The Gray Area with Sean Illing
Society & Culture:Philosophy
In the ‘80s and ‘90s, MDMA (also known as molly or ecstasy) was dismissed as a club drug and became the target of anti-drug propaganda. Today, it’s on the brink of being legalized for use in clinical therapy to treat conditions like PTSD. How did that happen? And what have we learned about the therapeutic potential of MDMA? Sean discusses all this with Rachel Nuwer, author of I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World. They talk about why they’re excited by the research underway and what it might mean for everyone's well-being.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: Rachel Nuwer (@RachelNuwer), journalist and author of I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World
References:
“The extraordinary therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs, explained,” by Sean Illing (Vox; March 8, 2019)
How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence, by Michael Pollan
“Rolling under the Sea: Scientists Gave Octopuses Ecstasy to Study Social Behavior,” by Rachel Nuwer (Scientific American, December 1, 2018)
Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of The Gray Area. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app.
Support The Gray Area by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts
This episode was made by:
Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Is the journey to self-discovery pointless?
Parenting through the climate crisis
Seeing ourselves through darkness
Best of: A new philosophy of love
The future of tribalism
When you can't separate art from artist
The case for not killing yourself
What comes after Black Lives Matter?
Clickbait’s destructive legacy
Simone Weil’s radical philosophy of love and attention
Peter Singer on his ethical legacy
Why the poor in America stay poor
The spiritual roots of our strange relationship to work
Mysteries of the mind
Why we can’t just blame capitalism for everything
Being human in the age of AI
A philosopher's psychedelic encounter with reality
The project of Socratic love with Agnes Callard
The chemistry of connection
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
Today, Explained
Re/Code Decode
The Vergecast
Shutdown Fullcast
The Impact