Luminous: A Podcast about Psychedelics from To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Most psychedelic stories are highly personal, but there’s a different dynamic when two people share the experience — especially a married couple. Steve talks with theoretical physicist Marcelo Gleiser and clinical psychologist Kari Gleiser about their transformative experiences. Original Air Date: May 9, 2025 Guests: Marcelo Gleiser [https://www.ttbook.org/people/marcelo-gleiser], Kari Gleiser [https://www.ttbook.org/people/kari-gleiser] Never want to miss an episode? Subscribe to the podcast. [https://link.chtbl.com/TTBOOK] Want to hear more from us, including extended interviews and favorites from the archive? Subscribe to our newsletter. [https://ttbook.us11.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=3cb4c021b28e511db7dc0b1ca&id=64562fd7d9] For more from Luminous: ttbook.org/luminous [https://www.ttbook.org/luminous]

Chris Timmerman is a neuroscientist with a deep interest in phenomenology—what’s actually happening in our minds during psychedelic experiences. He leads the DMT Research Group at Imperial College, where he’s found that a single psychedelic experience can transform a person’s belief system, often turning materialists into panpsychists. In this wide-ranging conversation, Steve talks with Chris about everything from fractals and ayahuasca ceremonies to whether scientists who study psychedelics should talk openly about their own experiences. Original Air Date: March 01, 2025 Guests: Chris Timmerman [https://www.ttbook.org/people/chris-timmerman] More from Luminous: ttbook.org/luminous

Buddhist meditation and psychedelic journeys have a lot of shared DNA—both take you deep inside your mind and can change your life. But many Buddhists say psychedelics violate the prohibition against intoxicants. Do they? Spring Washam straddles this divide as both a Buddhist teacher and founder of an ayahuasca church. Her own story is fascinating—how she’s merged these two practices. Original Air Date: January 25, 2025 Guests: Spring Washam [https://www.ttbook.org/people/spring-washam] More from Luminous: ttbook.org/luminous

There’s a huge question swirling around the really big psychedelic experiences. Are these mind-blowing trips just hallucinations – the brain shot full of chemicals, playing tricks on you - or do they crack open some transpersonal dimension of consciousness? Most scholars who study psychedelics won’t go anywhere near this question, and yet it’s central to how you interpret these experiences. If you’re in psychedelic-assisted therapy, you want to know if this glimpse of the divine was real or just some figment of your imagination. Philosopher Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes believes we need a metaphysics of psychedelics to explain these powerful experiences. Original Air Date: November 30, 2024 Interviews In This Hour: Guests: Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes [https://www.ttbook.org/people/peter-sjostedt-hughes] For more from Luminous: ttbook.org/luminous [https://ttbook.org/luminous]

Psychedelic people are practicing at the very edge of anyone else’s comfort zone,” says psychologist Katherine MacLean, author of the psychedelic memoir “Midnight Water.” MacLean was a pioneering psychedelic researcher at Johns Hopkins, who then left her job to pursue her own unconventional psychedelic journey. She talks with Steve Paulson about her work as a psychedelic guide, her personal history with psychoactive substances, and why she reveres the Mexican healer Maria Sabina. Original Air Date: August 30, 2024 Guests: Katherine MacLean [https://www.ttbook.org/people/katherine-maclean] For more from Luminous: ttbook.org/luminous [https://ttbook.org/luminous]