The Psychonauts

By Science writer Leonie Joubert trips into the real of psychedelic psychiatry, as hallucinogenic mushrooms go on trial in South Africa

What's The Psychonauts about?

South African science writer Leonie Joubert trips into the strange new world of psychedelic psychiatry, ahead of hallucinogenic mushrooms going on trial in South Africa in 2018.

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The Psychonauts episodes:

01.08.2020
The Psychonauts Thank You Plant Medicine global campaign
On 20 February 2020, people around the world are going to share stories of the healing and transformation that they’ve experienced through the use of psychedelic medicine. It’s a bit like a global ‘coming out’ campaign. South African science writer Leonie...
02.20.2019
The Psychonauts Episode 9 - Clusterf*ck
For some people, depression can be a terminal illness. American novelist David Foster Wallace was one of its victims. He died of depression in September 2008. A few years before that, he wrote something beautiful that might help a well...
10.10.2018
The Psychonauts Voice Diary 7 Kalk Bay Books
Kalk Bay Books is an independent bookstore outside Cape Town that regularly invites authors to speak about their latest book projects. This month, they hosted science writer Leonie Joubert to speak about her podcast The Psychonauts, a serialised audio-book project...
09.25.2018
Psychonauts Episode 8 - Going Gonzo
In South Africa, the underground psilocybin community is relatively new, and from the outside might look more like a religious group than a collective of therapists. These journey guides work by a set of principles for how to facilitate journeys,...
09.04.2018
Psychonauts Episode 7 - The Octopus's Garden
Human beings are hardwired to ruminate, leading to depression, anxiety, and addictive rituals. Boosting our emotional wellbeing with techniques like mindfulness and meditation is a bit like good oral hygiene: we need to brush and floss and visit the dentist...
08.22.2018
Psychonauts Voice Diary 6 - Legislation
A quick update on the status of the podcast after a long silence, and a look at the different legal routes that could see hallucinogenic mushrooms decriminalised or legalised in South Africa. And if, as some argue, we have a...
05.28.2018
Psychonauts Voice Diary 5 - Accessing psychedelic medicine in South Africa
Many South Africans are seeking out psychedelic medicine and retreats, even though it's illegal. In the interests of harm reduction, this Voice Diary looks at how to put medical support in place for those who decide to try this therapy...
03.06.2018
Psychonauts Voice Diary 4 - Ibogaine
The South African government has already opened the door for psychedelic-assisted therapy: in 2016, it allowed the potent psychedelic, ibogaine, to be prescribed as a medicine. If one psychedelic is legal for medical use, why not all of them? This...
12.22.2017
Psychonauts Episode 6 - 'Bad' Trips & Bogeymen
One of the oldest myths about psychedelics is that playing with them is like a game of Russian roulette: for every few fun trips, there’s a bad one loaded in the chamber and waiting to flip you into ...
11.08.2017
Psychonauts Voice Diary 3 - a PechaKucha talk
Voice Diary 3: The Psychonauts on the PechaKucha platform. South Africa's Constitution upholds our right to healthcare. Given how unaffordable and inaccessible mental health treatment is in South Africa, having access to a treatment like psilocybin-assisted therapy becomes a Constitutional...
10.20.2017
Psychonaut Voice Diary 2 - a model for bringing psilocybin assisted therapy to South Africa
A voice diary insert that lays out how the South African public health care system could roll out this form of therapy to the communities most in need of mental health support.
10.12.2017
Psychonauts Episode 5 - Hacking Consciousness
Physical movement, like running, is to the body what meditation is to the brain, it makes us fit, agile, healthy, and strong. When used together with psychedelics, these can create a trilogy of practices that bring on the flow state,...
10.12.2017
Psychonauts Voice Diary 1
A voice diary insert to keep everyone up to speed with behind-the-scenes podcast developments.
09.13.2017
Psychonauts Episode 4 - Bottom of the Bottle
As recently as the 1960s, the hallucinogen LSD showed promise in treating alcoholism and heroin addiction. But then the moral panic at the Flower Power generation got psychedelics frogmarched into the shadowy company of a suite of illicit drugs. For...
08.22.2017
Psychonauts Episode 3 - Shellshocked
A traumatic event can be like an emotional sledgehammer to the brain, rewiring your nervous system, so it’s always revving in the red. It could leave you permanently edgy, your startle response on a tripwire. You’ll be quick to rage....
08.11.2017
Psychonauts Episode 1 - Tripping the Blues
Some neuroscientists are confirming what their colleagues were discovering in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s: that a few deep psychedelic ‘trips’, supported by conventional psychotherapy methods, may be able to unlock some crippling mood disorders and addictions. But because psychedelics...
08.11.2017
Psychonauts Episode 2 - The Drug Den
The police arrived at a suburban home, near Cape Town, in the early hours of a Sunday morning, shortly before Christmas in 2014. They thought they’d stumbled upon a drug den or some kind of sex ring. Instead, they found...
07.26.2017
Psychonauts Welcome - An introduction of sorts
Cape Town-based science writer Leonie Joubert introduces The Psychonauts, and explains why she's departed from her usual written form of storytelling.

What's The Psychonauts about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The Psychonauts episodes:

The Psychonauts Thank You Plant Medicine global campaign

The Psychonauts Episode 9 - Clusterf*ck

The Psychonauts Voice Diary 7 Kalk Bay Books

Psychonauts Episode 8 - Going Gonzo

Psychonauts Episode 7 - The Octopus's Garden

Psychonauts Voice Diary 6 - Legislation

Psychonauts Voice Diary 5 - Accessing psychedelic medicine in South Africa

Psychonauts Voice Diary 4 - Ibogaine

Psychonauts Episode 6 - 'Bad' Trips & Bogeymen

Psychonauts Voice Diary 3 - a PechaKucha talk

Psychonaut Voice Diary 2 - a model for bringing psilocybin assisted therapy to South Africa

Psychonauts Episode 5 - Hacking Consciousness

Psychonauts Voice Diary 1

Psychonauts Episode 4 - Bottom of the Bottle

Psychonauts Episode 3 - Shellshocked

Psychonauts Episode 1 - Tripping the Blues

Psychonauts Episode 2 - The Drug Den

Psychonauts Welcome - An introduction of sorts