Episode 4: John Higgs on Timothy Leary

A rising star in the field of clinical psychology in the 1950s, Dr. Timothy Leary published his book, The Interpersonal Diagnosis of Personality in 1957. Dubbed the "most important book on psychotherapy of the year" by The Annual Review of Psychology, Leary's research led to the development of Transactional Analysis, popularized by Eric Berne in his 1964 book Games People Play.

Behind the scenes, Leary felt a growing dissatisfaction with the routines and predictability of 1950s middle class intellectual life.

He had begun teaching at Harvard when a colleague told Tim about his experience with a psychedelic mushroom on a trip to Mexico. In August 1960, Tim traveled to Cuernavaca, Mexico, and consumed psilocybin mushrooms for the first time.

Leary would later comment  that he had "learned more about his brain and its possibilities, and more about psychology in the five hours after taking these mushrooms than in the preceding 15 years of studying and doing research."

He began a psychedelic research program at Harvard with Richard Alpert, but within 3 years, the situation got so out of hand that Harvard terminated Leary and Alpert in 1963.

Intrigued by his research, three heirs to the Mellon fortune lent Leary and Alpert their 2300 acre estate in Millbrook NY where they continued their experimentation with psychedelics.   

Learn more about our fantastic guest, John Higgs, and his works:

https://johnhiggs.com/books/i-have-america-surrounded/

“Tim Leary and His Psychedelic H-Bomb” Realist Interview

Hilaritas Podcast produced by host Mike Gathers and engineer Ryan Reeves