The Psymposia Podcast

Normie, Mike, and Neşe discuss the upcoming MAHA Summit and its psychedelic pharmaceutical sponsors.

The crew discusses the FDA's September 14 psychedelic hearing, including Neşe's experience being in attendance, the financial conflicts of interest at the event, and the pseudoscientific beliefs of practitioners who gave testimony.

Footnotes:

Submit written comment to the FDA by October 5, 2026 https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/07/14/2026-14155/considerations-for-potential-future-therapeutic-use-of-psychedelic-drugs-public-hearing-request-for

Psymposia dives into the recent Rolling Stone article — "Reggie Watts Is a Prominent Ketamine Advocate. Was It His Ex's 'Undoing'?" — and explores how the dynamics at play in that article are pervasive within the psychedelic advocacy scene.

Footnotes:

Reggie Watts Is a Prominent Ketamine Advocate. Was It His Ex's 'Undoing'? (Rolling Stone): https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/reggie-watts-ketamine-drug-advocate-1235607828/

Ending The Silence Around Psychedelic Therapy Abuse (Mad In America): https://www.madinamerica.com/2021/09/ending-silence-psychedelic-therapy-abuse/

Cover Story: Power Trip (Psymposia): https://www.psymposia.com/powertrip-2/

The Psychedelic Syndicate (Psymposia): https://www.psymposia.com/psychedelic-syndicate-executive-summary-silicon-valley-maps-lykos-mdma-fda-billionaires/index.html

Psymposia interviews YouTube documentarian @Alex-Novell about his experience with Andrew Callaghan and Channel 5, drug legalization, and creating documentary films.

Thumbnail terminator image provided by Alex Novell.

Psymposia discusses takeaways from their "Psychedelic Conversion Therapy" series and reflects on the ten year anniversary of their "Coming Out of the Psychedelic Closet" series.

The crew discusses two recent news stories — a recently published New Yorker article on right-wing psychedelia and the news that Resilient Pharmaceuticals resubmitted its MDMA for PTSD application without the new Phase 3 study that was requested during its 2024 rejection.

We have an interview Zenab Ahmed, who wrote the story "Israel's Rave Music Drowns Out the Sound of its Victims" for Current Affairs. And we wrap up the episode wraps up with a second interview with Jane Migliara Brigham and Artemis T. Douglas from The Needle, discussing their story "How a Hate Group Funded and Controlled Research from McMaster University."

Footnotes:

"How a Hate Group Funded and Controlled Research from McMaster University" (The Needle):

https://theneedlenews.com/2026/08/how-a-hate-group-funded-and-controlled-research-from-mcmaster-university/

"Israel's Rave Music Drowns Out the Sound of its Victims" (Current Affairs):

https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/israels-rave-music-drowns-out-the-sound-of-its-victims

"Two Years After Rejection, Resilient Quietly Refiles MDMA for PTSD Application" (Psychedelia Alpha):

https://psychedelicalpha.com/news/two-years-after-rejection-resilient-quietly-refiles-mdma-for-ptsd-application/

"Are Psychedelics Right-Wing Now?" (The New Yorker):

https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/are-psychedelics-right-wing-now

Neşe and Russell speak with Kaleb Graves about his reporting on the growing links between psychedelic therapy and conversion therapy movements. Drawing from his article — "Psychedelic Conversion Therapy: How Christian Nationalism Is Co-Opting a Movement Once Reserved for Hippies" — they discuss how right-wing religious and political ideologies are increasingly intersecting with the psychedelic space.

They discuss figures like Wendi Rees, who is a strong advocate of both transphobic ideologies and psychedelic therapies, and what it means for a movement that claims to center healing. They also explore the broader implications of welcoming conversion therapy and anti-abortion advocates, including Rick Perry, into psychedelic circles.

Chapters:

0:00:00 Intro

0:01:58 Kaleb Graves background

0:05:20 Graves' "Good Faith Media" article, "A Christian's Guide to Psychedelics"

0:08:02 Rick Perry & Bryan Hubbard Promoting Wendi Rees, "Christian's Guide" on Joe Rogan

0:09:44 Wendi Rees background and conversion therapy in her book

0:16:00 Research on psychedelics for identity shift

0:24:55 Wendi Rees's views on homosexuality and dissuading her children from same-sex attraction

0:28:45 Rees believes it is wrong to encourage a "lifestyle of homosexuality"/"a lifestyle of sin"

0:38:40 Rees's claims about "trans age"

0:46:00 Rees wonders "at what point" murderers will stop identifying as "murderers" if trans rights are allowed

0:47:20 Rees expresses hope that she can inflict violence on a trans person in a bathroom

0:51:00 Misguided ideas that psychedelics can "trojan horse" progressive ideology into right-wing spaces

0:54:30 Fundamentalism and homophobia

0:58:00 Graves's experience at a Bicycle Day event with Bryan Hubbard and Wendi Rees

1:04:45 Post-interview updates on Rees's psychedelic retreats and Joe Welker's review of "Christian's Guide to Psychedelics"

Footnotes:

"Psychedelic Conversion Therapy: How Christian Nationalism is Co-Opting a Movement Once Reserved for Hippies" (Good Faith Media): https://goodfaithmedia.org/psychedelic-conversion-therapy-how-christian-nationalism-is-co-opting-a-movement-once-reserved-for-hippies/

Psychedelic Theology podcast: https://www.psychedelictheology.com/

"Reviewing 'The Christian's Guide to Psychedelics'" (Psychedelic Candor): https://www.psychedeliccandor.org/p/reviewing-the-christians-guide-to

"A Leftist Primer on the Right-Wing Psychedelic Takeover" (Psymposia): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI2GMUDT-ig&t=1s

Neşe and Russell examine the rise of modern right-wing influencers who simultaneously advocate for the dismantling of "woke" ideologies, express support for conversion therapy frameworks, and promote the use of psychedelic therapy. Focusing on figures like Elon Musk and Jordan Peterson, they explore how these seemingly contradictory positions intersect. Both Musk and Peterson have had a notable influence within psychedelic culture, shaping conversations around mental health, identity, and the future of therapy.

This video unpacks their broader ideologies, particularly how they approach questions of gender and sexuality, and how those views could inform the ways psychedelics are applied in therapeutic or cultural contexts. As psychedelics move further into the mainstream, the frameworks guiding their use become increasingly important.

Neşe and Russell examine the risks of these substances being deployed not for liberation or healing, but as tools to enforce conformity.

Chapters:

0:00:00 Intro

0:03:00 Jordan Peterson background

0:05:10 Jordan Peterson hypes psychedelics to Dave Rubin and Ben Shapiro

0:08:35 Peterson's Double Standards on Evidence, Psychedelics vs. Gender Affirming Care

0:11:40 Peterson and Shapiro discuss conversion therapy

0:13:00 Right-wing focus on queerness as the "face" of "woke" ideology is a red herring

0:17:04 Peterson as the prototypical "psychedelic fascist"

0:19:15 Peterson and Peter Thiel's "Power Law"

0:21:00 Peterson and pathological framing of ideologies

0:23:20 Peterson's conversations with psychedelic researchers (Roland Griffiths, Robin Carhart-Harris)

0:44:00 Chloe Cole psychedelic detransition claims

0:47:00 Detrans rhetoric used for neurodivergence

0:51:00 Elon Musk's connections to the psychedelic industry

0:56:00 Elon Musk's war against the "Woke Mind Virus"

Footnotes:

"Medical Association Statements in Support of Health Care for Transgender People and Youth" (GLAAD): https://glaad.org/medical-association-statements-supporting-trans-youth-healthcare-and-against-discriminatory/

"Fact Sheet: Evidence-Based Health Care for Transgender People and Youth" (GLAAD): https://glaad.org/factsheet-evidence-based-healthcare-transgender-people-and-youth/

"American Psychiatric Association Responds to Executive Order on Accelerating Medical Treatments for Serious Mental Illness" (APA): https://www.psychiatry.org/news-room/news-releases/apa-responds-to-executive-order-on-psychedelics

"Jordan Peterson's Psychedelic Hierarchy, ft. Thought Slime" (Psymposia): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBejCu8MnfQ

Threads about Robin Carhart-Harris's conversation with Jordan Peterson: https://x.com/NeseLSD/status/1603457980779081728

https://x.com/NeseLSD/status/1635067729555361792

https://x.com/brian_pace/status/1369462746790715399

"QAnon Shaman, Chloe Cole, and Laura Becker Promote LSD Use as Alternative to Transition" (Assigned Media): https://assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/qanon-shaman-chloe-cole-laura-becker-promote-lsd/

"The Human Cost of DOGE's War on U.S.A.I.D." (New Yorker): https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-new-yorker-interview/the-human-cost-of-doges-war-on-usaid

"Researchers Estimate USAID Cuts Have Already Led to 700,000 Deaths Worldwide" (Latin Times): https://www.latintimes.com/researchers-estimate-usaid-cuts-have-already-led-700000-deaths-worldwide-598208

"The Psychedelic Syndicate" (Psymposia): https://www.psymposia.com/psychedelic-syndicate-executive-summary-silicon-valley-maps-lykos-mdma-fda-billionaires/

"Elon Musk on Racism, Bailing Out Trump, Hate Speech, and More" (The Don Lemon Show): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhsfjBpKiTw&t=1s

Neşe and Russell review the history and harms of conversion therapy practices in the broader medical landscape, as well as their persistence throughout the history of psychedelic research. In the first wave of psychedelic science, influential figures helped legitimize deeply harmful ideas about pharmaceutical assistance in shifting identity.

Timothy Leary publicly suggested psychedelics could "cure" homosexuality. Richard Alpert (later Ram Dass) engaged in psychedelic-assisted conversion efforts with individuals who wrote to him seeking change. Stanislav Grof framed homosexuality as a pathology and explored psychedelic treatments aimed at altering sexual orientation.

This history is often ignored or sanitized in contemporary discussions about psychedelics. But it is more relevant than ever as psychedelics gain support from many of the same political and cultural forces working to roll back protections against conversion therapy and of LGBTQ+ rights.

Chapters:

0:00:00 Intro

0:04:54 Harms of conversion therapy and rollback of conversion therapy ban

0:15:55 Conversion therapy in historic psychedelic research

0:17:50 Andrea Ens research, Timothy Leary claims LSD can cure homosexuality

0:24:30 Archival letters and Ram Dass performing conversion therapy

0:28:45 Stan Grof conversion therapy writings and controversy

Footnotes:

"High dose shock therapy with LSD and mescaline: the experiments of a French doctor on two homosexual adolescents in the 1960s" by Zoë Dubus (Synergetic Press):

https://hal.science/hal-03913920v1/document "A Specific Cure for Homosexuality: Postwar

Psychedelic Conversion Therapies in the United States and Canada" by Andrea Ens (University of Wisconsin-Madison):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsI0LjMuL8g

"'Wish I would be normal': LSD and Homosexuality at Hollywood Hospital, 1955-1973" by Andrea Ens (University of Saskatchewan Master's Thesis): https://harvest.usask.ca/items/0b737538-8322-4ba9-b62e-61e70869794e

"The shameful history of psychedelic gay conversion therapy" (Plastic Brain): https://plasticbrainblog.com/2019/05/29/history-psychedelic-gay-conversion-therapy/

"Consensus Statement Condemning Psychedelic Conversion Therapy and Suggestions for Addressing Ongoing Harms Against LGBTQIA+ People in Psychedelic Research and Therapy": https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfsgdmGs0OxfvZyTP0cETBE-I4P3afwVblJ7cegrCetdmCrEg/viewform

"An Open Letter Reply to Dr. Stan Grof" (Open Foundation): https://open-foundation.org/an-open-letter-reply-to-dr-stan-grof/

"Acknowledging the Past, Affirming Our Commitment to Healing For All" / Stan Grof letter (MAPS): https://maps.org/grof-letter/

The crew discusses AtaiBeckley's acquisition by Eli Lilly, The Wall Street Journal's mini-documentary on 5-MeO-DMT, and a recent death that occurred during a psychedelic retreat.