A conversation with Burt Shonberg biographer Spencer Kansa about LA bohemia, psychedelic art, Marjorie Cameron, gumshoe biography, and his new book Out There: The Transcendent Life and Art of Burt Schonberg. http://burtshonberg.com/
A conversation with Sylvia Thyssen, senior editor at the Erowid Center, about experience reports, drug geekery, Shulgin's notebooks, and Erowid's current Pineapple fund-matching drive.
A conversation with futurist, inventor, and educator Mark Pesce about Faustian bargains, Facebook mind control, surveillance capitalism, and his bracing recent article “The Last Days of Reality.” https://www.markpesce.com/
A conversation with historian of religion April DeConick about altered states, religious conspiracy theory, and her new book The Gnostic New Age.
A chat with occult writer and drug geek Julian Vayne about Baphomet, the (sur)reality of spirits, evolution, ritualizing entheogens, and his new book Getting Higher: The Manual of Psychedelic Ceremony. https://theblogofbaphomet.com/
A lively discussion with "meditation MacGyver" Jeff Warren about polyspirituality, Buddhist hedonism, the X-factor of awareness, and how he contributed to Dan Harris's new book Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics (Spiegel & Grau). http://jeffwarren.org/
A fascinating conversation with computer scientist and freak-geek extraordinaire Dr. Bruce Damer about innovation pools, realm-bending, Terence McKenna, and a powerful new scientific vision about the origins of life.
Psychologist and consciousness researcher Susan Blackmore talks about astral cords, brain regions, Zen koans, and her recent book Seeing Myself: The New Science of Out-of-Body Experiences (Robinson). https://www.susanblackmore.co.uk/
A wide-ranging conversation with historian of religion Dustin Atlas about certainty, skepticism, antisemitism, gnosis, and the politics of knowledge. Read Dustin’s blog thoughts on this and other matters at https://blogblawgblog.wordpress.com/ .
Guitarist and artist David Arnson talks about his long-running psychedelic surf band Insect Surfers, along with comments on rare dolphins, reverb units, pictures in your mind, and his eye-boggling new coloring book Insect Surfers & Alien Allies. http://www.insectsurfers.com/
Religious scholar Sarah M. Pike talks about wilderness conversion, Hare Krishna hardcore, feral wonder, and her illuminating new book For the Wild: Ritual and Commitment in Radical Eco-Activism (University of California).
Legendary electronic musician Pauline Anna Strom talks about space music, intuition and imagination, being blind, and her new compilation Trans-Millennia Music (Rvng Intl.)
Writer, photographer, and curator Joanna Ebenstein talks about Goth obsessions, memento mori, Santa Muerta, and her extraordinary new illustrated collection Death: A Graveside Companion (Thames & Hudson).
Electronic musician and podcaster Marc Kate talks about nihilism, horror movies, New Age music, and transmuting Nazi black metal into the ambient soundscapes of his latest album, Deface. www.marckate.com
Poet and wilderness writer Andrew Schelling talks about his new biography Tracks Along the Left Coast (Counterpoint), which tells the story of Jaime De Angulo (1887-1950): Big Sur bohemian, California Indian anthropologist, and great Coyote poet.
Academic psychologist Thomas Joiner talks about the mindfulness craze, stoicism, the trouble with “trauma,” and his trenchant new book Mindlessness: The Corruption of Mindfulness in a Culture of Narcissism (Oxford).
Scholar, writer, and mythographer William Rowlandson talks about Jorge Luis Borges, magical trees, Yankee mysticism, and the power of the weird and murky. https://williamrowlandson.wordpress.com/
Futurist, science journalist, and Boing Boing co-editor David Pescovitz discusses space exploration, Carl Sagan the stoner, and the recent release of the Voyager Golden Record.
Neurologist and world-class Parkinson’s expert Professor A.J. Lees talks about William S. Burroughs, self-experimentation, ayahuasca, and his terrific medical memoir Mentored by a Madman: The William Burroughs Experiment.
Israeli therapist, spiritual teacher, and psychedelic activist Galia Tanay talks about deep dharma practice, the problems with mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy, and how psychedelics shape the self.
Computer scientist, artist, and UC Berkeley robotics professor Ken Goldberg talks about autonomous vehicles, tele-gardens, free speech on campus, and the Singularity myth.
Designer and technology critic Adam Greenfield talks about magic bullets, the melancholy of machines, Tesla’s Autopilot, and his must-read new book Radical Technologies: The Design of Everyday Life (Verso).
Professional “psycho-diviner" (and former Expanding Mind co-host) Maja D’Aoust talks about solstice magic, liquid archetypes, artificial intelligence, and her hypnogogic new Tarot deck White Witch Tarot.
Grateful Dead scholar and professor Ulf Olsson talks about improvisation, self-organization, pirate ships, and his new book Listening for the Secret: The Grateful Dead and the Politics of Improvisation (University of California Press).
Performer, writer, and MC Mark Petrakis, aka Spoonman, talks about San Francisco Dada, avant-vaudeville, spontaneous spirituality, and the importance of disregarding precision.
Novelist, poet and conceptual artist Rachel Nagelberg talk about trauma, technology, ayahuasca, and her intense and resonant debut novel The Fifth Wall. http://www.rachelnagelberg.com/
Performer, director and playwright Daisy Campbell talks about Robert Anton Wilson, the dangers of synchronicity, and her recent staging of Cosmic Trigger: the Play.
Research scientist and UK sociologist Tehseen Noorani talks about hearing voices, pharmacological biases, studying psilocybin studies, and the importance of trickster teachers. His talk at Psychedelic Science is available here .
Artist, author, and educator John Cussans talks about zombie cinema, revolutionary transgression, the politics of race, and his new book Undead Uprising: Haiti, Horror and the Zombie Complex.
Musician, sound artist, and 78 collector Robert Millis talks about hunting for records in India, the spectral mysteries of 78 records, Sublime Frequencies, and the sacred universe of Indian classical music. https://robertmillis.net
