The Mushroom Hour Podcast

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the privilege of interviewing William Goss. William graduated with a B.S. in Plant Genetics from UC Davis, with a Fungal Biology and Ecology minor. He has taken a passion for mycology and turned it into an impressive and multifaceted career. In this interview, we focus on his efforts as an activist leader for the "Decriminalize California" organization. If you live in California, please see the links below to support Decriminalize CA and/or support their united effort to reform California's legislative process and defend citizen initiatives.Join us on a trip to the sunny shores of California on the front lines of psilocybin mushroom decriminalization. We'll dive deep into the statewide legislative initiative currently being championed by Decriminalize CA. William will help us define what decriminalization really means and the reasoning behind the idea that psilocybin mushrooms should be decriminalized. We'll walk through arguments against decriminalizing psychoactive substances while also exploring the repercussions of the current drug war and prohibition. We even touch on the current clinical research on psilocybin as a therapeutic and if those efforts are mutually exclusive from decriminalization.City councils of Santa Cruz and Oakland have passed resolutions that decriminalize various entheogenic plants and fungi - but are there still legal repercussions for possessing these substances? What is the importance and power of pursuing a statewide legislative initiative? How can the different decriminalize movements work together to achieve change?As our conversation continues, we actually uncover a huge roadblock for citizen participation in government. California requires that any citizen group who wants to have a new legislative initiative put up for vote, must gather signatures from their fellow citizens "in-person". It seems that our civic processes have not caught up to the digital age and in the era of COVID-19, this deficiency could severely hinder our rights as citizens to effect change within our state government. This interview is a great discussion of the modern movements surrounding psilocybin mushrooms and also an important call to action for every citizen to make sure we preserve our civil liberties and citizen initiatives. Thanks for listening and Mush Love!   Directed, Recorded, Produced by: Mushroom Hour  (@welcome_to_mushroom_hour)  Music by: Ancient Baby   Art by: Wyn Di Stefano   Episode Resources   Decriminalize CA IG: https://www.instagram.com/decrimcaDecriminalize CA Website: https://decrimca.org**Change.org to Legalize Digital Signatures for Citizen-Led Legislative Initiatives**: https://www.change.org/p/gavin-newsom-isigndigitally-stop-the-spread-of-covid-19-by-making-electronic-signatures-legal

Today on Mushroom Hour, we have the exciting opportunity to chat with Ashley Granter, ecological designer and co-founder of Natura Design. Let's hop into Ashley's mobile mycology lab and get out in the woods. We'll got foraging for mushrooms, but instead of edibles we'll be looking for specimens that show potential to be used as a myco-material. Mushrooms are like witches & wizards of the forest, spewing forth an incredible array of chemicals that give them amazing properties. What do we look for in mushrooms that might be useful as a material? How do the properties of a mushroom fruit body translate to its mycelium?We'll see how Natura's team uses mycelium to digest industrial waste streams and transform them into beautiful products. What are some of the practical applications of mycelium as a material - what can we make with it?! From consumer products to building materials to even far-out applications like circuitry, the possibilities seem endless. We wrap up with discussions of the future, including the importance of open source knowledge that allows more and more people to explore these exciting new fields of bio-design and bio-materials. Collaboration, creative thinking and not being afraid to try new things can lead to some amazing discoveries and expand the limits of what's possible.Thanks for listening and Mush Love!   Directed, Recorded, Produced by: Mushroom Hour  (@welcome_to_mushroom_hour)  Music by: Ancient Baby   Art by: Wyn Di Stefano   Episode Resources   Natura Design IG: https://www.instagram.com/natura_studios/Natura Design: https://naturadesign.org/Biohm: https://www.biohm.co.uk/

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the wonderful opportunity to interview Jme Bonfiglio, medicinal mushroom evangelist and founder of Wholesun Wellness.   Our conversation begins as Jme lifts the veil and leads us through the vast landscape of medicinal mushrooms. Her own journey began with powerful healing experiences using chaga mushrooms. She soon found herself working with Paul Stamets himself in the heart of the US medicinal mushroom industry.  We'll ask some big questions at the center of the "Shroom Boom" and see behind the scenes. Where are all the medicinal mushrooms coming from? How do you maintain integrity through the whole supply chain? Are the mushrooms being imported truly the potent medicines that manufacturers (and consumers) think they're buying? What are the standards when it comes to measuring compounds and general testing of medicinal mushrooms?  Beyond just making high-integrity supplements, Jme aims to change the 'shroom supply chain game. This starts with hands-on, responsible sourcing and ultimately manifests in her ambitious plan to build a huge medicinal mushroom farm, testing and processing facility in the heart of Utah. Her goal is to help create a decentralized network of domestic producers that can meet the exploding mushroom demand and bolster economies around the country.  And that's just the beginning! Hear more miraculous tales of the works wrought by this mushroom maven - fungi inventions that may stem the tide of endless plastic waste, promising therapeutic research being sponsored in Mexico that focuses specifically on psilocybin mushroom fruit bodies and an inaugural Utah Fungi Festival. Her passion for mushrooms is palpable and the scope of her projects is inspiring.   Thanks for listening and Mush Love!   Directed, Recorded, Produced by: Mushroom Hour  (@welcome_to_mushroom_hour)  Music by: Ancient Baby   Art by: Wyn Di Stefano   Episode Resources   Wholesun Wellness IG: https://www.instagram.com/wholesunwellness/   Wholesun Wellness: http://www.wholesunwellness.com   Utah Fungi Fest: https://www.utahfungifest.com/   

On this episode of Mushroom Hour, we have the honor of interviewing Craig Trester of MYC.NYC.   Strap yourself in for a mind-blowing conversation as Craig walks us through a veritable masterclass in soil biology and the soil food web, including the interactions of fungi and other microorganisms. He shares the secrets of working with the passive systems of nature to regenerate our environment through bio-remediation and myco-remediation. The constant theme is that everything starts with the cultivation of healthy, life-rich soil. How does fungi work with other microorganisms to create healthy soil? How can healthy soil kick-start a restoration of its surrounding ecosystem? What are the steps and ingredients in creating healthy soil?   Taking this knowledge into the heart of New York City, we'll see how Craig is inspiring the next generation of young minds with an appreciation of mycology and soil science. We'll journey into creeks full of "black mayonnaise" and witness bio-remediation in practice and how the restoration of healthy soils really can restore an urban environment.     The knowledge expounded in this interview is like a blueprint for tangible, positive change. The best tool we can give the next generations inheriting the Earth is this compendium of knowledge that can restore our natural ecology and, in so doing, change our social ecology with a shift from a scarcity mindset to a mindset of abundance.  Thanks for listening and Mush Love! Directed, Recorded, Produced by: Mushroom Hour(@welcome_to_mushroom_hour) Music by: Ancient Baby  Art by: Wyn Di Stefano Episode Resources   Craig Trester IG:  https://www.instagram.com/nyc.myc   New York Mycological Society:  http://newyorkmyc.org  Youtube - Professor Dave Explains:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0cd_-e49hZpWLH3UIwoWRA  Books Adding Biology - For Soil and Hydroponic Systems (Elaine Ingham & Carol Ann Rollins): https://www.amazon.com/Adding-Biology-Soil-Hydroponic-Systems/dp/0979756103  Teaming with Fungi (Jeff Lowenfels): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1604697296/  Teaming with Microbes (Jeff Lowenfels): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1604691131/  Teaming with Nutrients (Jeff Lowenfels): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1604693142/  Oxford Press: Very Short Introductions: https://www.veryshortintroductions.com    Microbia (Eugenia Bone): https://www.amazon.com/Microbia-Journey-Unseen-World-Around/dp/1623367352  Mycophilia (Eugenia Bone): https://www.amazon.com/Mycophilia-Revelations-Weird-World-Mushrooms/dp/B00P71GXYO  Mycorrhizal Planet (Michael Phillips): https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/mycorrhizal-planet/   Mycorrhizal Symbiosis: https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780123705266/mycorrhizal-symbiosis

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the joy of interviewing Mandie Quark AKA Mushroom Madman. Mandie is an intriguing blend of artist and scientist who has been completely taken over by mushrooms.   Our journey takes us to the temperate rainforests of North Carolina - one of the only rainforests in North America. We start our chat with a brief history of Mandie Quark. Her impressive academic career saw her explore pharmacognosy, ethnobotany and eventually receive a Masters Degree in Biochemistry. Mandie made the decision to hang up her academic lab coat in 2018 to pursue an alternative career path centered around mycology with her partner-in-mushrooms, Michael Weese of MushroomLife.   Our conversation takes us into mushroom foraging, mushroom identification, genetic sequencing of mushrooms how Mandie is sharing her vast knowledge of chemistry to further other citizen scientists' endeavors in the world of mycology. We wrap up talking about her upcoming "Chemistry for Mycologists" classes and an amazing "Rainforest Mycology Convergence" educational bonanza planned for Summer 2020.   Thanks for listening and Mush Love!    Directed, Recorded, Produced by: Mushroom Hour  (@welcome_to_mushroom_hour)    Music by: Ancient Baby   Art by: Wyn Di Stefano   Episode Resources   Mandie Quark IG: https://www.instagram.com/mushroom_madman/  Mandie Quark Website:  https://www.mushroommadman.com/  Michael Weese IG:  https://www.instagram.com/mushroomlyfe/  Michael Weese Website:  https://mushroomlife.com/  NAMA:  https://namyco.org/  Book - Mushrooms of Northeastern North America:  https://www.amazon.com/Mushrooms-Northeastern-North-America-Bessette/dp/0815603886  Book - Plant Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm:   https://www.amazon.com/Plant-Intelligence-Imaginal-Realm-Perception/dp/1591431352  Mushroom - Terana Caerulea:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terana_caerulea  

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the privilege of interviewing Mr. Neil Thenier of Wild Kingdom Extracts. Neil is a life-long forager, musician, and an IIN (Institute for Integrative Nutrition) health coach. Our chat starts with an exploration of the compounds that make both medicinal and gourmet mushrooms such nutritional powerhouses. What are polysaccharides and terpenes and why are they good for us?  Neil’s team at Wild Kingdom creates amazing medicinal mushroom extracts that are optimized to supercharge your body using a dual-extraction method. But what are the differences between dual-extraction, alcohol extraction and hot water extraction and why does it matter? And is there a difference between compounds present in wild mushrooms compared to cultivated mushrooms? Sustainability in foraging is a hot topic, so let's learn the methods Wild Kingdom uses to source medicinal mushrooms and how to implement some next level ecologically-friendly practices into your own foraging. We wrap up with a little perspective on the priorities of our modern, hyper-commercialized culture and how an explosion of interest in re-wilding is opening new possibilities for us to co-create a brighter future.Thanks for listening and Mush Love! Directed, Recorded, Produced by: Mushroom Hour  Music by: Ancient Baby Art by: Wyn Di Stefano Episode Resources Wild Kingdom Instagramhttps://wildkingdomextracts.com/Arthur Haines (Research on Potency of Wild Foods)

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the joy of interviewing Jess Starwood. Jess is a master forager, plant-based chef, teacher, and herbalist with a Masters of Science degree in Herbal Medicine from the American College of Healthcare Sciences. She hosts wild food workshops in Southern California as well as other sites in the Western US and Mexico. We kick things off with our own observations on how a connection to the natural world aids in balancing in our spiritual, mental and physical health. Then get your forage gear together for a trip into the wild, or maybe even just the backyard, to meet some amazing wild plants and mushrooms.  We'll chat about the nutritional virtues of wild foods that are all around us and how to embody what Jess calls "The Forager's Mindset" - What can we forage from forests (or even situations!) to make things work and tap into the invisible abundance at our fingertips? Looking at foraging and its growing popularity in the context of a broader ecological framework, foragers are faced with some important questions. Is there enough wild food for everyone to go foraging in places like LA? What are sustainable practices we can be mindful of in picking wild plants and mushrooms? In the effort to manage invasive fungi and plant species, could be the best solution be found in learning how to harness and eat them? We finish our conversation with a dazzling display of wild food recipes that will leave you feeling inspired. Thanks for listening and Mush Love! Directed, Recorded, Produced by: Mushroom Hour  Music by: Ancient Baby Art by: Wyn Di Stefano Episode Resources Jess Starwood Instagram https://jstarwood.com/ 

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the privilege of interviewing the distinguished Tugrul De Luce, or “Tug” for short. For the last 12 years of his life, he has ventured on an epic journey into the world of fungi. He has traveled into the wilds of North and South America with world famous mycologists, and has explored the frontiers of mushroom identification. We start our conversation with the principles of wild mushroom identification. How important is a knowledge of trees when foraging and identifying wild mushrooms? What are the physical characteristics that matter most when you're identifying a mushroom? What can we learn from spore prints? Before you know it, we find ourselves journeying between the jungles of Ecuador, Bolivia and Mexico hunting wild cordyceps and other exotic fungi. We'll hear about Tug's mentors and legends in mycology like Larry Evans and Alan Rockefeller. The conversation wraps up with a look at future projects that include responsibly exploring the therapeutic use of psychedelic mushrooms in Jamaica. Thanks for listening and Mush Love! Directed, Recorded, Produced by: Mushroom Hour  Music by: Ancient Baby  Art by: Wyn Di Stefano  Episode Resources Two Gnomes Chester County Mycological Association (Pennsylvania) Larry Evans Institute for Psychosomatic Mycophagy 

On this episode of Mushroom Hour, we have the privilege of interviewing the man behind MycTyson Mushrooms. Myc has years of professional mushroom growing experience, founded the Reddit.com/r/MushroomGrowers community and has spent the past 8 years on his own intensive cultivation and research projects. He's best known for his Hericium erinaceus or lions mane mushrooms! Our chat starts by diving into the digital to talk about how online communities should provide safe spaces for new mycophiles to learn and grow in their journey of exploring mushroom cultivation. We reveal some sage wisdom and useful resources for those who want to start growing their own mushrooms. What is the most critical thing to have in your toolkit when you decide you want to dive deeper into the world of mushroom growing? True to his nickname, we enter the lion's den and learn about the medicinal properties of lions mane and Myc's lions mane breeding program. Pulling from 30+ wild strains of this potent medicinal, he hopes to develop a powerful strain that will be a vigorous grower loaded with beneficial compounds (and maybe sporeless!). Finally, we talk about a new book in the works to help everyone grow lions mane and how MycTyson Mushrooms is planning to support mushroom farming efforts in developing countries. Thanks for listening and Mush Love! Directed, Recorded, Produced by: Mushroom Hour Music by: Ancient Baby Art by: Wyn Di Stefano Episode Resources MycTyson Mushrooms Reddit.com/r/MushroomGrowers Reddit.com/r/MycoBazaar Mushroom Cultivation by Peter Oei (book) Fungal Pharmacy by Robert Rogers (book) Lions Mane Research Articles 

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the distinct pleasure of interviewing Fern Freud, who comes to us all the way from Southern England. Fern developed her skills as a mushroom forager early in life and has since become a prolific plant forager as well.With this member of the storied Freud family, we travel to the misty shores of England and explore UK foraging culture. Fern will lead our group through the woods and show us, not only an abundance of wild food, but also the bond that is formed by foraging in community. We'll talk about escaping the low-level stress of modern urban living and how spending time in the forest can recharge your spirit.We finish the interview with a conversation about the role of folklore in culture and specifically the lore of the land in England. Could folk tales be time capsules of important herbal and medicinal knowledge passed down through the generations? Thanks for listening and Mush Love! Directed, Recorded, Produced by: Mushroom Hour  Music by: Ancient Baby  Episode Resources Foraged by FernLore of the Land (Book)