mushroom mogul Britt Bunyard. Britt is the founder, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of the mycology journal Fungi. Britt received a Masters in Botany from Clemson University and a PhD in Plant Pathology from Penn State University. He has worked academically (and played very amateurishly) as a mycologist his entire career, writing scientifically for many research journals, popular science magazines, and books. He has served as an editor for mycological and entomological research journals, and mushroom guidebooks. A popular evangelizer on all things fungal, Britt has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered, National Geographic Magazine, PBS’s NOVA television program, and in 2016 was made Executive Director of the Telluride Mushroom Festival. He’s given talks on mushrooms ranging across so many different subjects, I’m excited to learn what he’s focused on now and what he sees as the future of mycophile culture.    TOPICS COVERED:   Childhood Foraging Morels in Ohio & Clutching an Audubon Guide  Dynamic Interplays of Entomology & Mycology  Insect & Macrofungi Symbioses  Flies, Yeasts & Mushrooms  The Birth of Fungi Magazine  Traveling the World Seeking Mushrooms & Stories  Most Popular FUNGI Magazine Issue about Genus Psilocybe  Explosion of Mycophilia Across the Western World  Promising Future of Mycoremediation Research  Revolution of Listening to Nature  Origins & Future of the Telluride Mushroom Festival  From Britt’s First Telluride to Becoming Executive Director of the Festival  Fungal Solutions Accommodating Human Population Growth  The Future for Britt & Fungi Magazine  EPISODE RESOURCES:   Fungi Magazine Website: http://fungimag.com/   Fungi Magazine Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/43995545858/   Drosophila melanogaster flies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drosophila_melanogaster   NAMA Website: https://namyco.org/   The Mycologist Journal (Inspiration): https://www.researchgate.net/journal/Mycologist-0269-915X   The Beginner's Guide to Mushrooms (Book): https://www.amazon.com/Beginners-Guide-Mushrooms-Everything-Cultivating/dp/1631599119/