Zach Leary: Psychedelics in the 21st Century and How to Use Them

Sounds True: Insights at the Edge

Tami Simon

Religion, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 27 May 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

He's the son of Timothy Leary and one of today's leading voices in the psychedelic renaissance of the 21st century. But Zach Leary's journey hardly unfolded in the way you might expect. In this deeply informative and myth-busting podcast, Tami Simon speaks with Zach about his new book with Sounds True, Your Extraordinary Mind.

With a "friend to friend" approach to discussing the amazing potential for the safe use of psychedelics, Tami and Zach converse about: carrying forward the legacy of the front-runners of psychedelic exploration, including icons like Terence McKenna, Humphry Osmond, Dr. John C. Lilly, and of course, Zach's father Timothy and Richard Alpert (Ram Dass); acknowledging the mistakes of the past and dispelling the myths and misconceptions about psychedelics; bringing legitimacy to the use of psychedelics for healing and insight; a review of the major compounds and their sources (natural and manmade), such as MDMA, psilocybin mushrooms, ayahuasca, LSD, and ketamine; the importance of the 3 S's: set, setting, and sustainability; turning insights into action; challenging experiences (instead of "bad trips"); Carl Jung and shadow work; using psychedelics to overcome our fear of death; Zach's personal battle with addiction and how psychedelics supported his recovery; the nature of consciousness; psychedelics as humanity's evolutionary partner; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, friends. I'm Tammy Simon, and I have some exciting news for you. Best-selling author,
0:06.1	beloved meditation teacher, and dear friend of Sounds True, Tara Brock, is the host of a popular
0:12.8	podcast that is now part of the Sounds True podcast network. We're so excited to share every week
0:20.6	Tara's guided meditations and talks on living
0:24.5	with mindfulness, being compassionate towards ourselves and each other, putting our love into action,
0:32.8	and so much more. We hope you'll enjoy this weekly edition to the Sounds True Podcast Network. You can
0:39.4	subscribe anywhere you listen to podcasts. I would say that most psychedelic experiences have something
0:48.6	in common in that they are unadulteratedly honest.
0:55.0	They will show you the inner workings of your human condition
1:00.0	and of your incarnation that are just the raw truth,
1:04.0	the inescapable truth.
1:07.0	And that can be a very difficult thing to take a look at.
1:20.6	In this episode of Insights at the Edge, my guest is Zach Leary.
1:30.3	Zach is a teacher, speaker, writer, and spiritual explorer with one of the most iconic legacies in psychedelic history,
1:37.4	being the son of pioneering psychologist and LSD advocate Timothy Leary.
1:42.2	Zach is a psychedelic facilitator and guide.
1:49.4	He hosts the Maps podcast. He's a trained meditation teacher and an IFS coach, and he's the author of a new book with Sounds True. It's called Your Extraordinary Mind,
1:59.0	psychedelics in the 21st century and how to use them. Zach, welcome.
2:05.0	Thanks, Tammy. So thrilled to be with you. Thank you for having me. Now, you attempted as a leery
2:12.0	to not be right in the center of the psychedelic movement, yet that's where you've found yourself.
2:21.0	How did that happen?
2:22.4	Yes, I did attempt with all my might and effort to get as far away from it as possible.
	...

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