About this season
Join an incredible journey through the history, chemistry and societal impacts of the world’s most extraordinary drugs.
Episodes (8)
1. The Psychedelic Toad
9.0Aired 28 November 2017 • 44 min
Hamilton embarks on a quest to answer the most important question in ethnoherpetological history and along the way, he finds the power of love.
2. Peyote: The Divine Messenger
Aired 5 December 2017 • 44 min
From the greenhouses of Thai cactophiles to the Tamaulipan thornscrub, Hamilton traces the history of peyote with the help of a Native American peyotist.
3. Kratom: The Forbidden Leaf
6.0Aired 12 December 2017 • 44 min
Hamilton investigates the pharmacology and traditional uses of Kratom, a Thai tree with opioid-containing leaves.
4. Wizards of DMT
Aired 19 December 2017 • 44 min
Hamilton travels across North America to study how and why DMT exists in the environment and the laboratory.
5. Ketamine: Realms and Realities
Aired 26 December 2017 • 44 min
Hamilton heads to India to see industrial Ketamine synthesis, and speak with therapists and luminaries in an attempt to understand the role of dissociative anesthetics in society.
6. A Clandestine Chemist's Tale
7.0Aired 2 January 2018 • 44 min
Hamilton meets an unsung hero of the psychedelic underground and hears a tragic tale of MDMA synthesis and chemiluminescence.
7. A Fungal Fairy Tale
Aired 9 January 2018 • 44 min
Hamilton ascends the Carpathian Mountains, microscope in hand, to learn how Europeans use Amanita muscaria, and uncovers the chemistry behind a mushroom-inspired pharmaceutical.
8. The Cactus Apprentice
Aired 16 January 2018 • 44 min
Deep in the Andean highlands of Peru, Hamilton becomes the apprentice of a local shaman, learning how to use the night-blooming San Pedro cactus as a medicine.