For the second episode of the Mangu.tv Psychedelic Confessions series, Giancarlo chats with his good friend Alejandro Lozano. An investment banker in a former life, Alejandro Lozano has spent the last two decades exploring new economic paradigms, psychedelics, and classical tantra.

Together they talk through Alejandro’s experiences, touching on; dancing with God, set and setting, learning not to cope when experiencing dopamine depletion, meditation, the difference between medicinal and celebratory use and effect on the body, plus the most transcendental experience of his life and how we have no right to make any plant illegal.

In this episode, they also explore the more unfamiliar (in the West) psychoactive plants Iboga, Mambe, and Kanna in addition to the many other psychedelics from our usual selection.

We are delighted to invite Ethan Nadelmann on to the Mangu.tv podcast for our first episode of psychedelic confessions. Described by Rolling Stone as "the point man" for drug policy reform efforts and “the real drug czar,” Ethan Nadelmann is widely regarded as the outstanding proponent of drug policy reform. Here he shares a wealth of personal stories giving us an insight into the Psychoactive hosts psychedelic journeys.

We are excited to have Matteo Norzi on the Mangu.tv podcast series. Matteo is an artist, designer, filmmaker, and indigenous rights activist whose explorative artistic practice took him through several extensive journeys along six continents. His art has been supported by important and prestigious institutions. His critically acclaimed directorial debut, the feature film Icaros: A Vision, co-directed with Leonor Caraballo premiered in competition at the 2016 Tribeca film festival.

Giancarlo and Matteo deep delve into the making of Icaros: A Vision, taking them on a long journey, all the way to the border between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead.

‘Leonor (co-director) had asked me to go with her to drink ayahuasca and during one of the first ayahuasca experiences, Leonor had a vision of her dying.’

Because of this mirror with real life, we recommend listening to this podcast with the film Icaros: A Vision to heighten your senses and understanding of what an undertaking it was.

Matteo also brings with him years of personal experience and extensive research on Amazonian history and culture. He is the co-founder and currently serves as the executive director of the Shipibo Conibo Center.

To hear more about the Shipibo-Conibo tribe, their artists, song, and Matteo’s work with the second largest indigenous group of Peru, including the current Shipibo Guardia Indigenous GoFundMe campaign to protect indigenous territory listen here.

We are excited to have Jerónimo Mazarrasa on the Mangu.tv podcast series. Jerónimo and Giancarlo delve into the past, present and future of ayahuasca, it has been Jerónimo’s life mission is to optimize the way we will be allowed to consume the Amazonian concoction outside the jungle.

Ayahuasca is a preparation (two plants cooked together), which is unlike many other familiar traditionally used psychoactive plants like peyote, magic mushrooms, or tobacco.

We will never know exactly where, how or by whom the decoction originated, it was probably hundreds if not thousands of years ago and likely by indigenous Amazonian people, group, or even multiple indigenous people in different groups at the same time.

There are around 70 indigenous groups that use ayahuasca in the Amazon. A few hundred years ago, it went from indigenous groups to urban populations in the jungle, expanding to the cities outside of the jungle and then into other countries. More recently in the last 20 or 30 years, it has expanded to the rest of the world. Nowadays you can find ayahuasca sessions in just about every country in the world.

The call to take ayahuasca should not be taken lightly, and there is much to consider even though (and even more so) now that it is becoming more widely available. To hear more about these considerations and to find out more about Jerónimo’s work with ICEERS, understanding the difference between the Brazilian, Colombian and Ecuadorian designs and the influence of African spirituality. Plus the importance of integration and how to make sense of what happened to you please listen to the full episode.

We are excited to have Zhana Vrangalova on the Mangu.tv podcast series. Zhana PhD, is a NYC-based sexuality and relationships scientist, writer, and consultant. For 15 years she has been helping sexually adventurous and nontraditional people.

She has created an online course, called Open Smarter, which takes a personality-based approach for those who are curious about opening up their relationships. It helps people who are on the more highly adventurous end of the spectrum live lives that are pleasurable, healthy, safe, and ethical.

Zhana thinks everything in human sexuality exists on a spectrum and some people are higher and some people are low, and many people are somewhere in between when it comes to pretty much anything.

Monogamy is the format where you get high relationship stability, safety, dependability, and predictability. However, this is also where you get the least amount of sexual and romantic freedom.

Then on the other hand is the need for adventure, excitement, novelty, and risk, mystery. This paradox is outlined by Esther Perel.

Plus even though we ourselves might want to have multiple partners, we also feel a fair amount of discomfort, distress, insecurity, jealousy, threat, when our partner does the same. Which can lead to a bit of a problem…

Listen to the full episode for tips on opening up your relationship, safeguarding, pair-bonding, the evolution of the consensual non-monogamy movement, the challenges of polyamory vs. non-monogamy, ethical promiscuity plus much more.

There is also additional content available from Zhana who kindly participated in a Q and A after the release of the documentary Monogamish. Enjoy!

We are delighted to have Philosopher and author Daniel Pinchbeck on the Mangu.tv podcast series. Daniel co-founded the Evolver Social Movement and featured in the documentary 2012: Time for Change joined Giancarlo to discuss the limit of scientific reductionist materialism to understand the nature of reality.

Daniel currently has a seminar titled Crossing the Threshold: Realms of Consciousness beyond Physical Death. This explores arguments for and against any kind of afterlife. He notes in our episode, how you are unable to explore the concept of continuing consciousness unless you have interrogated scientific materialism.

This is a productive idea that consciousness is just an expression of physical matter like the complexity of the brain, and corresponds with many mystical and shamanic traditions.

Daniel goes on to explain; it still feels like we're trying to break out of the obstruction of reductive materialism, we need to get to an understanding that we're participating in larger cycles, this too is also good evidence for reincarnation, etc.

This then begins to shift our whole way of understanding ourselves. And actually leads to changes in our structures, in society, education, and, technology and so on.

Daniel delves into a wide range of topics with Giancarlo including the ‘beautiful’ uncertainty caused by COVID, the riots, and Trump. Professor Cristopher Bache’s vision for the future. The importance of regenerative media. Neo shamanic mystery schools. Psychedelics, Blockchain, transitional justice, students' futures plus much more.

We are excited to be joined by Jorge Ferrer on the Mangu.tv podcast series. Jorge is an author and scholar in transformative practices. He has a PhD in clinical psychology at the Institute of Integral Studies California and in 2009 Jorge was selected to become an advisor to the organization Religions for Peace at the United Nations.

Jorge joined Giancarlo to delve into his fourth book Love and Freedom, which proposes an evolution of modern relationships and a systematic discussion of relationship modes beyond monogamy and polyamory.

His research has found that people fundamentally cheat because they are lacking something vital in their relationships. They want to remain with the person they are in a relationship with, however do not want to sacrifice their sexual vitality.

‘They cheat because they love their partners and they know, or they suspect that their partners would not support that openness.’

Jorge goes on to discuss mono/poly wars; the situation of mutual judgement and condescension between poly and monogamous people. He proposes to depolarize this with the introduction of his term ‘novogamy’ opening up a field of possibilities which can take different types, pathways, geographies, situations plus much more into consideration. This lets people leverage their identity, similarly to gender fluidity with transgendered people.

Please take a listen to the full episode for more on the above and

Welcome to the Mangu.tv podcast where we will be celebrating regeneration and explore the challenges of our current paradigm.