Word Up with Dani Katz: Psychedelics + the Military Industrial Complex (Part 1)
Check out my latest interview on Word Up with Dani Katz
Hey everyone,
Dropping in your inbox to share my latest interview, this one with Dani Katz from Word Up. We discussed one of my favorite topics: the connection(s) between the psychedelic industry and the military industrial complex.
Check it out:
In Part 1 we explore:
• My personal background in the field; various red flags I encountered as I got deeper into advocacy
• Reading + re-reading (+ re-reading again) Acid Dreams (1985) by Martin A. Lee and Bruce Shlain, a groundbreaking, classic text on the politics of LSD
• My own work, specifically Drugism (2022) and High and Mighty: How People in Power Use Drugs (forthcoming, 2023)
• How the complex relationship between drugs and warfare traces back to the ancient history of salt
• The legacy of Timothy Leary, the Human Be-In, etc.
In Part 2 (which will be available for paid subscribers later this weekend), we explore:
• Plato, Aristotle, and the impact of classical philosophy on MK-ULTRA + the War on Drugs
• Why is microdosing so popular?
• Peter Thiel + Leafly
• How the Vietnam War affected THC levels in cannabis
• Hallucinations by Louis Jolyon West + Ronald K. Siegel: an obscure but notable book by a top MK-ULTRA scientist
• The public response to my work
I’ll be back in a couple days with Part 2, which will be available for paid subscribers.
In the meantime, check out some other stuff from Dani Katz. She is extremely prolific and has interviewed dozens of other guests about all sorts of interesting topics. Visit her Patreon to support her work, and check out the Words Podcast that she hosts with Emily Moyer. You can make a one-time donation to Dani here.
I would also like to give a shout-out to Robert Forte, who introduced me to Dani. Robert has compiled and edited several important texts within the field of psychedelia and is currently working on a memoir about his long, storied career. You can check out an interview he did with Dani here, subscribe to his Substack here, and visit his website here.