Why are tech bros embracing Psychedelics?
It's Been a Minute
NPR
4.7 • 9.2K Ratings
🗓️ 20 May 2026
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Psychedelics include the drugs LSD, magic mushrooms, peyote, and often ketamine and MDMA too, among others. And some of these drugs have a history of spiritual practice spanning millennia. Then many of these drugs became synonymous with hippies and 60s and 70s counterculture. But now, psychedelics have new cheerleaders: tech bros and CEOs. So why the rebrand?
To get into it all, Brittany is joined by Maxim Tvorun-Dunn, PhD candidate at the University of Tokyo, and Emma Goldberg, business reporter at the New York Times, to discuss what it means that these drugs are getting championed – and sometimes financially backed – by the tech elite, and how might that affect our culture’s relationship with psychedelics.
This episode originally aired on March 24, 2025.
Interested in hearing more of Brittany's series "Losing My Religion?" Check out these episodes:
Goodbye, church... Hello, Wellness Industrial Complex!
Am I a god?! Why "manifesting" your reality is easier than ever
Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.
Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse
For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | A warning, this segment contains mentions of drug use. |
| 0:04.4 | Today, we're getting into psychedelics. |
| 0:07.6 | That's an umbrella term that includes LSD, magic mushrooms, peyote, and often ketamine and |
| 0:12.7 | MDMA, too, among others. |
| 0:15.3 | And more people are taking psychedelics now than ever before. |
| 0:19.0 | Ever heard the phrase spirit journey? |
| 0:21.8 | The trips people have on these substances are often described in spiritual terms, |
| 0:25.9 | and some of these psychedelics have a history of spiritual practice spanning millennia. |
| 0:31.0 | But there's a new group that's really taking on the psychedelic mantle, tech bros and CEOs. |
| 0:38.1 | Open AIs, Sam Altman. Psychedelic mantle. Tech bros and CEOs. Open AIs Sam Altman. |
| 0:40.2 | Psychedelic therapy was definitely one of the most important things in my life. |
| 0:45.3 | Elon Musk. |
| 0:46.4 | There are times when I have a negative chemical state in my brain. |
| 0:51.0 | Academy is helpful for getting one out of a negative frame of mind. |
| 0:55.2 | And Google co-founder, Sergey Brin, to name a few. |
| 0:59.2 | These substances have different shades of legality throughout the U.S., but some of these tech |
| 1:04.0 | bros are trying to change that by funding startups that might bring psychedelic therapies |
| 1:09.0 | to the public. |
| 1:10.2 | So what does it mean that |
| 1:11.2 | psychedelics are getting championed and sometimes financially backed by the tech elite? And how might |
| 1:17.4 | that affect our culture's relationship to psychedelics as spiritual tools? I'm joined by Maxime Tvarun |
| 1:24.9 | Dunn, Ph.D. candidate at the University of Tokyo. |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 13 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.