Mushroom magic
Unexpected Elements
BBC
4.4 • 567 Ratings
🗓️ 5 July 2024
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In Australia, more than six people were hospitalised suffering from hallucinations and persistent vomiting. The thing they all had in common? They ate a specific brand of hemp-infused mushroom gummies, which have since been recalled.
But why take mushroom supplements in the first place? Social media claims fungi harnesses the power to unlock your hidden potential, to increase concentration and reduce stress. This week’s panel looks into the evidence. Will these claims crumble under scrutiny?
Professor David Nutt pulls magic mushrooms out of the magicians hat to expose its secrets. These recreational drugs are classified as a psychedelic, causing users to hallucinate. Find out what hallucinations are and why David believes this shroom, illegal in much of the world, could become a key ingredient in medicinal treatments sometime soon.
Also, the first chemist on record, how touch screens can tell the difference between your finger and an inanimate object, and why some songs get stuck between your ears.
Presenter: Alex Lathbridge Panellists: Christine Yohannes and Godfred Boafo Producers: Harrison Lewis, Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Noa Dowling and Florian Bohr
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | In 2019, we began investigating the disappearance of Dr. Ruzha Ignatva. |
| 0:08.0 | I believe we are a very special network. |
| 0:10.0 | A scammer who stole billions from investors around the world. |
| 0:15.0 | She's on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. |
| 0:18.0 | And now, we have some unmissable updates. She has money and when you have |
| 0:23.0 | money you have power. Join me, Jamie Bartlett, as the hunt for the missing crypto queen continues. |
| 0:29.5 | Listen first on BBC Sounds. So this week, I was introduced to my friend's baby. |
| 0:40.2 | Now this was expected both the baby and our meeting. |
| 0:43.2 | And I'd taken time to prepare. |
| 0:44.8 | You know, things like wearing clothes that I didn't mind getting sick on |
| 0:48.2 | or finding out whether nine-month-olds can eat sweets. |
| 0:51.6 | Spoiler, they can't. |
| 0:53.1 | However, when it came time to hold the child, |
| 0:55.8 | my brain froze. This was a literal baby that my friends had made, and it was in my hands. I was |
| 1:01.5 | terrified. So, of course, I reverted to muscle memory, petting it on the head like I do to my dog. |
| 1:08.1 | I like to think that the scratch behind the ear was appreciated. My friends thought so anyway. |
| 1:13.2 | I'm Alex Lathbridge from the this week's news headlines is our panel. |
| 1:38.4 | From Accragana, it's Godfred Bwaffe. Godfred, Et's saying? |
| 1:42.0 | Yeah, that's fantastic. |
| 2:01.8 | What can I say? Mya, Maya Gani, I am feeling like we could do this for the next 10 minutes. Hey, yeah, pa. Okay. And of course, joining us from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is the one and only Christine Johannes. Salam, Salam, Alex. You know, it's my first time joining you from Addis. |
| 2:05.1 | So far, I haven't been in the same place twice. |
| 2:06.1 | What can I say? |
... |
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