Best Steve Paulson Podcasts (2025)

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Thomas Metzinger on why we need a “culture of consciousness” 40:31

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2M ago40:31

40:31

Thomas Metzinger is a renowned German philosopher. He has a longtime fascination with psychedelics, stemming from his own experience and also from his work as an analytic philosopher. He says altered states of consciousness give us profound insights into the nature of the mind. And he believes modern society has an ethical imperative to foster a “c…

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Marcelo and Kari Gleiser on tripping with your partner 1:00:42

5M ago1:00:42

1:00:42

Most psychedelic stories are highly personal, but there’s a different dynamic when two people share the experience — especially a married couple. Steve talks with theoretical physicist Marcelo Gleiser and clinical psychologist Kari Gleiser about their transformative experiences. Original Air Date: May 9, 2025 Guests: Marcelo Gleiser, Kari Gleiser N…

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Chris Timmerman on how DMT can deconstruct the mind 54:25

7M ago54:25

54:25

Chris Timmerman is a neuroscientist with a deep interest in phenomenology—what’s actually happening in our minds during psychedelic experiences. He leads the DMT Research Group at Imperial College, where he’s found that a single psychedelic experience can transform a person’s belief system, often turning materialists into panpsychists. In this wide…

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Spring Washam, the Buddhist Shaman 49:22

8M ago49:22

49:22

Buddhist meditation and psychedelic journeys have a lot of shared DNA—both take you deep inside your mind and can change your life. But many Buddhists say psychedelics violate the prohibition against intoxicants. Do they? Spring Washam straddles this divide as both a Buddhist teacher and founder of an ayahuasca church. Her own story is fascinating—…

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Do psychedelics reveal a deeper dimension of reality? 43:32

10M ago43:32

43:32

There’s a huge question swirling around the really big psychedelic experiences. Are these mind-blowing trips just hallucinations – the brain shot full of chemicals, playing tricks on you - or do they crack open some transpersonal dimension of consciousness? Most scholars who study psychedelics won’t go anywhere near this question, and yet it’s cent…

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Katherine MacLean on Mushrooms and the Limits of Consensus Reality 49:18

1y ago49:18

49:18

Psychedelic people are practicing at the very edge of anyone else’s comfort zone,” says psychologist Katherine MacLean, author of the psychedelic memoir “Midnight Water.” MacLean was a pioneering psychedelic researcher at Johns Hopkins, who then left her job to pursue her own unconventional psychedelic journey. She talks with Steve Paulson about he…

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Erik Davis on LSD, the psychedelic underground and visionary experience 44:36

1y ago44:36

44:36

Erik Davis’ “Blotter” is really three books in one: It’s about the way LSD tabs were embedded in blotter paper so they wouldn’t be detected by the authorities; it’s also a deep dive into the psychedelic underground; and finally, it’s an art book — gorgeously illustrated, with lots of very trippy blotter art. Steve talks with Erik about the wildness…

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Did the ancient Greeks use drugs to find God? 49:47

1+ y ago49:47

49:47

Brian Muraresku makes the controversial argument that the famous Eleusinian Mysteries were fueled by a psychedelic wine. And he speculates that this secret ceremony, with its mind-altering drugs, became the Eucharist — the foundational event of early Christianity. Original Air Date: May 04, 2024 Guests: Brian Muraresku More from Luminous: ttbook.or…

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A brief history of getting high 47:41

1+ y ago47:41

47:41

It’s remarkable how fast psychedelics have gone mainstream. Just look at how so many major universities are racing to set up their own psychedelic institutes. Psilocybin and MDMA are now considered the most promising treatments for depression and PTSD that we’ve had in decades. But this is not the first time psychoactive drugs were hailed as miracl…

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Is it the drug or is it the trip? 52:23

2y ago52:23

52:23

For all the talk about how psychedelics might transform psychiatric care, there's still a fascinating question at the heart of psychedelic science. Is it the mind-blowing experience that fundamentally changes a person’s outlook on life? Or is it the powerful molecules that rewire the brain? Check out more from the series at ttbook.org/luminous. Ori…

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Can you have too much transcendence? 37:56

2y ago37:56

37:56

Some people dabble in psychedelics, others are more serious psychonauts. And then there’s Chris Bache. Over the course of 20 years, he had 73 high-dose LSD experiences — doses so high that the human body couldn’t tolerate anything more. For Bache, who was a religion professor, these were journeys into deeper dimensions of reality. These were grueli…

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Can psychedelics be decolonized? 52:27

2y ago52:27

52:27

It’s easy to get caught up in the hype about how psychedelics might revolutionize the treatment of mental illness. But there are also lots of ethical concerns. And probably none are so troubling as the charges of exploitation and cultural appropriation. The fact is, the knowledge about many psychedelics — like magic mushrooms and ayahuasca — comes …

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What happens to an octopus on MDMA? 50:39

2y ago50:39

50:39

Psychedelics have a unique capacity to open up the mind so that everything feels fresh and full of possibilities. Especially as you get older, it can be easy to get stuck in a rut — but under a psychedelic, the brain can become more plastic. This time period, though, is limited - it might last just a few days, or a few weeks. So it’s really importa…

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Your Brain on Shrooms 52:33

2y ago52:33

52:33

Can neuroscience explain what happens to the brain on psychedelics? And even if we map the brain while it’s tripping, does that tell us why these experiences can be so transformative? We’ll talk with some of the pioneers in psychedelic research — from Amanda Feilding’s boundary-busting work to Robin Carhart-Harris’ theory of the "entropic brain." A…

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Melissa Etheridge on Ayahuasca 16:03

2y ago16:03

16:03

Just a few years ago, it was pretty unusual to hear big-time celebrities talk about their own psychedelic experiences. But that stigma is starting to fade thanks to people like the rock star and music icon Melissa Etheridge. For her, this psychedelic renaissance has gotten very personal. Three years ago, her son Beckett died at the age of 21 from a…

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Building The Psychedelic Revolution 36:54

2+ y ago36:54

36:54

In the last decade, an unlikely place has emerged as a hub for the latest psychedelic renaissance — Madison, Wisconsin. And the Usona Institute is a major part of that. Usona is currently building a 93,000-square foot structure devoted to psychedelics. There’s nothing else like it. The man behind it all is the psychedelic CEO Bill Linton. He prefer…

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What Can Psychedelics Teach Us About Dying? 51:59

2+ y ago51:59

51:59

In the first episode of "Luminous," our series about the philosophy and the future of psychedelics, how can psilocybin ease our fears about dying? And how can psychedelics change the way we approach the end of life? Original Air Date: April 08, 2023 Interviews In This Hour: How a pioneering psychedelic researcher 'leaned in' to his terminal cancer …

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Coming April 8: Luminous, a podcast about psychedelics 4:05

2+ y ago4:05

4:05

Are you ready for the psychedelic revolution? In the next few years, the FDA is likely to approve these mind-bending drugs for treating depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Some states have already decriminalized psilocybin, the active ingredient in "magic" mushrooms. But for all the headlines, many questions are swirling around this psyc…