❋
April 20, 2026
Why Magic Mushrooms Matter:
The Science and the Spirit of Psilocybin
Lecture Series
What to Expect
Beginning April 20, 2026, join a video series presented by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Dartmouth: Why Magic Mushrooms Matter: The Science and the Spirit of Psilocybin.
Companion to the podcast Her Magic Mushroom Memoir, this series explores how one small mushroom traveled from sacred Mazatec ceremony to Cold War laboratories—and into today’s scientific renaissance.
In 1957, Life magazine introduced Western readers to the “magic mushroom,” igniting fascination among scientists, seekers, and even intelligence agencies. Celebrated, criminalized, and now rediscovered, psilocybin’s story mirrors our own cultural evolution—revealing how politics, fear, hope, and curiosity shape what we choose to study, trust, or reject.
Session OneTripping With Time
Using psilocybin as a lens, we explore how knowledge changes across generations. How does the spirit of an age—its zeitgeist—shape what we believe about the mind? What does modern neuroscience reveal about the ancient chemistry still guiding human thought and emotion?
Session TwoProtecting and Changing Our Mind…with Confidence
In a time of rapid technological change and rising uncertainty, how do we care for our minds? As artificial intelligence reshapes information and psychedelic research reshapes mental health, two powerful forces converge. This session asks a practical question: how do we protect our thinking—and change it wisely?
Additional sessions—The Normalcy of Evil and In the Room Where It Happens—will deepen the conversation.
Stay tuned.