Today’s podcast is quite different. It marks the end of the Mind Manifest podcast and is an episode where I turn the microphone back on myself. The inner healer is a clever and amazing thing. Some years ago, whilst I was becoming somewhat disillusioned with the limitations of conventional talk therapy for my more complex clients, I came across the …

In today’s podcast, I did a live event with Dr. Ben Sessa. at Luna Palace in Leederville. Ben was in town to help with various Antipodean psychedelic training schemes and conferences, and was kind enough to sit down for a live podcast - and a bit of socializing with the Perth psychedelic community afterward.It was clear from Ben’s perspective that …

In today’s podcast, I spoke with William Sieghart, who is the author of the Poetry Pharmacy. William is an advocate for the consideration of mental well-being in its broadest possible sense, and he is on a mission to help take ‘poetry out of poetry corner’ and put it back into the public square where it belongs. We talked about the numerous overlap…

In today’s podcast, I spoke with Justin James, who is the current CEO of HIF health insurance fund. HIF was the first major Australian health fund to declare support for medicinal cannabis treatments and offer rebates to members through its partnership with WA-based Little Green Pharma, and it stands to be one of the first health insurers to suppor…

In today’s podcast, I spoke with Simon Baron-Cohen. Professor Baron-Cohen is a world expert in the field of Autism research, and we had a wide-ranging discussion on this topic. The ways in which psychedelic compounds interface with different styles of cognition is a fascinating area, and the exploration of how psychedelic compounds are experienced …

In today’s podcast, I had the pleasure of sitting down with a panel of expert guests for the first of our live events. The title of the symposium was ‘non-ordinary states for ordinary Australians’. We had a wide-ranging conversation and an event of connection and live music afterward. It reminded us all that no one is going to lie on their deathbed…

In today’s podcast, I spoke with Shaun Duffy, CEO of Reset Mind Sciences - a company that is well-positioned to become a leader in the push to make psilocybin-containing mushrooms a mainstream medication option for the treatment of mental illness. Shaun comes from an accountancy background and brings a wealth of corporate experience to the psychede…

In today’s podcast, I spoke with Dr. Jeremy Tannebaum. Jeremy has a longstanding interest in psychedelia, and as you will hear from our discussion, he had a childhood and upbringing that was steeped in a deep, nuanced and intellectual exploration of these substances - as well as many other contemplative practices and non-ordinary states of consciou…

In today’s podcast, I spoke with Tobias Penno. Tobias is a Registered Social Worker with the 'Australian Association of Social Workers', and he has more recently focussed his career to become a mental health practitioner. Tobias believes that individuals have the wisdom necessary to work through their current life challenges, and sees his role as a…

In today’s podcast, I spoke with Dr. Ian Dunican. Ian is amongst many other things, a sleep researcher and business consultant. As you will hear, Ian has his fingers in a lot of professional pies, but the through-line is that he is trying to optimize performance in many different fields. Ian has a burgeoning interest in psychedelics, and he first c…

In today’s podcast, I spoke with Dr. Michael Winlo and Dr. Alistair Vickery, who are the respective managing and medical directors of Emyria - a drug development company that specializes in the fast-track development of novel therapies for difficult to treat conditions.Di Mind Manifest Podcast

In today’s podcast, I spoke with Chris Letheby. Dr. Letheby is a philosopher working on issues related to the therapeutic and transformative potential of classic psychedelic drugs - check out his full bio below. As an academic philosopher, Chris has epistemological and logical expertise, (as well as a keen understanding of both the philosophy of sc…

In today’s podcast, I spoke with Stephen Bright. Stephen is a clinically trained psychologist with a wealth of experience in both the fields of Addictions research and psychedelic research/advocacy. Stephen has been consistently pushing for a more nuanced and comprehensive discussion pertaining to sensible drug use in Australia,In today’s podcast W…

In today’s episode, we spoke to Michelle Baker-Jones, one of the lead guides on the current Imperial College Randomised Control Trial (Psilodep 2) which is comparing the efficacy of Psilocybin with Anti-Depressants for the treatment of depressive disorder. Michelle is personable, thoughtful, and - as an integrative psychotherapist - seem to have go…

In this episode, I spoke with Suresh Muthukumaraswamy - a pioneer in the field of psychedelic research in New Zealand. His research team are embarking on the first government-sanctioned LSD micro-dosing trial in the history of his home country. In a space where many activists hide in scientists clothing, it is good to know when you are talking with…

I recently spoke to Dr Maragaret Ross, a Senior Clinical Psychologist at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne. We spoke about her upcoming trial. For a long time, there has not been an antipodean star on the psychedelic research map, but the commencement of this study (and the resounding wave of public support it has generated) bode very well for the…

I recently spoke to Greg Donaldson in the Library of the Psychosynthesis Trust, located in the heart of London. Greg is a personable, balanced and thoughtful psychotherapist, and I really enjoyed talking to him. Greg is part of the team of therapists who will be working with participants in the Double-Blind, Randomised Control Trial comparing the e…

In this episode, I sat down with David Luke. David is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Greenwich. Dave is co-founder and current chair of Breaking Convention, Europe’s largest interdisciplinary conference exploring psychedelic science and culture. David straddles two very different worlds – he operates within the conventional acad…

The phenomena of cognitive biases are as pernicious as they are profound. The intractable presence of bias is an issue in every field of experimental science, and psychedelic research is by no means immune. Developing a sound understanding of how they are caused and how to control for them is a great way to prevent them from running roughshod over …

Today we spoke with Torsten Passie MD, PhD. Torsten is Professor of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at Hannover Medical School (Germany) and currently Visiting Scientist at Goethe University in Frankfurt/Main (Germany).He studied philosophy, sociology (MA) at Leibniz-University, Hannover and medicine at Hannover Medical School. From 1998 to 2010 he wa…

IN this episode I spoke with Adam Strauss and Shane Mauss We DiscussShane’s podcast Here We Are The role of Cognitive Biases in human lifeThe hygiene hypothesis and the potential up-regulation of our psychological sensitivity as a result Shane’s upbringing in small-town Wisconsin and how it set him up to go ‘against the grain’ and eventually saw hi…

In this episode, we chatted to Adam Strauss and Shane Mauss, two internationally renowned comedians who have been very influential in bringing the psychedelic renaissance to a more mainstream audience. We talk about weird trips, how the stuff your grandma knits on a blanket is the key to the universe, and how SSRIs might play nice with psilocybin. …

In this episode, We spoke with Stevens a Brazilian Stem Cell Biologist currently investigating the effects of Harmine, NN-DMT and 5-MeO-DMT in human brain tissue differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells. We chat about his work with psychedelics, his hopes for the future in terms of researching potential benefits of psychedelic compounds f…

In this Episode, I spoke to an old friend of mine - Dr Sebastian Knudsen, an Intensive Care consultant with a special interest in Palliative care. We had an expansive and interesting discussion, which gave another ‘physician’s eye view’ of end of life care. This episode dovetails with our episode with Dr Jessica Zitter and both will serve as a back…

In this episode, I spoke with Dr Jesscia Zitter. She first came to my attention after I read New York Times article, which crystallised the dissonance and conflict I suspect a lot of critical care physicians feel around the marshalling of the end of life for their patients.The ‘slow burn’ of psychedelic science is as it should be – the gradual perc…

As the weight of evidence supporting the therapeutic validity of psychedelic compounds mounts, we review the current state of affairs surrounding the legality of MDMA.Di Mind Manifest Podcast

Today Hannah Courtauld (Psychologist) and spoke to Guillermo Velasco Diez, (PhD). Guillermo is a biochemist heavily involved in the research of the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids in the treatment of Cancer. In this episode, Hannah and Guillermo Discuss:-Guillermo’s academic background and route into the world of cannabinoid research-The mech…

Cannabis has been hailed as a panacea, and as it breaks through the cracks and into mainstream society, we try to sort the bud from the chaff when it comes to its empirical potential to help improve both quality and longevity of life.Di Mind Manifest Podcast

We are all shuffling towards death. Could psychedelics help it to be a bit less Parkinsonian and be a bit more of a Charleston?Di Mind Manifest Podcast

MDMA does not carry the same degree of cultural baggage as its’ more hallucinogenic stablemates. As the campaign to promote this compound as a legitimate mainstay of psychiatric treatment gathers momentum, how can we ensure that the cultural conversation threads the needle between irrational over-exuberance and reactionary ignorance?Welcome to the …

MIND MANIFEST EP3 - MARTIN WILLIAMS by Mind Manifest PodcastDi Mind Manifest Podcast

In this episode Amanda Feilding, director of the Beckley Foundation, invited us to her beautiful home and research hub in the Oxfordshire countryside. We had a wide ranging and fascinating conversation, where it became apparent that, after decades of tireless researching and campaigning, the foundation finds itself in the anteroom to major change i…

If you didn’t have time to read our blog about Bicycle Day, you can just listen to it, instead!“Everything glistened and sparkled in a fresh light. The world was as if newly created. All my senses vibrated in a condition of highest sensitivity, which persisted for the entire day.”These are the words of Albert Hoffman, the scientist who discovered L…

Today I was joined by Dr Ben Sessa - Ben is a man who wears a very many hats. He is a Psychiatrist in the South of England where he works in the fields of child and adolescent psychiatry and he also works with adults suffering from addictions. Dr Sessa is currently conducting a proof of concept trial into the safety and efficacy of MDMA assisted ps…