The amount of information available to us in the internet age is seemingly endless. Amid today’s psychedelic renaissance, one might find their timeline filled with constant updates on the latest research study, product, or treatment to be touted by media and industry. This constant barrage of news and discussions of the news (often in just 280 characters—yikes) might explain why podcasts have become so popular: In 2020, more than one-fifth of US Americans listened to a podcast at least weekly.
Knowledgeable podcast hosts can help us make sense of all this data, shaping it into stories that our minds can digest and hold. But even the podcasts themselves are endless! Apple’s library alone boasts over two million. To help you find the shining gems within all the noise, DoubleBlind has compiled this list of our favorite podcasts about psychedelics.
Best Podcasts on Psychedelics
We chose podcasts that are both educational and entertaining. Some focus on storytelling, while others involve interviews with experts, psychonauts, and healers. Our seven recommendations are diverse; you might choose one that focuses on mental health, music, or intersectional activism—all through a psychedelic lens. All but one of these are still in production, with new episodes appearing regularly.
Truth Be Told with Tonya Mosley
Truth Be Told is a podcast from seasoned NPR reporter and co-host of Fresh Air, Tonya Mosely. Mosley’s podcast has long explored how to grow and thrive as a Black person in America—and season five is all about psychedelics. The season, titled “How To Get Free: The Psychedelic Renaissance for Black America,” dives into how psychedelics like psilocybin mushrooms and MDMA may assist with healing racial trauma.
In each episode, Mosley gets deeply personal. The story kicks off with two trips: One to Jamacia and another on psilocybin mushrooms. But, upon arrival at a psychedelic retreat center, Mosley faces a jarring reality: Although psychedelic traditions come from Indigenous and African lineages, all retreat staff and guests are white. Follow Mosley’s journey as she investigates history, pain, healing, and liberation over the course of seven intimate podcast episodes. Hear from wise ones—interviewees—along the way.
READ: Growing Mushrooms as a Source of BIPOC Healing
Psychedelic Psoul
Another pod that stands out from the pack is Psychedelic Psoul. It’s more like a radio show, focused on sharing the tradition of psychedelic music dating back to the 1960s. Its impressive 86-episode run has looked at artists like The Beatles, Jim Morrison, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Electric Light Orchestra, and Kate Bush. Special episodes have featured Spanish-language music and even Halloween and Christmas songs.
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Host Jessie Delgado, writer and musician, shares occasional commentary on musical history and trends while devoting most of the episodes to the music, playing not only familiar hits but deep cuts and rare recordings you’ve probably never heard. This might be a good one to turn to when you’re actually in the midst of your own psychedelic journey.
Ten Laws Podcast with East Forest
“How do we walk our walk on this beautiful and rapidly changing world?” asks East Forest. With climate change and an increasingly polarized global culture, we’re experiencing a time of great transition—so where are our next steps? And how do we take them with grace?
The Ten Laws Podcast with East Forest explores topics related to art, spirituality, philosophy, and living. East Forest is a multi-genre music artist who explores music as therapy. Occasionally, he releases new music during the podcast and leads guided meditations. Most of the time, though, he chats with rather interesting guests. Interviewees range from famous artists to activists to scientists and outlaws. Dive deep into discussions on consciousness, meditation, nature, creativity, and more.
Fruiting Bodies
Fruiting Bodies podcast aired in 2021, but its episodes still make for great listening. For those interested in perspectives often overlooked by the psychedelic mainstream Fruiting Bodies, which bills itself as “an intersectional response to the mushroom boom and the next wave of psychedelics.” The podcast was co-hosted by Oregon residents Rebecca Martinez and Elan Hagens.
Though not currently in production, the duo put out 16 mind-expanding episodes. Each is about an hour long and centers on interviews with experts who discuss topics like Black healing, decolonization from an Indigenous perspective, and promoting equitable access to psychedelic therapies amid the legalization boom. The guests you’ll hear from on this show represent a genuine diversity of perspectives, many of which—unfortunately—you’re unlikely to hear elsewhere.
Psychedelics Today
A staple of the “psychedelic podcast” genre, Psychedelics Today features a range of topics and perspectives with a general focus on sharing the latest in emerging research and diving into personal stories. They put out multiple weekly episodes, highlighting everyone from artists and filmmakers to the executives behind companies in the booming psychedelics industry. While most episodes have only one guest, PT278 featured the four people behind A Table Of Our Own, a documentary and conference for and by Black psychedelic professionals.
Backed by an advisory board full of academics and therapists with psychedelic expertise, this podcast is part of a larger educational effort, including a blog and the affiliated Psychedelic Education Center, which offers a variety of courses (both paid and free) on topics like DMT, self-care, integration, and the ever-elusive question of “Spiritual Emergence or Psychosis.”
READ: Psychedelia Has a Power Problem—Here’s How We Move Forward
Power Trip (From New York Magazine’s Cover Story)
In 2021, New York Magazine débuted its podcast Cover Story, in which each season is a narrative journey driven by journalistic reporting—a format that will be familiar to fans of shows like Serial and S-Town. The first season, Power Trip, was co-produced by Psymposia and has two distinct parts.
Episodes 1 through 5 plunge into the dark side of underground psychedelic therapies, featuring the voices and stories of individuals whose lives were upended as they sought and practiced healing ceremonies. Some took place in cult-like settings, with leaders who abused their power; many found themselves mistreated and disillusioned. Episodes 6 through 9 reveal how FDA-approved clinical settings have also been sites of abuse. These stories are chilling, but the hosts ultimately zoom out to give broader perspective on how we can safely seek psychedelic healing.
Back from the Abyss
Mental health is another helpful lens for understanding psychedelics. Therapies involving psilocybin, ketamine, and MDMA have shown great promise in helping treat conditions like depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Back From The Abyss isn’t just about psychedelics; episodes focus on everything from attachment wounds and body dysmorphia to “spiritual gaslighting” and the challenges of finding the right psychiatric drugs. Everyday people share their stories, and professionals provide expert opinions.
Host Dr. Craig Heacock is a psychiatrist and addiction specialist who has worked with MDMA and ketamine to treat trauma and mood disorders. In one episode, he looks back on his insights from providing over 800+ ketamine sessions and discusses whether full dissociation is necessary for the treatment to work. More recent episodes looked at psychedelic-assisted somatic therapies and Dr. Heacock’s response to the Power Trip podcast, which he says failed to tell the whole story of MAPS and its MDMA trials. Try this podcast when you’re ready for the deep dives.
The Hamilton Morris Podcast
Best known as the creator and host of the VICE docuseries “Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia,” journalist Hamilton Morris has found quite a following in his quest to understand and explain the history, chemistry, and promise of psychoactive drugs. He primarily shares content on Patreon, releasing three or four new episodes each month for subscribers, but makes some episodes free on other platforms. (That means you’ll have to subscribe if you want to hear the most recent episodes.)
Morris is an engaging host, to say the least, with a natural curiosity that drives him to topics and trends ahead of the mainstream curve. Take “Clandestine Chromium Carbene Chemistry,” in which he interviews a chemist who conducted underground research on DMT, DET, DiPT, DOM, 2C-B (how many people have heard of all five?!). Other episodes look at the common ADHD medication Vyvanse and emerging natural psychedelics.
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