Author's Note

AN12 - Bruce Barcott, WEED THE PEOPLE, 3/3

Author's Note, episode 12, Bruce Barcott, interview 3 of 3. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rileymorton.substack.com [https://rileymorton.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

AN11-Bruce Barcott, Weed The People, 2 of 3

After the 2012 breakthrough of legalization of cannabis, followed by opening the world’s first legal (not just tolerated) cannabis stores in 2014, Washington and Colorado got down to the brass tacks of managing the newly legal markets. In the 13 years since, 20 other states and a few nations have followed suit. Throughout that time, Barcott has been following these efforts - both the successes and failures of trying to turn a giant underground industry into a legal, fully functional part of society. Sure, Barcott covers the business of cannabis and the political and legal issues involved, but he’s highly attuned to cultural shifts as well. Weed has had an important role in America’s counterculture for most of the last century. What happens when you take a substance that used to signal sticking it to The Man, and turn it into a $30B industry? What happens when teenagers are no longer taught that smoking a joint will turn you into a hopeless drug addict? What happens when lower Manhattan smells like a Reggae concert? The implications of legalization are large, but not always obvious. Barcott helps us contextualize all these changes in this episode, and next weeks as well. So stay tuned ;) music is by Colin Lake [http://www.colinlake.com] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rileymorton.substack.com [https://rileymorton.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Author's Note episode 10 - Bruce Barcott 1/3

Author Bruce Barcott unpacks American drug policy for me throughout the last century or so, with special focus on the unprecedented blend of politics and timing that allowed Washington and Colorado to legalize recreational cannabis in 2012. His book WEED THE PEOPLE is an amazing document of that moment in time. Well researched and immediate, the book is a total pleasure to read, whatever your interest in the subject. You’ll get a sense of that in our wide ranging discussion on the many implications of legal cannabis. So many questions that we had in 2012 are coming into focus: “where is it acceptable to consume cannabis and where is it not?” “Do we have to worry about stoned drivers?” “How do we talk about this with our kids?” So its amazing to spend a few hours with Barcott who has done so much thinking and writing on the subject, first in WEED THE PEOPLE, and then as editor of Leafly for 7 years. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rileymorton.substack.com [https://rileymorton.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

AN09-Lyanda Lynn Haupt, 3/3

On this episode of Author’s Note, Lyanda [https://www.lyandalynnhaupt.com/] and I talk about her career since CROW PLANET was published in 2009. She’s published 2 more incredible books: MOZART’S STARLING and ROOTED and is working on another. She’s moved out of the city to a more rural existence, trying to find a way to be even closer to her beloved Planet Earth. We also get a bit more meta on the great questions in life - questions like ‘how to live’ Thanks for listening to Author’s Note. All the music on the show is by Colin Lake [https://www.colinlake.com/]. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rileymorton.substack.com [https://rileymorton.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

AN08 - Lyanda Lynn Haupt, part 2 on Author's Note

The author and modern naturalist sits down with Riley Morton to discuss the release of Crow Planet in 2009: how scary it was to open the New York Times for the full page review… how interesting to learn at the book events that there were far more crow tattoos than Lyanda had ever imagined. In this wide ranging conversation, Lyanda explains why anthropomorphizing animals gets a bad rap in modern science, and how she sees that to be in conflict with her version of naturalism. We also get into death, both human and corvid, and just what it is that humans might occasionally give back to animals. Author’s Note is for fans of non fiction. Thanks for listening. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rileymorton.substack.com [https://rileymorton.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]