LARB Radio Hour

Erik Davis on the Art of LSD


Listen Later

Erik Davis joins Kate Wolf to speak about his latest book, Blotter: The Untold Story of an Acid Medium. The book is a study and history of the emergence of acid blotter paper from the late 1970s to the present day. It charts not only how the distribution and legal definition of LSD has changed over the decades—along with shifting cultural attitudes towards the drug—but also how blotter makers reflected these changes in their designs. The book examines the many recurring themes and aesthetics of blotter from cartoon characters, underground comics and advertising, to religious and political imagery, as well as associations with modern art movements like pop and minimalism. As psychedelics move closer to legalization for therapeutic purposes, Blotter is a reminder of the freak culture, anti-establishment origins of LSD and the inventive and playful path one of its main mediums has cut across countless minds over the last half century.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

LARB Radio HourBy Los Angeles Review of Books

  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9

4.9

133 ratings


More shows like LARB Radio Hour

View all
The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker Radio Hour

6,916 Listeners

The Book Review by The New York Times

The Book Review

3,924 Listeners

Otherppl with Brad Listi by Brad Listi

Otherppl with Brad Listi

532 Listeners

Between The Covers : Conversations with Writers in Fiction, Nonfiction & Poetry by David Naimon, Milkweed Editions

Between The Covers : Conversations with Writers in Fiction, Nonfiction & Poetry

469 Listeners

The LRB Podcast by The London Review of Books

The LRB Podcast

314 Listeners

London Review Bookshop Podcast by London Review Bookshop

London Review Bookshop Podcast

130 Listeners

The Shakespeare and Company Interview by Shakespeare and Company

The Shakespeare and Company Interview

92 Listeners

The Dig by Daniel Denvir

The Dig

1,587 Listeners

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso by Higher Ground

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

1,468 Listeners

The Paris Review by The Paris Review

The Paris Review

805 Listeners

Dialogues: The David Zwirner Podcast by David Zwirner

Dialogues: The David Zwirner Podcast

453 Listeners

City Arts & Lectures by City Arts & Lectures

City Arts & Lectures

395 Listeners

On the Nose by Jewish Currents

On the Nose

267 Listeners

Ordinary Unhappiness by Patrick & Abby

Ordinary Unhappiness

234 Listeners

Critics at Large | The New Yorker by The New Yorker

Critics at Large | The New Yorker

661 Listeners