Ep. 146: The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss & Psychedelic Biochemistry (feat. Dennis McKenna)

12/26/22 • 98 min

Today we are honored by the presence of the legendary Dr. Dennis McKenna. Dr. McKenna has conducted research in ethnopharmacology for over 40 years. He is a founding board member of the Heffter Research Institute, and was a key investigator on the Hoasca Project, the first biomedical investigation of ayahuasca. He is the younger brother of Terence McKenna. From 2000 to 2017, he taught courses on Ethnopharmacology and Plants in Human affairs as an adjunct Assistant Professor in the Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota. In 2018, Dr. McKenna conceived the McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy to explore modern and traditional practices, ideas and technologies that foster the understanding of nature, consciousness, the cosmos and their interweavings with humanity. The Academy’s mission is to be a catalyst for the transformation of global consciousness, through educational experiences that interweave our collective intelligence, science, and ancestral wisdom.
TOPICS COVERED:

The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss
The Experiment at La Chorrera
Ethnopharmacology
Tryptophan, Tryptamines & 5HT2A Receptors
Psychedelic Biochemistry
Messenger Molecules & Signal Transduction
Psychedelic Communications
Neural Gating & The Reality Hallucination
Future of Psychedelics in Modern, Western Culture
Psychedelics Sourced from South America – Short-Term Extraction, Long-Term Symbiosis?
Nature Wave Zero
Humans as an Endangered Species
Undiscovered Psychedelic Compounds
The McKenna Academy

EPISODE RESOURCES

McKenna Academy: https://mckenna.academy/
McKenna Academy IG: https://www.instagram.com/mckenna.academy/
"The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss": https://www.amazon.com/Brotherhood-Screaming-Abyss-Terence-McKenna/dp/0878396365
"Botanical Medicines: The Desk Reference for Major Herbal Supplements": https://typeset.io/papers/botanical-medicines-the-desk-reference-for-major-herbal-2df0ifn7xz
5-HT2A Receptors: https://en.wikipedia.org//wiki/5-HT2A_receptor
ESPD55 Website: https://espd55.com/
Stephen Harrod Buhner: https://www.stephenharrodbuhner.com/books/
Psilocybin: Magic Mushroom Grower's Guide: https://www.amazon.com/Psilocybin-Mushroom-Growers-Handbook-Enthusiasts-ebook/dp/B00BOE16V8

The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss
The Experiment at La Chorrera
Ethnopharmacology
Tryptophan, Tryptamines & 5HT2A Receptors
Psychedelic Biochemistry
Messenger Molecules & Signal Transduction
Psychedelic Communications
Neural Gating & The Reality Hallucination
Future of Psychedelics in Modern, Western Culture
Psychedelics Sourced from South America – Short-Term Extraction, Long-Term Symbiosis?
Nature Wave Zero
Humans as an Endangered Species
Undiscovered Psychedelic Compounds
The McKenna Academy

EPISODE RESOURCES

McKenna Academy: https://mckenna.academy/
McKenna Academy IG: https://www.instagram.com/mckenna.academy/
"The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss": https://www.amazon.com/Brotherhood-Screaming-Abyss-Terence-McKenna/dp/0878396365
"Botanical Medicines: The Desk Reference for Major Herbal Supplements": https://typeset.io/papers/botanical-medicines-the-desk-reference-for-major-herbal-2df0ifn7xz
5-HT2A Receptors: https://en.wikipedia.org//wiki/5-HT2A_receptor
ESPD55 Website: https://espd55.com/
Stephen Harrod Buhner: https://www.stephenharrodbuhner.com/books/
Psilocybin: Magic Mushroom Grower's Guide: https://www.amazon.com/Psilocybin-Mushroom-Growers-Handbook-Enthusiasts-ebook/dp/B00BOE16V8

Previous Episode

Ep. 145: Dynamite-Throwing Fungi, Itasca Research Station & How Decomposition Builds Character (feat. Prof Jonathan Schilling)

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the privilege of interviewing Professor Jonathan Schilling from the University of Minnesota. Jonathan has been on the faculty at the University of Minnesota since 2006, and is currently a professor in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology in the College of Biological Sciences. In addition to teaching and researching all things fungal, he is the Director at the Itasca Biological Station & Laboratories in northwestern Minnesota. This field station for science is tucked into thirty-two thousand acres of old growth boreal forests within the second oldest State Park in the United States. The station also sits next to a lake, Lake Itasca, which is known as the headwaters of the Mississippi River. He assumed that position in 2018. Adding these duties to his job was, in his words, "a reflection of my deep connection and commitment to nature that was forged in the mountains of West Virginia as a kid, along the entirety of the Appalachian Trail as a young adult, and among family and friends in a Saint Paul neighborhood who have shown how important community is to conservation.
TOPICS COVERED:

Drawn into the Boreal Forest
Role of Fungi in Forest Acid Deposition
Basics of Wood-Rotting Saprobic Fungi
White Rot, Brown Rot & Soft Rot Fungi
Historical Contingency and Succession in Wood Rot
Fungi in the Carbon Cycle
Jonathan’s Lignin Uncertainty
Patterns in Distributions of Wood Rot Fungi
Pre-White Rot Fungi Coal Formation Hypothesis
Wood Rot 2 Step - Fungi Throwing Dynamite & Avoiding the Blowback
Itasca Research Station
Community Science & Assembling the A Team
Advice for Pursuing Studies in Mycology
Decomposition Builds Character

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Jonathan Schilling Academic Page: https://cbs.umn.edu/contacts/jonathan-schilling
Itasca Biological Research Station: https://cbs.umn.edu/itasca
PLOS ONE Research Article: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0120679
Frontiers of Microbiology Research Article: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.01646/full
Fomitopsis pinicola (fungus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fomitopsis_pinicola
Fomitopsis betulina (fungus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fomitopsis_betulina

Next Episode

Ep. 147: World Wild - Guiding a Lost Society Back to Nature (feat. Miles Irving)

Today on Mushroom Hour we are excited to chat with internationally renowned wild foods expert, author, and public speaker Miles Irving. Miles has worked with some of the world's best chefs and has been a pioneer in the Wild Food Renaissance. In 2009, he authored The Forager Handbook, hailed by many as the 'foraging bible'. Through communicating with people around the world and delving deep into the environmental - and emotional - issues facing us, he has sought to bring together traditional ecological knowledge and those hungry for land-based connection, community, and culture. Reconnecting with the life-giving wild land which has long sustained us is key. There is not only a way forward but a wildly different way of looking at the world.
TOPICS COVERED: