Dennis McKenna: Ethnopharmacologist, Author, Founder, and Advisor - a podcast by Armin Khayatian & Colin Ball

Dr. Dennis McKenna is a visionary ethnopharmacologist, research pharmacognosist, university lecturer, repeat author, non-profit founder, and advisor. He has received post-doctoral research fellowships in the Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacology, the National Institute of Mental Health, and in the Department of Neurology at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is also a founding board member of the Heffter Research Institute, and was a key investigator on the Hoasca Project, the first biomedical investigation of ayahuasca. In this episode we talk about everything from the mytho-poetic psychedelic adventures of his youth through to his current work at the McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy where he “explores modern and traditional practices, ideas, and technologies that foster the understanding of nature, consciousness, the cosmos and their interweavings with humanity.”

Links to additional topics we discussed:

• Dennis MeKenna’s original thesis on Amazonian hallucinogenic plants: https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/831/items/1.0096656


• The Shaman and the Scientist Documentary that features his fieldwork exploring the potential of indigenous plant-based medicine in the Amazon: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/tsats


• Videos and blog posts detailing the McKenna Academy’s first Mystery School retreat at Willka T’ika: https://willkatika.com/sound-meditation-not-sound-healing/, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9VJ0yIila8&feature=youtu.be

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