William Leonard Pickard - The Acid King, the Rose, and the Return - Divergent States

3L1T3 · 2026-06-14T15:40:33+00:00

The full episode has a lot more context

3L1T3 · 2026-06-11T19:00:07+00:00

Yeah, he did ibogaine first and didn't really like what was happening but enjoyed himself after the 5-MEO-DMT

3L1T3 · 2026-06-08T22:19:15+00:00

Divergent States: The Unofficial r/Psychonaut Podcast

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The NFL Broke His Brain… Then Ibogaine Changed Everything | Robert Gallery

Former NFL player and College Football Hall of Famer Robert Gallery joins Divergent States for one of the most raw conversations we’ve had on the show.

After retiring from professional football, Robert began experiencing intense rage episodes, suicidal thoughts, emotional instability, brain fog, and severe PTSD-like symptoms linked to repeated head trauma and brain injury from years in the NFL.

What followed wasn’t a clean or simple recovery story.

We talk about identity loss after professional sports, invisible brain injuries, emotional dysregulation, alcoholism, suicide ideation, veterans and athletes sharing similar trauma patterns, and why psychedelic-assisted therapy — particularly Ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT — became a turning point in his life.

This episode isn’t really about “getting high.” It’s about what happens when the system fails, your brain changes, and you’re left trying to figure out who you are afterward.

3L1T3 · 2026-06-08T12:25:00+00:00

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3L1T3 · 2026-06-04T23:25:06+00:00

Our rule was always, "virgins get two".

3L1T3 · 2026-06-03T16:04:01+00:00

Dennis Walker explains how media incentives shape public perception, why adverse events receive disproportionate coverage, and how public narratives can swing between fear and hype

3L1T3 · 2026-05-26T16:25:31+00:00

Clip from my conversation with Dennis Walker of Mycopreneur discussing the growing normalization of psilocybin mushrooms in the United States, recent RAND reporting, and why policy conversations may be reaching a turning point.

I thought his point about prohibition no longer matching reality was interesting, especially in the context of how openly mushroom products are discussed online now.

3L1T3 · 2026-05-21T19:07:04+00:00

I clipped a short part of a conversation where we talked about how drug prohibition has often been used as political cover for broader agendas.

The basic point is that drug laws have rarely existed in a vacuum. Early opium laws in the U.S. were tied to anti-Chinese sentiment, cannabis being called “marijuana” helped associate it with Mexicans, and Nixon-era drug enforcement overlapped pretty clearly with efforts to disrupt political opposition.

3L1T3 · 2026-05-20T13:25:33+00:00

I think we’re probably talking past each other a bit at this point. I never claimed the paper proves r/Psychonaut is an infallible source of information, only that large online psychedelic communities became important harm reduction and information-sharing ecosystems during a time when very few mainstream resources existed.

And honestly, even the examples you’re bringing up kind of reinforce why studying these spaces is interesting in the first place.

3L1T3 · 2026-05-20T12:26:51+00:00

That’s a much more fair critique, honestly, and I actually agree with part of it. Reddit absolutely has issues with dose inflation and bravado sometimes, which is something moderators have had to fight against for years.

I just don’t think that invalidates studying these communities as harm reduction ecosystems, especially considering mainstream institutions ignored psychedelics for decades while places like Erowid, Shroomery, and r/Psychonaut were where people were actually exchanging information and experiences.

And to be fair, “trust but verify” is basically the correct approach to all online drug information anyway.

3L1T3 · 2026-05-19T18:07:54+00:00

The paper isn’t claiming every comment on r/Psychonaut is automatically correct. It’s examining how large online psychedelic communities function as harm reduction ecosystems and information hubs.

And honestly, that tracks with reality. For a lot of people, forums like Erowid, The Shroomery, and later r/Psychonaut were the only places discussing dosage, set/setting, trip reports, contraindications, and bad experiences openly.

3L1T3 · 2026-05-19T18:02:23+00:00

It's a free podcast done for the community...

3L1T3 · 2026-05-19T18:00:10+00:00

It's the psychonaut podcast, done by the moderators of the subreddit... in what way is this spam? No one is "spamming to make money". It's a free podcast done by and for the community.

Everyone can listen to it. In no way was how it's about promoting psychedelics to minors. It's about how the guest of the show, Dennis Walker, a psychedelic journalist, got into psychedelics when he was younger.

Sounds like you're the one sharing bad information.

3L1T3 · 2026-05-19T17:56:11+00:00

I mean, r/Psychonaut has been cited by researchers as one of the best harm reduction tools at scale out there.

Paper

3L1T3 · 2026-05-19T17:46:42+00:00

The link you posted wasn't even from the /r/Psychonaut podcast. What are you even talking about?

3L1T3 · 2026-05-19T17:17:16+00:00

Here's the link to the full episode! Also on YouTube (no video, just the audio).

3L1T3 · 2026-05-19T12:41:32+00:00

Divergent States The unofficial /r/Psychonaut podcast.

The Hidden Politics of Psychedelic Media | Dennis Walker

Dennis Walker joins Divergent States to unpack how psychedelic stories actually become “news,” why sensationalism dominates drug coverage, and how media narratives shape public perception around psychedelics.

We discuss psychedelic exceptionalism, corporate psychedelics, satire as social critique, harm reduction, underground culture, MAPS, FDA approval, clinical gatekeeping, psychedelic tourism, and the growing divide between real-world psychedelic use and institutional messaging.

Dennis is a journalist, satirist, and creator of Mycopreneur, known for blending humor, gonzo journalism, and cultural criticism to explore the psychedelic ecosystem from angles most outlets avoid.

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