Shows
Deep BreathsQuick Breather #11 (pt.2) - Rose, 2024 in Simon et al., 2025In part 2 of Quick Breather #11, I get back to my ivory tower and talk about Rose 2024: doi.org/10.1556/2054.2024.00363 as cited in Simon et al., 2025 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-26198-4I also mention Kangaslampi et al., 2025 (which I’ll discuss properly another time): https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40337-025-01484-8.And go into older references in Rose 2024: Watts et al., 2019: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022167817709585Nutt et al., 2017: https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0092867420302828 This is a...
2025-12-0924 min
Deep BreathsQuick Breather #11 (pt.1) - Hamilton Morris' group chatThis was supposed to be just a brief intro to the recording I made yesterday, but I ended up going on for a while…Dao Anh Kahn’s penis valley: https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p07b3fds/the-controversial-art-festival-deep-in-the-jungleAn article from Rolling Stone on empathy x wealth research: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-commentary/billionaires-psychology-tech-politics-1235358129/“Wealth makes you less generous (lower-income individuals have been shown to give a greater proportion of their income than wealthier ones), less compassionate (people with more money and status report less distress when confronted with a...
2025-12-0927 min
Deep BreathsQuick Breather #10 - Hamilton Morris, seeming "seriously mentally ill", Psymposia, Jess Taylor, Joe Rogan, MK UltraIn order of mentions:* I didn’t actually mention Moira Donegan’s tweet, but coincidentally, just before I recorded this, she summed up one of the patterns of responses guys like Hamilton use:* My “nutty” post about the very obviously not-organic Reddit promo of his interview. Keep in mind, Hamilton is also trying to normalise Matt Baggott’s Reddit-LLM-bot trained on Hamilton. These guys…seriously.* The sound event I went to that I had to leave was actually tied to psychedelic things in a way I didn’t realise — my partner bought the ticke...
2025-11-2932 min
Deep BreathsQuick Breather #9 - Staying sane in insanity, suicide, kundalini awakening, Doblin on Williams, anger and crying[Content warning: discussion of suicide, death, Nolan Williams, a psychedelics researcher who died by suicide in Australia a few years ago, kundalini awakening and psychosis]I started recording these audio notes on Sunday evenings, which has been a really nice routine for me. I’ve kept up with that, but the last three weeks, I haven’t posted my recordings publicly.I can’t explain all of the reasons for that, or everything in those (now private) recordings. Instead, here’s me drinking coffee and crying about suicide on a Thursday afternoon.Please know tha...
2025-10-3023 min
Deep BreathsQuick Breather #8 - Jung, simplicity, Dumme Michel, Rolling Stone, MAPS image rehab, Psychedelics Today paid community, Shameless talks about The TellAn extra-long, public holiday Monday recording:* Jung and simplicity:https://substack.com/home/post/p-175231954[my image selection, in praise of la folie…. L’Éloge de la Folie – Erasmus]See also: https://eternalisedofficial.com/2023/05/25/the-psychology-of-the-fool/* Rolling Stone and the casual on going campaign to keep MAPS relevant and respected https://www.rollingstone.com/culture-council/articles/lessons-leaders-can-learn-from-largest-psychedelic-science-conference-world-1235439690/* Psychedelics Today builds a multi-tiered paid access community* Australian podcast Shameless the podcast “for smart people who love dumb stuff” covers The Tell: In the show notes fo...
2025-10-0758 min
Deep BreathsQuick Breather #7 - Hamilton Morris and Andrew Callaghan, MAPS, The Tell, NYT, Landyn GreenstienContent warning: this episode covers addiction, overdose, sexual assault, and victim-blaming* Image: Konspiratorzy – stan I (1931) by Tadeusz Makowski * The Curious Life and Mind-Altering Death of Justin Clark: It’s rare to become addicted to esoteric hallucinogens. But it’s not impossible.* R/mdmatherapy * I deleted this bluesky post because I didn’t know whether I should name this person like this or not, but I think it is necessary and important public info:* They mistake Sessa for Yensen and Dryer. One of many ridiculously wrong statements:* Orga...
2025-09-2934 min
Deep BreathsQuick Breather #6 - Dimensions of Dying and Rebirth, Casey Paleos, Wolff et al., 2025, The Tell, Salvia TiktokLinks and notes in order of mention: * The Dimensions of Dying and Rebirth* Casey “not-like-the-other-psychiatrists” Paleos and the NYC psychedelic therapy scene around Fluence are big GPM (II-IV). * “Key competencies for psychedelic treatment in real-world mental health care settings” Wolff et al., 2025* Some other points on The Tell: -I think Amy Griffin is involved with an extremely dubious scene of psychedelic therapists/sitters, all revolving around the orbit of MAPS, T Cody Swift, NYU, (I have no evidence to back this, but I would be entirely unsurprised to see c...
2025-09-2244 min
Deep BreathsQuick Breather #5 - Gabor Mate. Grof on violence, the Microdose and the Eleusinian Mysteries, Will Hall calls for retraction, Hamilton Morris' deleted interview and talk wtih Rick DoblinThis week I talk about a few things involving violence, victim blaming and general misogyny — please take care when considering whether/when you listen. First, I mention being back in Canberra and the view from my old apartment over Parliament House, where a woman was raped and torn through the media. In 2024 civil suit, a judge found Bruce Lehrmann committed the assault https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-15/bruce-lehrmann-defamation-trial-judgment/103706656From The Way of the Psychonaut, Vol 2, on the “perinatal roots of violence” according to Stan Grof. From Will Hall:https...
2025-09-1534 min
Deep BreathsQuick Breather #4 - Breathwork and apathy, stroboscopic light and Stan's first LSD trip, the Tell, certification for facilitators in the Ethical TripThis week I go back to last week and talk about my breathwork session, stroboscopic light and Stan's first LSD trip, the book The Tell and discussion of certification for facilitators in the Ethical Trip. Here are some screenshots/links/quotes in order of mention throughout the episode: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8248711/https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN82430224https://lannayoga.com/ajnalight/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Theory-and-Science-of-the-Ajna-Light-2.pdfGrof’s first LSD trip, from The Way of the Psychonaut (2021):“I was at that point becoming disillusioned by psychoanalysis, real...
2025-09-0838 min
Deep BreathsQuick Breather #3 - Synergistic Press, Buckminster Fuller, Myron Stolaroff, the Sequoia Seminars, Drawing it Out by Sherana Frances, Meduna’s mixture, Rachel Yehuda, Bessel van der Kolk, Gaza + Ben SThis week I take the quick out of quick breather and talk for 39 minutes. Topics include Synergistic Press, Buckminster Fuller, Myron Stolaroff, the Sequoia Seminars, Drawing it Out by Sherana Frances, Meduna’s mixture, Rachel Yehuda, Bessel van der Kolk, Gaza and Ben Sessa. Links and screenshots are below in order for your further exploration…Please note, I do not cover Bessel van der Kolk's comments in depth, but I should highlight that he later apologised:“Van der Kolk sent an apology letter to participants, retracting his claim about the war in Gaza and tr...
2025-08-2539 min
Deep BreathsQuick Breather #2 - Dave Asprey, the Cleveland Clinic, Psychedelic Alpha on one year post FDA, Luisa de Álvarez de Toledo, Rick Doblin on touch, Hunt Priest and Rick Doblin again.In order of mentions in this quick breather…* NY Post on Dave Asprey and Grof:“It felt like tripping balls — my mind was on a hyperdrive tour of the universe. But there were no drugs involved,” Asprey wrote about his first experience in “Heavily Meditated.”The article from the Cleveland Clinic that gives an entirely misleading, simplified overview of Holotropic Breathwork: 2. https://psychedelicalpha.com/news/one-year-after-fdas-mdma-rejection-insiders-and-observers-reflecthttps://www.psychedelicarchive.com/archive/psychoanalysis1957“This article holds significant historical importance as it represents one of the earliest d...
2025-08-1735 min
Deep BreathsQuick Breather #1 - Phil Wolfson and Hunt PriestWelcome to the first audio recording for my Substack, Deep Breaths, about Holotropic Breathwork and Stan Grof's influence on psychedelic therapy.Today I am going to speak about two different topics. The first will be about the recent allegations that are going before the California Medical Board against Phil Wolfson, a well-known ketamine assisted psychotherapy doctor. And the other is Joe Welker's most recent Substack post on psychedelic candor [Psychedelic Priest Deposed by the Episcopal Church]…” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to b...
2025-08-1025 min