Psychedelics in Science and Music

Sound Science Podcast with Dr. Yewande Pearse

The Psychedelic era of the mid-60s was a time of social, musical and artistic change influenced by psychedelic drugs, but behind the cultural curtain, a world of research was beginning to open up into the therapeutic potential of these drugs - one that was unfortunately short lived. In 1970, President Richard Nixon called Timothy Leary, the Harvard psychologist famously known for advocating the exploration of the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs as a cure-all for societies woes, "the most dangerous man in America." As a backlash to their role in the cultural upheaval of the 1960s, the majority of these drugs were declared illegal, driving hallucinogenic research and culture underground. Now, these drugs are in the midst of a revival, as new research indicates treatment options for a variety of mental illnesses and disorders, too valuable not to investigate. As psychedelic drug research bubbles back up to the surface in labs across the globe - we ask whether these drugs have a role beyond disease and if their use in creative practice will ever loose the stigma. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sound-science-dr-yewande/support