Podcast appearances and mentions of walter pahnke

Some call it the "psychedelic renaissance." In the last decade or so, interest in psychedelic drugs has surged—and not just among Silicon Valley types and psychiatrists and neuroscientists. It's also surged among a stereotypically soberer crowd: academic philosophers. The reasons are clear. With their varied and sometimes transformative effects, psychedelics raise ethical questions, epistemological questions, metaphysical questions, questions about the nature of experience and the nature of the mind. My guest today is Dr. Chris Letheby. Chris is a philosopher of cognitive science at the University of Western Australia and the author of the 2021 book, Philosophy of Psychedelics. Here, Chris and I talk about the so-called classic psychedelics—LSD, psilocybin, ayahuasca, and others—and how interest in them has gone through three distinct waves. We discuss the effects that these substances seem to have, in particular their capacity to treat certain psychiatric conditions and their tendency to induce "mystical-like" experiences. We consider the idea that psychedelics might serve as agents of moral enhancement. And we dig into the psychological and neural mechanisms by which psychedelics seem to have their diverse—and often salutary—effects. Along the way, we talk about ontological shock, comforting delusions, brain plasticity, unselfing, microdosing, placebo effects and adverse effects, physicalism and idealism, the REBUS model, environmental virtues, plant consciousness, meditation, and much more. Maybe this is obvious but this episode is not just for the seasoned psychonauts out there. Whatever your personal experience with these substances, they offer a distinctive window into the mind—a new way of grappling with big questions. Perhaps this much is also obvious but we're not encouraging or endorsing the use of psychedelics here—just offering a little fuel for your intellectual fires! Alright friends, on to my conversation w/ Dr. Chris Letheby. Enjoy!   A transcript of this episode will be posted soon.   Notes and links 4:00 – For a brief historical overview of research into psychedelics, see this paper. 8:30 – For work by an early trailblazer in the philosophy of psychedelics, see Thomas Metzinger's Being No One. 12:30 – For our earlier episode on the psychology and philosophy of visual illusions, see here.  18:00 – For a history of the concept of “set and setting,” see here. 19:00 – A 2024 review of “adverse events” in classic psychedelics. 26:00 – A blog post on the history of the term “psychedelic.” 27:00 – A recent review and meta-analysis of the use of psychedelic therapy for depressive symptoms. 31:00 – On mystical experience see Walter Stace's classic work, Mysticism and Philosophy. On the measurement of mystical-type experiences, see, e.g., Walter Pahnke's paper here. 36:00 – On the idea of “psychoplastogens,” see here. 39:00 – See our earlier audio essay on placebo effects. 41:00 – For the study using Ritalin as an active placebo, see here.  44:00 – Michael Pollan's book on psychedelics is here. 48:00 – On the idea of “idealism,” see here. 50:30 – For the 2021 study on psychedelics' capacity to alter metaphysical beliefs, see here. 54:00 – For Dr. Letheby and collaborators' paper about the “mysticism wars,” see here. 1:02:00 – For a popular article on the possibility that psychedelics reduce fear of death, see here. 1:03:00 – For Dr. Letheby's paper on psychedelics and the fear of death, see here. 1:11:00 – The phrase “comforting delusion” comes from an article by Michael Pollan. 1:15:00 – For the “REBUS model,” see here. 1:20:00 – On the idea that psychedelics could serve as agents of moral enhancement, see the paper by Brian Earp here. 1:21:00 – For Dr. Letheby's paper on psychedelics and environmental virtues, see here. For his paper on psychedelics and forgiveness, see here. 1:23:00 – On the subfield of “virtue ethics,” see here. On the virtue of “living in place,” see the paper by Nin Kirkham here. 1:28:00 – For the New Yorker article, by Matthew Hutson, on how psychedelics led him to see trees as smart, see here. For the study, led by Sandeep Nayak, on psychedelics leading people to expand their attributions of consciousness, see here. 1:32:00 – For a first paper by Dr. Letheby on the comparison between meditation and psychedelics, see here.   Recommendations Psychedelic Experience, Aidan Lyon Varieties of Psychedelic Experience, Robert Masters & Jean Houston The Antipodes of the Mind, Benny Shanon   Many Minds is a project of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, which is made possible by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation to Indiana University. The show is hosted and produced by Kensy Cooperrider, with help from Assistant Producer Urte Laukaityte and with creative support from DISI Directors Erica Cartmill and Jacob Foster. Our artwork is by Ben Oldroyd. Our transcripts are created by Sarah Dopierala.   Subscribe to Many Minds on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also now subscribe to the Many Minds newsletter here! We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to email us at: manymindspodcast@gmail.com.    For updates about the show, visit our website or follow us on Twitter (@ManyMindsPod) or Bluesky (@manymindspod.bsky.social).

Sixty years ago on Good Friday, a famous experiment took place at Boston University's Marsh Chapel conducted by Harvard Divinity School student Walter Pahnke, where he tried to answer the question: Do psychedelic drugs occasioned mystical experiences? In 2022, conversations about the connections between psychedelics, science and medicine, and spirituality are again top of mind, from Harvard and the academy to research hospitals and beyond. In this episode, Harvard Divinity School student Paul Gillis-Smith speaks to scholar J. Christian Greer about the impact of the “Marsh Chapel Miracle,” what role psychedelics might play in the future of religion, and why, he says, there's potential for great harm, but reasons to be hopeful, too. Full transcript: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/2022/05/12/psychedelics-spirituality-culture-seekership

Sixty years ago on Good Friday, a famous experiment took place at Boston University's Marsh Chapel conducted by Harvard Divinity School student Walter Pahnke, where he tried to answer the question: Do psychedelic drugs occasioned mystical experiences? In 2022, conversations about the connections between psychedelics, science and medicine, and spirituality are again top of mind, from Harvard and the academy to research hospitals and beyond. In this episode, Harvard Divinity School student Paul Gillis-Smith speaks to scholar J. Christian Greer about the impact of the “Marsh Chapel Miracle,” what role psychedelics might play in the future of religion, and why, he says, there's potential for great harm, but reasons to be hopeful, too.

The Spring Grove Experiment is a series of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) studies performed from 1963 to 1976 on patients with psychotic illnesses at the Spring Grove Clinic in Catonsville, Maryland. These patients were sponsored by a federal agency called the National Institute of Mental Health to be part of the first study conducted on the effects of psychedelic drugs on schizophrenics. Then, the Spring Grove Experiments were adapted to study the effect of LSD and psychotherapy on patients including alcoholics, heroin addicts, neurotics, and terminally-ill cancer patients. The research done was largely conducted by the members of the Research Unit of Spring Grove State Hospital. Significant contributors to the experiments included Walter Pahnke, Albert Kurland, Sanford Unger, Richard Yensen, Stanislav Grof, William Richards, Francesco Di Leo and Oliver Lee McCabe. Later, Spring Grove was rebuilt into the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, where studies continued to be performed for the advancement of psychiatric research. This study on LSD is the largest study on psychedelic drugs to date. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/art-mcdermott/support

What is a religious experience? Really. How does one define a religious event? Why do we keep reading from figures who report life-affirming, transformation-inducing, and worldview-shattering experiences that we, if we are honest, evoke the tension between both fascination and anxious avoidance? Today's episode may provide a life raft - though the storm approaches regardless. Tune in as Dr. William Richards, a psychologist in the Psychiatry Department of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Dr. John Price discuss the definition of terms such as mystic and religious events, they explore subject ranging from the early application of psychedelics in a clinical context, the current and historical government regulation of psychedelics - or entheogens, if you will - clinical examples of the transformations that many have experienced during and after the use of these medicines, current studies, the collective unconscious, the embarrassment felt by the military's attempts to use these substances, morality and entheogens, identity, the ethics of entheogens in a clinical setting, getting “high,” spiritual by-passing, the nature of nature summarized in the familiar refrain that love is underneath it all, and more. Bio: William A. Richards (Bill) is a psychologist in the Psychiatry Department of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Bayview Medical Center, a consultant/trainer at sites of psychedelic research internationally, a teacher in the Program of Psychedelic Therapy and Research at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and also a clinician in private practice in Baltimore. His graduate degrees include M.Div. from Yale Divinity School, S.T.M. from Andover-Newton Theological School and Ph.D. from Catholic University, as well as studies with Abraham Maslow at Brandeis University and with Hanscarl Leuner at Georg-August University in Göttingen, Germany, where his involvement with psilocybin research originated in 1963. From 1967 to 1977, he pursued psychotherapy research with LSD, DPT, MDA and psilocybin at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, including protocols designed to investigate the promise of psychedelic substances in the treatment of alcoholism, depression, narcotic addiction and the psychological distress associated with terminal cancer, and also their use in the training of religious and mental-health professionals. From 1977-1981, he was a member of the psychology faculty of Antioch University in Maryland. In 1999 at Johns Hopkins, he and Roland Griffiths launched the rebirth of psilocybin research after a 22-year period of dormancy in the United States. His publications began in 1966 with “Implications of LSD and Experimental Mysticism,” coauthored with Walter Pahnke. His book, Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics and Religious Experiences was released in English by Columbia University Press in 2015 and has since been translated into four additional languages. https://hopkinspsychedelic.org/richards https://hopkinspsychedelic.org https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/home The Jung Center Houston https://junghouston.org CLASS: http://junghouston.org/program-offering-detail/?id=dfb2b6b6-4eb0-11eb-b993-02dbb43a0b10 Website for The Sacred Speaks: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com WATCH: YouTube for The Sacred Speaks https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOAuksnpfht1udHWUVEO7Rg Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ @thesacredspeaks Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesacredspeaks/ Brought to you by: https://www.thecenterforhas.com WATCH Get Centered https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdbeVcDXWXezYMkHJg-2duw Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com

Rick Doblin, founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), comes on to talk about the famous “Good Friday Experiment”, an experiment run at Boston University’s Marsh Chapel by Walter Pahnke while at Harvard Divinity School. Rick also tells the story of his follow-up study more than two decades later, sharing all the factors that went into Pahnke’s attempts to study mystical experiences afforded by psilocybin and how the study participants reflected back on their experiences later in life. Please join the Center for the Study of World Religions on Wednesday, October 21st at 4pm for a panel featuring two psilocybin clinical trial participants in dialogue with the historian of religions Jeffrey J. Kripal (Rice University) exploring these contemporary psychedelic trials. Links: Pahnke’s dissertation Rick Doblin's undergraduate thesis following up on the experiment Howard Thurman’s Good Friday sermon preached during the experiment More from MAPS.org

In this episode, Joe interviews Jerry and Julie Brown. Jerry (Ph.D.) is an author and activist, who served as founding professor of anthropology at Florida International University in Miami for 42 years. Julie (M.A.) is an author and integrative psychotherapist, who worked with cancer patients with a focus on guided imagery. Together, they are co-authors of The Psychedelic Gospels: The Secret History of Hallucinogens in Christianity. They talk about their blogpost on Psychedelics Today and inspiring studies: Walter Pahnke’s original psilocybin study at Marsh Chapel and Roland Griffiths’ recent studies at Johns Hopkins and the amazing results at each, Robin Carhart-Harris’ MRI analysis, and some of Julie’s successes using guided imagery to empower 3 cancer clients to heal after conventional cancer treatment was ineffective. They talk about guided imagery and the body’s ability to heal itself, how mystical states actually help heal people, how disease starts in the mind, Ancient Greece’s psychedelic Rites of Eleusis, and their own personal life-changing psychedelic experiences related to Johns Hopkins’ 5 common elements of mystical experience. And they talk about their most popular book, The Psychedelic Gospels: The Secret History of Hallucinogens in Christianity, which highlights images of mushrooms and psychedelic art found throughout Christian history (all the way back to Gnostic Gospels), and their possible relationship to the birth of Christianity and the story of Jesus.  Notable Quotes “The questions are: Can psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy be used not only to alleviate the psychological anxiety (as we saw at Johns Hopkins) and the depression, but can it also be used to facilitate the physiological healing in cancer patients, as Julie has done through facilitating mystical experiences? That’s a big question. The second one is: in time, are we going to see what today, is long-term costly, clinical psychotherapy of a variety of different modalities, eventually be enhanced by short-term, much more affordable psychedelic psychotherapy?” -Jerry Brown “In astrophysics, dark matter, which they say makes up most of the universe- it can not be directly detected or seen. It can only be implied through the gravitational effects that it causes. So, in psychology, mystical experience cannot be easily accessed, but it can be reliably created both through psychedelics, and as Julie’s work has shown, through guided imagery. In other words, hidden from ordinary consciousness, mystical experience manifests from the dark matter of the mind to facilitate healing.” -Jerry Brown  “F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author, said there’s no second acts in American lives, but fortunately, psychedelics is having its second act, and I think if we do it right this time, we can really integrate it into our culture, both in a therapeutic setting, and [also in settings] modeled after the Greek Eleusinian mysteries, where healthy people can go to explore psychedelics for personal growth and for spirituality and creativity.” -Jerry Brown Links Psychedelics Today blog: Mystical Experience and Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy: Insights from Guided-Imagery Therapy with Cancer Patients Website: psychedelicgospels.com Psychedelic Gospels Facebook The Psychedelic Gospels: Evidence of Entheogens in Christian Art presentation on Youtube Email About Jerry and Julie Brown Jerry B. Brown, Ph.D., is an anthropologist, author, and activist. From 1972 to 2014, he served as founding professor of anthropology at Florida International University in Miami, where he taught a course on “Hallucinogens and Culture.” Julie M. Brown, M.A., LMHC, is an integrative psychotherapist, who works with cancer patients. They are coauthors of The Psychedelic Gospels: The Secret History of Hallucinogens in Christianity, 2016; “Entheogens in Christian Art: Wasson, Allegro and the Psychedelic Gospels,” Journal of Psychedelic Studies, 2019; and “Mystical Experience and Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy: Insights from Guided Imagery Therapy with Cancer Patients,” Psychedelics Today, May 28, 2020. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics

Episode 20 of the MAPS Podcast brings you Dr. William Richards and his talk "Psychedelic Psychotherapy: Insights from 25 Years of Research". From Psychedelic Science 2013 this talk reflects on his past involvement in clinical research with psychedelic substances at the University of Göttingen and the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, and in the current investigations at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Dr. Richards will discuss the discrete alternative states of consciousness that appear to facilitate psychotherapeutic progress, and the factors of set, setting, and dosage that increase the probability of their occurrence. William A. Richards, PhD, is a psychologist in the Psychiatry Department of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Bayview Medical Center, currently pursuing research with entheogens, and also a clinician in private practice in Baltimore. From 1977-1981, he was a member of the psychology faculty of Antioch University in Maryland. His publications began in 1966 with "Implications of LSD and Experimental Mysticism," coauthored with Walter Pahnke, and published in the Journal of Religion and Health.

Do we have a treat for you. To welcome our new listeners, we present you a re-mastered special edition of the episode we recorded live at Burning Man on August 31, 2016, which features three pioneers and key drivers in the movement to mainstream psychedelic medicine. Special thanks to Rod for the audio engineering! Special note for Patreon supporters: you will get a special before-the-show "opening conversation". Check patreon.com/Entheogen. Burning Man 2016. We had the great pleasure and honor to speak with three pioneers and key drivers in the movement to mainstream psychedelic medicine: Alex Grey & Allyson Grey, co-founders of CoSM, the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (CoSM.org). Rick Doblin, founder and executive director of MAPS, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS.org). We thank deeply all three of our esteemed guests for their time and generosity of spirit. We’d also like to thank Dr. Bronner’s ReFOAMation Village for their hospitality and Alex & Allyson for graciously hosting the recording in their RV. TOPICS: Alex & Allyson Grey’s take on the state of the movement to mainstream psychedelics Has non-violence slowed our progress? Alex & Allyson’s $2000 fine for cannabis possession upon entering Burning Man Alex mentions Roland Griffiths’ reprisal of Walter Pahnke’s Good Friday Experiment at Johns Hopkins University: Hopkins Scientists Show Hallucinogen In Mushrooms Creates Universal “Mystical” Experience Rick Doblin discusses the improved relationship with Law Enforcement and the Burning Man organization including better integration of the Zendo Project at Burning Man 2016 Rick quotes Einstein: “There’s no conflict between science and religion. There’s a conflict between bad science and bad religion.” Rick talks about how he sees psychedelics being integrated into society in 25 years Rick discusses the “beautiful breakup” he had while on MDA Rick compares MDA to MDMA Allyson discusses her personal experiences with MDA and MDMA The idea of patient self-titration Alex, Allyson, and Rick discuss their milestones this year: 20 years since the founding of CoSM and 30 years since the founding of MAPS Rick describes building a handball court at New College of Florida, overlooking the nudist colony where his girlfriend was lifeguarding Rick discusses the first responders and veterans enrolled in the MDMA for PTSD study (“not just for hippies at Burning Man”) Cannabis as a neuroprotective, anti-tumor agent (and it makes you feel better too) Carl Sagan’s friendship with Lester Grinspoon Carl Sagan’s secret use of cannabis for 40 years Psychedelics and schizophrenia Rick’s idea to create a “drug license” system Time to “come out of the psychedelic closet” MAPS organizes Global Psychedelic Dinners to encourage “coming out” about our psychedelic use BuildEntheon.com Thank you so much for listening to Entheogen and for supporting us on Patreon and for telling your friends.

This is a special Premium audio episode. to the BenGreenfieldFitness show and access this and over 300 additional hidden audios, videos, pdf's and more! Psychedelic drugs such as MDMA (AKA "Ecstacy") LSD and Psilocybin (AKA “magic” mushrooms) are very likely going to be the next set of drugs after marijuana to be destigmatized and potentially legalized, not necessarily because people are "partying more", but instead largely due to research going back to the 1950s which has shown that these drugs have a significant positive effect on those with depression, anxiety, and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Psychedelics are supposedly able to disintegrate entrenched or destructive ways of thinking in people who have depression, anxiety and PTSD. And brain imaging has indeed shown that in the brains of PTSD patients who took MDMA, their primitive fear center responses shrunk while their rational thought processes overrode them — the opposite of how their brains normally function. Even Silicon Valley executives are now taking microdoses of LSD to enhance creativity and productivity (a typical dose of LSD - enough to make a person hallucinate or trip - about 10 micrograms of LSD, and a microdose is about 1/10 of that dose). Rick Doblin, founder and executive director of the , claims people who microdose feel more energetic and insightful but don't necessarily see the face of God inside their water coolers. Just as with marijuana, I suspect we will continue to see the destigmatization of psychedelics if their proven health or cognitive benefits outweigh the prejudice against them. As more scientific data emerges on these drugs, they will probably become mainstream, if not for your average person, then definitely in a controlled, therapeutic setting by licensed professionals. So if you're not in-the-know about psychedelics, you should be. Enter today's guest: Dr. William Richards. Dr. Richards (Bill) is a psychologist in the Psychiatry Department of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Bayview Medical Center, where he and his colleagues have been pursuing research with psilocybin, the active molecule in the so-called “sacred mushrooms”, for the past 16 years. His graduate degrees include M.Div. from Yale Divinity School, S.T.M. from Andover-Newton Theological School and Ph.D. from Catholic University, as well as studies with Abraham Maslow at Brandeis University and with Hanscarl Leuner at Georg-August University in Göttingen, Germany, where his involvement with psychedelic research originated in 1963. From 1967 to 1977, he pursued psychotherapy research with LSD, DPT, MDA and psilocybin at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, including protocols designed to investigate the promise of entheogens in the treatment of alcoholism, severe neuroses, narcotic addiction and the psychological distress associated with terminal cancer, and also their use in the training of religious and mental-health professionals. From 1977-1981, he was a member of the psychology faculty of Antioch University in Maryland. His publications began in 1966 with “Implications of LSD and Experimental Mysticism,” coauthored with Walter Pahnke. His latest book, has just been released by Columbia University Press, and is described as "the first well-documented, sophisticated account of the effect of psychedelics on biological processes, human consciousness, and revelatory religious experiences". During our discussion, you'll discover: -How Dr. Richards personally uses psilocybin and other psychedelic compounds in his own life...[6:00 & 28:20] -Why is it that research into psychedelic drugs seems to be growing in popularity, and why it waned in the first place...[7:00 & 18:00] -Whether wandering through a cow's field and picking mushrooms from dung is any different than what is being used in lab research...[22:50] -What mushrooms have to do with sacred geometry, and why the kaleidoscope colors or visions one sees when on higher doses of psilocybin are related to these geometries...[41:50] -Where you can "source" or grow your own psilocybin if you want to try it...[49:50] -How you can combine psilocybin with other compounds to either increase or decrease their effect...[52:00] -Psychedelics that Bill thinks "fly under the radar" but that more people should know about...[54:00] -And much more! Resources from this episode: - - - - - - Do you have questions, comments or feedback for Dr. Richards or I? Leave your thoughts at and one of us will reply!

Thank you so much for listening to Entheogen and for supporting us on Patreon and by telling your friends. At Burning Man in 2014, we were inspired to create Entheogen (after a talk with Meriana Dinkova). Since then, we’ve released about one-and-a-half episodes per month. On this, our two-year anniversary since posting the first episode, we are beyond overjoyed to share with you our very first “on location” recording, and the first time we’ve all recorded in person together – Burning Man 2016. We had the great pleasure and honor to speak with not one, not just two, but three pioneers and key drivers in the movement to mainstream psychedelic medicine: Alex Grey & Allyson Grey, co-founders of CoSM, the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (CoSM.org). Rick Doblin, founder and executive director of MAPS, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS.org). We thank deeply all three of our esteemed guests for their time and generosity of spirit. We’d also like to thank Dr. Bronner’s ReFOAMation Village for their hospitality and Alex & Allyson for graciously hosting the recording in their RV. Topics: Alex & Allyson Grey’s take on the state of the movement to mainstream psychedelics Has non-violence hamstrung our progress? Alex & Allyson’s $2000 fine for cannabis possession upon entering Burning Man Alex mentions Roland Griffiths’ reprisal of Walter Pahnke’s Good Friday Experiment at Johns Hopkins University: Hopkins Scientists Show Hallucinogen In Mushrooms Creates Universal “Mystical” Experience Rick Doblin discusses the improved relationship with Law Enforcement and the Burning Man organization including better integration of the Zendo Project at Burning Man 2016 Rick quotes Einstein: “There’s no conflict between science and religion. There’s a conflict between bad science and bad religion.” Rick talks about how he sees psychedelics being integrated into society in 25 years Rick discusses the “beautiful breakup” he had while on MDA Rick compares MDA to MDMA Allyson discusses her personal experiences with MDA and MDMA Alex, Allyson, and Rick discuss their milestones this year: 20 years since the founding of CoSM and 30 years since the founding of MAPS Rick describes building a handball court at New College of Florida, overlooking the nudist colony where his girlfriend was lifeguarding Rick discusses the first responders and veterans enrolled in the MDMA for PTSD study (“not just for hippies at Burning Man”) Cannabis as a neuroprotective, anti-tumor agent (and it makes you feel better too) Carl Sagan’s friendship with Lester Grinspoon Carl Sagan’s secret use of cannabis for 40 years Psychedelics and schizophrenia Rick’s idea to create a “drug license” system Time to “come out of the psychedelic closet” MAPS organizes Global Psychedelic Dinners to encourage “coming out” about our psychedelic use BuildEntheon.com