Dope Stories

A rational discussion about drug use.

Dope Stories 028 - Reunion 02/10/2015

Dope Stories 028 - Reunion The reunion show! Shane shares stories from a recent trip to Jamaica. Pauly and Shane discuss the George Clinton (Parliament-Funkadelic) memoir. Shane has a new-found respect for Phish after attending a show at the L.A. Forum. Pauly describes an intense psychedelic experience in Las Vegas over Halloween. Finally, Pauly explains the new direction of his upcoming novel, Fried Peaches. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/3356158

Dope Stories 027 - This Is The End 07/31/2014

Dope Stories 027 - This Is The End Description: Shane explains how he arrived at the difficult decision to end Dope Stories after 27 episodes. Shane and Pauly reminisce about their favorite moments from the show, and they also briefly discuss the New York Times op-ed series supporting the legalization of marijuana. Pauly shares a Las Vegas story about dropping LSD at the World Series of Poker on the day Phil Hellmuth made a grandiose entrance dressed as Julius Caesar. Dope Media includes Drunk History, WTF Podcast with The Amazing Jonathan, Graham Hancock's banned Ted talk, and Pauly’s upcoming novel Fried Peaches. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2984324

Dope Stories 026 - Phish Tour 07/24/2014

Dope Stories 026 - Phish Tour Pauly returns from two weeks on the road following Phish and Shane asks him about his travels in New York, Detroit, and Chicago. Other topics include: sleep as a drug, the nitrous mafia, Phish as a religion and what is a wook? Dope Media includes Down the Rabbit Hole (a novel by Juan Pablo Villalobos) and Michael Walker's book on Laurel Canyon. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2965225

Dope Stories 025 - Turbo: Mexicali Blues 07/17/2014

Dope Stories 025 - Turbo: Mexicali Blues In this special "Turbo" vacation episode, Pauly asks Shane about living in Mexico as an online poker exile. Shane answers the popular question "Is Mexico dangerous?" and he describes his weekly routine commuting from Santa Monica to Rosarito Beach, Mexico. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2949521

Dope Stories 024 - Turbo: Sean Azzariti 07/10/2014

Dope Stories 024 - Turbo: Sean Azzariti In this special "Turbo" episode, Pauly interviews marijuana activist and veterans advocate Sean Azzariti. Sean talks about the controversial dismissal of medicinal marijuana researcher, Dr. Sue Sisley. Sean updates us on his recent work with Grow4Vets, which offers free cannabis for military veterans. Sean also explains how medicinal marijuana helps him and other Iraq War vets deal with PTSD. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2937107

Dope Stories 023 - Degens of Summer 07/03/2014

Dope Stories 023 - Degens of Summer Shane returns from Vegas, where he played poker with Michael Borovetz, a degenerate gambler most known for scamming people at airports. Shane and Pauly discuss heroin experimentation, while Pauly explains how he's too busy with work to be a full-blown junkie. Dope Media selections include Kid Cannabis film and 112 Weddings documentary. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2924683

Dopes Stories 022 - Jordan Morgan 06/26/2014

Dopes Stories 022 - Jordan Morgan Shane is on the road in Las Vegas and calls Pauly in the studio. They interview professional poker player Jordan Morgan moments after he won a tournament and his first World Series of Poker bracelet. Morgan was recently prescribed Adderall and he explains how the cognitive enhancer drug turned his life around. Shane and Pauly discuss Electric Daisy Carnival, Shane's worst festival experience, and Pauly's worst Phish show in Vermont. Shane also asks Pauly about his writing methods and inspiration behind his new novel, Fried Peaches. Dope Media includes True Romance (film recommended by Jordan Morgan), How I Hacked My Brain on Adderall article by Trent, and Supermensch, a documentary by Mike Myers about legendary manager Shep Gordon. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2910800

Dope Stories 021 - Dope Economies 06/19/2014

Dope Stories 021 - Dope Economies Shane returned from a long weekend in Vegas and asks Pauly about an article in The Believer about the future of marijuana growers in the Northern California's Emerald Triangle. Pauly explains how wholesale weed prices dropped dramatically over the last 10 years. Shane and Pauly discuss the documentary Crackhouse USA, in which narcotics police in Rockford, Illinois set up surveillance inside a stash house. Pauly remarks on the 44th anniversary of Dock Ellis pitching a no-hitter while under the influence of LSD and speed. Dope Media included Dead Prez and Michael Rappaport's documentary "Beats, Rhymes and Life" about A Tribe Called Quest. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2899133

Dope Stories 020 - Dr. Shuglin, MDMA, and the New Reefer Madness 06/12/2014

Dope Stories 020 - Dr. Shuglin, MDMA, and the New Reefer Madness The passing of chemist Dr. Alexander 'Sasha' Shulgin, a.k.a. the Godfather of Psychedelics, inspired a discussion on MDMA. Dr. Shuglin perfected MDMA in the 1970s and authored two books about his psychedelic discoveries like 2C-B and DOM. Pauly reminds us about Dr. Shulgin's philosophy on self-experimentation and his message about psychedelics: "Use them with care." Shane and Pauly warn listeners about the wave of severe depression that accompanies heavy usage of MDMA. Shane reveals an affinity for chocolate and Pauly delves into his recent addiction to Two Dots. Shane sounds off the new 'Reefer Madness' in the media and Maureen Dowd's op-ed in NY Times about overdosing on cannabis edibles. Dope Media picks include Finding the Funk documentary, VICE interview with Dr. Sasha Shulgin, and Believer article on the future of marijuana growers in NoCal's Emerald Triangle. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2886226

Dope Stories 019 - Lost Vegas 06/05/2014

Dope Stories 019 - Lost Vegas The theme this week is "Las Vegas as a drug" and the nonstop temptations of Sin City. Pauly explains how he chats up strippers and other elements of the dark side of Las Vegas. Shane shares a couple of classic Vegas sex stories including the Glove Scam and he gives tips on how not to get rolled by a hooker. Shane started reading Pauly's book "Lost Vegas: The Redneck Riviera, Existentialist Conversations with Strippers, and the World Series of Poker" and asks Pauly about the book's origins and his Vegas psychedelic experiences from the 1990s. This week's Dope Media includes: Tom Wolfe essay on Vegas, Bob Dylan's Rambling Gambling Willie, Drugs Inc. (Las Vegas episode), and the obituary for Dr. Alexander 'Sasha' Shulgin (a.k.a. the Godfather of Ecstasy). /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2873570

Dope Stories 018 - We Are So High 05/29/2014

Dope Stories 018 - We Are So High Shane and Pauly sound off on a recent episode of This American Life "I Was So High." Shane has issues with Ira Glass' Us vs. Them theme and Alex Blumberg's segment about his pothead father. Pauly claims he can spot which chefs on Top Chef are high. Shane touches upon recent articles about Harm Reduction in the Guardian and Buzzfeed's Buzzreads, which brought attention to different programs to help heroin users in NYC and cocaine users in the U.K. Dope Media includes Howard Stern's interviewing Doug Stanhope and Billy Joel, and a book on the Oral History of L.A. Punk called We Got the Neutron Bomb by Marc Spitz and Brendan Mullen. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2861402

Dope Stories 017 - I Get High With A Lil Help From Strangers 05/22/2014

Dope Stories 017 - I Get High With A Lil Help From Strangers Shane and Pauly swap different dope stories involving strangers. Shane's stories include his first crack experience, getting stoned with his friend Dee Dee and two German tourists, and meeting a Dutch traveler who helped shape his mind about traveling. Pauly's stories include hanging out with spies in Amsterdam hash bars, gambling on basketball with British ex-pats in Jamaica, and following Phish in Japan and meeting local hippies. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2850778

Dope Stories 016 - Guests "High Maintenance" 05/15/2014

Dope Stories 016 - Guests "High Maintenance" Shane and Pauly interview Ben Sinclair and Katja Blichfeld, the co-creators of High Maintenance, which is a critically acclaimed web series about a weed delivery guy in NYC who encounters an eclectic pastiche of customers and characters. This interview was conducted at Thank You for Coming in Atwater Village. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2838557

Dope Stories 015 - Acid Test, Part 2: Furthur 05/08/2014

Dope Stories 015 - Acid Test, Part 2: Furthur Description: Shane gifts Pauly a vinyl copy of Europe '72 by the Grateful Dead. John Lennon reminds us to thank the CIA and U.S. Army for LSD. Shane reviews the Magic Trip documentary and explains why he wouldn't want to travel on the Furthur bus with the Merry Pranksters. Shane and Pauly discuss Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and why Kesey's problems with the film version of his novel. Other stories include Shane's trip on a Green Tortoise adventure tour, teenaged Pauly "adopted" by older hippies on Grateful Dead tour, and Shane's encounter with a sketchy "leprechaun" in Central Park. Dope Media includes Searching for Sound by Phil Lesh, Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys, Free Your Mind... and Your Ass Will Follow by Funkadelic, Paul Krassner's Impolite Interviews, and The Eden Express: A Memoir of Insanity by Mark Vonnegut. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2825870

Dope Stories 014 - The Acid Test 05/01/2014

Dope Stories 014 - The Acid Test Pauly read Acid Dreams (book by Martin A. Lee) and shared his notes with Shane that includes Timothy Leary at Millbrook, the CIA buying 100 million hits of LSD from Sandoz labs in Switzerland, Ken Kesey & the Merry Pranksters, Neal Cassady driving the Furthur bus, the history of the Acid Tests, the Grateful Dead dosing Playboy bunnies, and the time Allen Ginsberg gave Psilocybin to Theolnious Monk. Shane re-examines his initial experimentation with psychedelics (including a DMT experience on Halloween) leading up to his psychotic breakdown in Amsterdam. Dope Media included Silicon Valley (new show on HBO), Magic Trip documentary, El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Simpsons episode when Homer trips on Guatemalan insanity pepper), Bates Motel, Broad City, and Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: the CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2813267

Dope Stories 013 - The 4/20 Show 04/24/2014

Dope Stories 013 - The 4/20 Show Special episode to commemorate 420 Day. Half-baked festivities included sampling pre-rolled joints, vaping "Brown Sugar" shatter, and setting off the smoke detector in Pauly's office. Shane and Pauly had a brief discussion about Gimme Shelter, the documentary on the Rolling Stones and Altamont. Shane told a story about losing an ounce of weed and drinking shroom tea on Easter and tripping at Roseland Ballroom. Dope Media included Dave Chappelle/Neal Brennan, What You Want Is in the Limo by Michael Walker, Don't Look Back (Bob Dylan documentary by D.A. Pennebaker), and Seven Ages of Rock documentary. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2799581

Dope Stories 012 - International Dope 04/17/2014

Dope Stories 012 - International Dope Pauly's girlfriend shares a lost in translation story from London. Shane tells a couple crazy tales about trying to score in Europe and in the Bahamas (including a night involving a character named Mack Daddy). Pauly talks about his first visit to the Christiania "green-light district" in Copenhagen, along with the time he was accused of being a CIA agent in Uruguay. Pauly also tells of the time he met Kate Hudson backstage at Big Day Out music festival in Australia. Dope Media includes books by Tom Davis, Geoff Dyer, and Russell Banks, and the most recent episode of SNL with Seth Rogen. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2787775

Dope Stories 011 - Sean Azzariti, Medicinal Marijuana Activist 04/10/2014

Dope Stories 011 - Sean Azzariti, Medicinal Marijuana Activist Shane and Pauly interview medicinal marijuana activist and Iraq War veteran Sean Azzariti, who uses marijuana to treat his PTSD. Sean is best-known for being the first person to ever buy legal weed in Denver, Colorado on Jan 1, 2014. Sean explains how he got tapped to be the first recreational buyer and how he's working on a bill to get PTSD listed as one of the approved conditions for medicinal marijuana in Colorado. Sean sheds a little insight into his two tours in Iraq with the Marines, including getting bribed with giant bags of hashish, plus treacherous encounters with camel spiders. This week’s Dope Media picks include: High Times podcast - The Stash, Back and Forth (documentary about Dave Grohl forming the Foo Fighters), Pharoahe Monch's new album P.T.S.D., Roadside Prophets (1992 movie with John Cusak), and Scrapple documentary. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2774890

Dope Stories 010 - Ridin' Dirty 04/03/2014

Dope Stories 010 - Ridin' Dirty Shane roadtripped to New Mexico and calls into the Dope Stories studios to chat with Pauly. Shane tells his infamous Amtrak story involving a near bust. Pauly tells a few stories about using a Jedi mind trick with a security guard, an encounter with a drug dog checkpoint on a Kansas freeway, and the time he randomly met Bill Murray in NYC. This week's Dope Media included: High Maintenance, Gil Scott-Heron, Mistaken for Strangers (documentary film), A.K.A. Tommy Chong (documentary), Murder City by Charles Bowden (book about Juarez, Mexico), Lost in America/Easy Rider, and the new War on Drugs album. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2763885

BROKE STORIES 04/01/2014

BROKE STORIES Shane and Pauly created a new podcast about going broke. Pauly's broke stories include shoplifting CDs in the East Village, meeting a weed dealer at a country club in Atlanta, selling his hair in Seattle, losing a $6,000 bet on a March Madness basketball game, blowing his poker winnings on Phish tour, and getting stiffed by a Costa Rican bookie. Shane's broke stories include winning his first prop bet inside a Bronx diner, panhandling for 25 cents to take a crosstown bus, betting/losing on tennis matches during summer camp in Maine, and taking a wrong turn along the way to a Rainbow Gathering in Montana. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2760038

Dope Stories 009 - Media Dope 03/27/2014

Dope Stories 009 - Media Dope Shane shares some lyrical insight he grokked from Dead Prez and Wu-Tang Clan. Shane and Pauly discuss the Gus Van Sant film Drugstore Cowboy. Pauly's Dope Media suggestions include a biography on David Foster Wallace and podcasts with Duncan Tressell, Amber Lyon, and Dean Delray. Shane watched Drugs, Inc.: Jamaica. Also, Shane explains his recent run in a poker tournament and how $151,000 is not really what it seems. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2751496

Dope Stories 008 - Dr. Carl Hart, author of High Price 03/20/2014

Dope Stories 008 - Dr. Carl Hart, author of High Price Shane and Pauly interview Dr. Carl Hart, Columbia University professor of neuroscience and the author of High Price. Dr. Hart shares the straight dope on certain drug myths. He spoke on numerous topics including his experiments on behavior in crack users, how there's no scientific evidence for addictive personalities, the importance of clever campaigns explaining the real effects of drugs, the dangers of mixing drugs with alcohol and other drugs, a letter he wrote to his son about how to use drugs safely, and his problem with David Simon's The Wire. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2739420

Dope Stories 007 - World Series of Poker champion Greg Merson 03/13/2014

Dope Stories 007 - World Series of Poker champion Greg Merson Shane and Pauly interview 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Greg Merson. During their discussion, Merson reveals how poker was both his downfall and savior while he battled an addiction to cocaine and prescription opiates. Within a year of getting clean, Merson won the WSOP Main Event. Merson currently travels the international circuit and playing in high roller tournaments and the biggest stakes cash games, yet he knows that a potential relapse is lurking around every corner. After the interview, DJ Trent gets schooled on basic poker concepts that Greg mentioned. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2726924

Dope Stories 006 - Tripping in the House I Live In 03/06/2014

Dope Stories 006 - Tripping in the House I Live In Description: Shane's crack article in Slate, 50 Cent documentary, Eugene Jarecki's drug war documentary "House I Live In", Shane's bad trips, Pauly's turbulent trip at Phish, Ken Kesey testing LSD for the CIA, Shane's friend busted for weed, web series High Maintenance, and Shane's experiences working for a marijuana delivery service in NYC. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2715061

Dope Stories 005 - The Oxy Years 02/27/2014

Dope Stories 005 - The Oxy Years Shane and Pauly discuss their origins in the NYC underground poker scene and how Pauly got hired to become a poker writer and reporter in Las Vegas. Pauly explains how a car accident in Vegas altered his life and quickly led to an addiction to prescription painkillers. The accident triggered two tumultuous years of soul searching while battling an addiction to OxyContin. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2703064

Dope Stories 004 - Talkin' About Base: Crack 101 02/20/2014

Dope Stories 004 - Talkin' About Base: Crack 101 Shane buys scratch off lottery tickets, Pauly discusses his chronic insomnia, and Shane reveals his experiences with crack cocaine. Also, Pauly has a theory that George Clinton is an alien. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2691895

Dope Stories 003 - Start Up Dot Weed: The 2014 L.A. Cannabis Cup 02/13/2014

Dope Stories 003 - Start Up Dot Weed: The 2014 L.A. Cannabis Cup An overzealous landlord denies Shane new housing because of his affiliation with Dope Stories. Shane tells Pauly about what he missed at the L.A. Cannabis Cup. Dope Stories welcomes its first guest, DJ Trent, who shares his thoughts on the heavy tech influence and innovations on the burgeoning marijuana industry. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2677825

Dope Stories 002 - The Uncool: Philip Seymour Hoffman Remembered 02/11/2014

Dope Stories 002 - The Uncool: Philip Seymour Hoffman Remembered Special episode in response to the OD death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. Shane and Pauly are impressed with Hoffman's haunting performance as compulsive gambler in Owning Mahowny. They also discuss the 90s heroin chic scene in NYC. Pauly shares a few OD stories (DMT, heroin, and the Seattle grunge scene). Shane recalls a James Brown heroin PSA. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2673498

Dope Stories 001 - A rational discussion about drug use. 02/05/2014

Dope Stories 001 - A rational discussion about drug use. A rational discussion about drug use. /episode/index/show/dopestories/id/2664149

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