#52 - Right-Wing Psychedelia at University of Madison-Wisconsin
Release Date: 06/27/2022
#70 Telepathy in Psychedelic Therapy
The Psymposia Podcast
Psymposia board member Dr. Neşe Devenot’s presentation at the Ohio State University “Religion and Psychedelics” conference, recorded March 28, 2026. In this talk, Dr. Devenot presents their research on the reliance on unscientific telepathic attunement in many popular schools of psychedelic therapy.
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#69 Why is Professor Dave Promoting Psychedelic Grifters?
The Psymposia Podcast
Professor Dave is a well-known science communicator and prolific debunker of pseudoscience. Despite building his platform on combatting misinformation, he continues joining conversations that promote false claims about the FDA’s rejection of MDMA-assisted therapy — one of which he republished on his own channel. In this episode, Psymposia responds to the latest of these conversations on the Danny Jones Podcast. We encourage Professor Dave to do his homework on the psychedelic industry before aligning himself with the very pseudoscience promoters he's built his career opposing.
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#68 UPDATE: A Leftist Primer to the Right-Wing Psychedelic Takeover
The Psymposia Podcast
Three psychedelic companies received vouchers for expedited FDA review: Usona, Compass Pathways, and Otsuka—NOT Resilient Pharmaceuticals. This voucher announcement is yet another vindication of our reporting on major problems and pseudoscience within Lykos’/Resilient's trials. Update to episode #68.
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#68 A Leftist Primer on the Right-Wing Psychedelic Takeover
The Psymposia Podcast
Psychedelics are the next front in Big Tech's dystopia. Psymposia developed this primer for leftists in response to Donald Trump‘s April 18 Executive Order, which accelerates review of psychedelic drugs deemed “Breakthrough Therapies” and makes Schedule 1 drugs more accessible under Right to Try laws. This announcement made a splash in psychedelic media, where praise for the Trump administration mixes with false claims about an “end to prohibition.” In this discussion, we provide important context about this Executive Order and the people who engineered this moment behind the scenes....
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#67 Just Up the Dose?: Therapy Cults are Influencing Psychedelic Medicine Standards
The Psymposia Podcast
It has become a problematic standard practice in the psychedelic therapy industry to increase drug dosages after patients display red flag symptoms. Psymposia discusses a recent Wall Street Journal article about these practices as they manifest in the ketamine industry; the psychedelic industry’s historic normalization of these practices; and recent attempts to convince lawmakers to protect psychedelic providers from liability for standard forms of medical malpractice. Together, these developments highlight why allowing a therapy cult to influence the norms of psychedelic medicine puts the...
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#66 Hamilton's Pharma Cope, Part 4: "The Face of Psychedelic Ethics"
The Psymposia Podcast
In this final episode, we explore the attempts made by Hamilton Morris to attack the work, integrity, and character of our team.
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#65 Hamilton's Pharma Cope, Part 3: Paid Protestor Paranoia
The Psymposia Podcast
Psymposia discusses Hamilton Morris's misinformation about their funding, his relationship with Compass Pathways, his claims that the nonprofit Usona has planted protestors at conferences to make him look bad, and claims that Psymposia encouraged terrorism.
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#64 Hamilton's Pharma Cope, Part 2: Psychedelic Cult Defenders
The Psymposia Podcast
Psymposia discusses their history with the Church of Psilomethoxin and addresses Hamilton Morris's misinformation about their funding and the alleged elder abuse of psychedelic funder George Sarlo by MAPS Board Chair Vicky Dulai.
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#63 Hamilton's Pharma Cope, Part 1: "DEA Informants"
The Psymposia Podcast
Psymposia addresses Hamilton Morris's misinformation, including his speculation that they are DEA informants, their behavior at the FDA advisory committee for Lykos' Therapeutics' MDMA application, and more.
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#62 Even More Psychedelic Figures in the Epstein Files
The Psymposia Podcast
Psymposia discusses more notable psychedelic figures who have turned up in the Epstein files — including Paul Krassner, Rupert and Merlin Sheldrake, Paul Daley, and more. 2:06: Kimbal Musk updates 4:48: Ken Jordan/Alchemist Kitchen updates 8:32: Rupert Sheldrake 20:00: Merlin Sheldrake 29:00 Cortes Island 34:20: Paul Krassner 41:05: Paul Daley Footnotes: Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein story (Miami Herald): New batch of Epstein files unmasks a 1970s Scientology spy — and he talked to us! (The Underground Bunker): Epstein engineered intimate relationship for Tesla’s...
info_outlineThis talk was presented live by Dr. Brian Pace and Dr. Neşe Devenot at the UW–Madison Transdisciplinary Center for Research in Psychoactive Substances. This talk was presented on April 28 as part of the "Psychedelic Humanities" speaker series, organized by Dr. Lucas Richert.
Public discourse concerning psychedelics and the emerging industry in psychedelic-assisted therapy has extended beyond the potential benefits of novel treatments for specific mental health disorders to claims that widespread psychedelic use may tilt social relations towards more egalitarian norms. Researchers and media outlets have pointed to several recent studies which present data asserting that classical psychedelics can reduce authoritarianism, increase liberal views, and deepen nature-relatedness.
Taken together, these studies are cited to promote a vision of drug-assisted social progress. Yet counter examples abound of psychedelic-experienced individuals expressing views explicitly opposed to egalitarianism and liberal politics. Moreover, acceptance of psychedelics by institutions and aspirational business and celebrity figures has only increased right-wing psychedelic interest in recent years.
This presentation highlights the numerous contemporary and historical cases where the use of psychedelics failed to reduce authoritarian tendencies in users, or even facilitated adoption of authoritarian views. We demonstrate that psychedelics can catalyze change in political or religious belief, but not in a consistent direction. Instead, we propose that many transformative experiences—including those induced by psychedelics—can challenge and radically shift a person’s worldview, and that extra-pharmacological factors influence the character of change in ideology or political belief.
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