Plants of the Gods: Hallucinogens, Healing, Culture and Conservation podcast

Ergot, LSD and the Birth of Western Religions – Ergot is a fungus that parasitizes rye where - in the Middle Ages - it was sometimes milled into the flour used to make bread. Unfortunately for the un…

Hexing Herbs and the Witches of Medieval Europe –  The archetypal image of the witch as an old woman riding a broomstick was not a Hollywood creation. In the Middle Ages, “witches” were often skilled…

The Ethnobotany of Warfare – Plants have played a fundamental role in warfare, not just as poisons and medicines but as ships, chariots, weapons and wound bandages. This episode traces this history f…

Opium – Perhaps the most ancient of the “Plants of the Gods,” plant remains in Europe clearly indicate that opium was being used by people more than 10,000 years ago. And not only was opium the first…

Curare – Once known as the “flying death of the Amazon,” curare is a mixture of rainforest plants that indigenous peoples smear on the tips of their arrows or blowdarts to give them a deadly effectiv…

Wine – Wine grapes and wine are unquestionably the world’s most valuable medicinal plants: the global annual value of wine is over 300 billion dollars. And the history of wine predates the origin of …

Coca – not to be confused with coconuts or with cacao, the source of chocolate - is a large bush or small tree native to northwestern South America. Cocaine extracted from the leaves found favor amon…

Hallucinogenic snuffs – though most hallucinogens like magic mushrooms or ayahuasca are taken orally, the indigenous peoples of Amazonia have created two different and highly potent snuffs from Amazo…

Ayahuasca – From Argentina to Australia, from Israel to Indonesia, a once-obscure Amazonian vine, admixed with a few other plants is now celebrated – and even venerated – as a plant of power knowled…