Today on Mushroom Hour we are excited to interview mushroom cultivation artist Sam Shoemaker. Sam is an interdisciplinary artist and mycologist based in Los Angeles, California. Sam's recent artistic work stems from an ongoing collaboration with rare, native, and medicinal fungi. After receiving his MFA from Yale University in 2020, Sam founded the urban mushroom farm Myco Myco from his underground laboratory in Los Angeles. His obsession with mushrooms led Sam to some unconventional cultivation projects. These projects produced interesting results which led him to ask questions about how mushrooms can be used and when nobody seemed to be able to answer his questions he just kept going - doing more experiments, taking the science as far as he could, and trying things for himself. Approaching mycology through the lens of an artist, Sam explores the tremendous amount of creative opportunity surrounding mycology right now. His aim is simple and beautiful: making mycology accessible to all and encouraging people to embrace the unknowable!
TOPICS COVERED:
EPISODE RESOURCES:
Ep. 98: Hips & Haws Wildcrafts - Ireland's Wild Mushrooms, Herbal Medicines & Explorations of Amanita muscaria (feat. Courtney Tyler)
Ep. 97: Mushrooms of the Mountain Ranges & High Meadows of California (feat. Thea Chesney)
Ep. 96: Hyphae Labs - The First Annual Oakland Psychedelic Conference (feat. Reggie, Ian and Tomás from Hyphae Labs)
Ep. 95: Spiritual Impulses, the Ecological Self & a Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom (feat. Dr. Andy Letcher)
Ep. 94: Medicinal Mushrooms - Boost Immunity, Improve Memory, Fight Cancer, Stop Infection & Expand Your Consciousness (feat. Dr. Christopher Hobbs)
Ep. 93: Mycoviruses - Fungal Disease, Plant Resilience & Hypovirus Biocontrols (feat. Bryce Alex)
Ep. 92: Fungal Diversity Survey - Championing Fungal Conservation, Together (feat. Bill Sheehan PhD & Gabriela D'Elia)
Ep. 91: Bioluminescent Fungi, Mysterious Endophytes & the Mushrooms of Vanuatu (feat. Brian Perry PhD)
Ep. 90: Fungi Freights - Detroit's Urban Lab & Environmental Studio (feat. Tess Burzynski)
Ep. 89: Forage London - Urban Foraging & Emotional Connection to Green Spaces (feat. John Rensten)
Ep. 88: Amanita Dreamer - Piercing the Veil on Entheogenic Uses of Amanita muscaria (feat. Amanita Dreamer)
Ep. 87: Cryptic Fungi, Laboulbeniales & Pushing the Boundaries of Fungal Exploration (feat. Danny Haelewaters PhD)
Ep. 86: Fungi Foundation - The Future is Fungi (feat. Giuliana Furci & Nathalie Kelley)
Ep. 85: Fungal Plant Pathogens, Dimorphic Transformation & Lessons from Smut Fungi (feat. Dr. Michael Perlin)
Ep. 84: Darren Le Baron - Psychedelic Traditions in Africa, Mushroom Cultivation & Remembering Who We Are (feat. Darren Springer)
Ep. 83: Eat Weeds - Wild Plant Contemplations, Healing with Foraging & Perspectives in Ethnobotany (feat. Robin Harford)
Ep. 82: Zombie Cicadas, Fungivore Millipedes & Forest Pathology (feat. Dr. Matt Kasson)
Ep. 81: Fungi Magazine, Telluride Mushroom Festival & Our Future with Fungi (feat. Britt Bunyard)
Ep. 80: Finding the Mother Tree - Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest (feat. Prof. Suzanne Simard)
Ep. 79: Solutions in Soil Carbon, Fungal Inspiration & Creating New Value Systems (feat. Larry Evans)
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