135. Ethnomycology with Darren Le Baron

·46 min·3 clips

“Get them from selling weed bags to salad bags” becomes the program’s central line.

David Nutt introduces Darren Le Baron as a guest whose knowledge and work stood out straight away. The conversation focuses on psychedelics, altered states, and their place in an indigenous context. Le Baron explains that his interest in altered states began early, especially through dreams. He describes dreams as a lifelong fascination and a starting point for deeper inquiry. His family background is important to that search. He is first generation born in the UK, with family roots in Barbados and a lineage he connects back to Africa. That background draws him toward African traditions and culture. He says many people arrive with instructions about how to live, but he wanted to understand what people in those traditions actually did and how they did it. That curiosity led him toward healing practices and the making of brews and concoctions. The conversation makes clear that his path was not just theoretical. It was shaped by a desire to step away from the wrong path and create an alternative. He uses the image of spreading spores to describe how ideas move. The point is not instant conversion. The point is planting something that may stay dormant before it germinates later. He also ties that impulse to practical horticulture. Le Baron says the turn toward growing began when he wanted to provide food for his month-old daughter. The original aim was independence from stores and the system. From there, the work redirected him toward mushrooms. Nutt responds with admiration for that practical commitment. He contrasts his own role with Le Baron's willingness to act directly. The exchange ends on shared enthusiasm for continuing to spread the spores.

As heard by us

A grounded conversation that places mushrooms inside a larger story about culture, roots, and renewal.

This episode moves from psychedelics into indigenous context, African traditions, dreams, and the practical work of growing food and plants in London schools.

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Why you'd press play

You want a serious conversation about mushrooms, ancestry, and what grows when you change direction.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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