It all began with a bag of mushrooms… and a bolt of lightning. Today, Paul Stamets is the world’s most famous mycologist (mushroom scientist) but we begin by going back to the fateful day when young Paul, loaded up on psilocybin, climbed a tree in the middle of a thunderstorm. In this episode, Paul’s story is our gateway to learning about the long strange history of psychedelics in America, and how the Dead brought mushrooms mainstream.