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Psymposia is a 501(c)(3) research non-profit with a mission to educate the public on psychedelic science and harm reduction. We offer critical perspectives on drugs, politics, and culture.The podcast is co-hosted by Psymposia co-founder Brian Normand, psychedelics researcher and ethicist Neşe Devenot, evolutionary ecologist Brian Pace, and journalist Russell Hausfeld.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Critical interviews and commentary trace psychedelic claims through drug policy, commercial incentives, institutional power, and questions of public accountability.
The Psymposia Podcast keeps asking what the psychedelic renaissance leaves out when its promises meet politics, commerce, and institutional power.
A church sells its sacrament before confirming its claimed compound; you get the awkward follow-up.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A skeptical take on psychedelic therapy and the safety questions around it.
The episode starts with a recent Wall Street Journal piece on ketamine therapy, then widens into a sober look at how the psychedelic industry handles safety, harm, and the standards it sets for itself.
A dry, careful rebuttal about misrepresentation, harm, and how the dispute gets told.
Part 4 of the Hamilton Morris response is less a recap than a correction. It keeps pressing on the same fault line: misinformation, selective framing, and conflation have warped the record once the argument became inconvenient.
A clear-eyed account of faith, evidence, and institutional self-justification.
The episode tracks a sharp dispute in the world of entheogenic churches: a preprint posted on April 12 says the church's offered sacrament does not contain the compound it claims, while the church answers that its case rests on faith and on members' reported experiences rather…
A sharp critique of drug policy that ties enforcement, punishment, and racialized capitalism into one line of argument.
Hilary Agro reads as a clear-eyed guide to drug policy, especially when the discussion shifts from abstract rules to who actually gets punished.
A history-minded, critical conversation that keeps psychedelics tied to politics and power.
Plus Three's Part One treats acid communism as an argument about what psychedelic history has been allowed to keep or lose. With Emma Stamm, the hosts move through Mark Fisher, Jeremy Gilbert, the political life of 1960s psychedelia, and the pressure points of digital capitalism…
Research made practical, patient, and public.
Chemistry with the footnotes left in.
The periodic table, read by a business desk.
Chemistry, queerness and grad school, told by the chemists
Russell and Nishay open with a discussion of a recent Wall Street Journal article from March and a content warning.
This installment opens by noting that the episode was originally meant for YouTube, so the abrupt audio cuts may just be video clips heard without the video.
This episode is part three of a series debunking claims about Psymposia's funding, specifically addressing allegations involving Usona and Bob Jesse.
This episode debunks misinformation spread by Hamilton Morris about the podcast's funding, specifically claims of ties to pharmaceutical company Usona.
The Psymposia team discusses false claims made about them by Hamilton Morris on Andrew Callahan's 5Cast.
Russell frames the dispute around Greg Lake and the Church of Silomithoxin as a familiar sort of psychedelic mess.
Brian Pace and the hosts talk with Hilary Agro about drug use, drug policy, and the politics wrapped around both.
This episode critically examines the psychedelic renaissance, focusing on digital capitalism and surveillance capitalism in the context of psychedelics.
Part One brings Emma Stamm into a conversation about acid communism and the politics around psychedelia.
The hosts discuss the Capitol insurrection and Jake Angeli's background as a psychedelic guru.