Latest news with #psychedelic
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
This Illegal Psychedelic Is Hailed as a ‘Revolutionary Breakthrough'
As opioid addiction continues to devastate communities, a growing number of people are turning to ibogaine—an obscure and controversial psychedelic. WSJ visits a clinic in Mexico to follow one patient's journey through this intense and unorthodox treatment. Sign in to access your portfolio
New York Times
7 days ago
- Health
- New York Times
Texas OK's $50 Million for Ibogaine Research
When Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas approved legislation this week to spend $50 million in state money researching ibogaine, a powerful psychedelic, he put the spotlight on a promising, still illegal drug that has shown promise in treating opioid addiction, traumatic brain injury and depression. Interest in ibogaine therapy has surged in recent years, driven in large part by veterans who have had to travel to other countries for the treatment. The measure, which passed the Texas Legislature with bipartisan support, seeks to leverage an additional $50 million in private investment to fund clinical trials that supporters hope will provide a pathway for ibogaine therapy to win approval from the Food and Drug Administration, a process that could take years. The legislation directs the state to work with Texas universities and hospitals and tries to ensure that the state retains a financial stake in any revenue from the drug's development. 'You can't put a price on a human life, but if this is successful and ibogaine becomes commercialized, it will help people all across the country and provide an incredible return on investment for the people of Texas,' said State Senator Tan Parker, a Republican who sponsored the bill. The initiative, one of the largest government investments in psychedelic medicine to date, is a watershed moment for a field that continues to gain mainstream acceptance. Regulated psilocybin clinics have opened in Oregon and Colorado, and ketamine has become widely available across the country as a treatment for depression and anxiety. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
James Lowe, Rock Outsider With the Electric Prunes, Dies at 82
James Lowe, the frontman of the 1960s rock band the Electric Prunes, whose 'free-form garage-rock' approach, as he called it, yielded the swirling psychedelic hit 'I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night),' died on May 22 in Santa Barbara, Calif. He was 82. His daughter Lisa Lowe said he died in a hospital of cardiac arrest. The Electric Prunes arrived on the rock scene with a jolt: a menacing electric buzz that sounded like an oncoming swarm of deadly hornets. The sound, which opened 'I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night),' was the result of a playback error on a tape of the guitarist Ken Williams noodling with a fuzz box and a guitar tremolo bar. It was so raw and powerful that Mr. Lowe argued to keep it. The track would come to be hailed as a cornerstone of garage psychedelia. With its trippy title and astral sound, 'Too Much to Dream' was widely interpreted as a drug song, but its lyrics actually detailed the woe of an abandoned lover. Then again, the Electric Prunes, who swung from paisley pop to proto-punk to, yes, religious hymns sung in Latin, were always difficult to pin down. 'We were always outsiders,' Mr. Lowe recalled in a 2007 interview with Mojo, the British rock magazine. 'We weren't hip enough to be crazy, drugged-out characters.' In addition, he said: 'The music was too eclectic. It sounds like 10 different bands on those records.' Despite its maximalist sensibility, the band, which emerged from the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, scored two early hits. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Review Geek
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Review Geek
Nine Perfect Strangers – Season 2 Episode 5 Recap & Review
Prague Episode 5 of Nine Perfect Strangers season 2 starts with Masha showing up to see David. She wants to take him on an advanced psychedelic journey with her. She questions his motives and fears, before he agrees to Masha's treatment. Now, she intends to let him relive specific memories as if it's the first time, powerless to Masha's influence. All the while, they repeat the mantra 'this feeling is totally normal'. Masha decides to tell him a story, jumping back to Prague in 2001. This is where our flashback begins, as Masha happens to work backstage, getting David ready for a big speech. She's not phased by his influence or wealth, explaining that they get wealthy business from the West pontificating about freedom and truth on a weekly basis here in the Motherland. David catches Masha's attention during his interview though, showing some humility and understanding of the wider political ramifications of what he's doing. After the interview, David wants to take Masha out for dinner. She instead takes him to a rowdy bar. Whilst there, they talk about Masha's interest in being a journalist, before dancing a bit. Contrasting this rowdiness is what happens next. David brings Masha to his hotel room; a swanky, rich locale with all the bells and whistles that go with that. At this point in time, Peter is 11 and David makes a point of ringing him every day to say goodnight. He doesn't speak of Peter's mother, but the pair do end up sleeping together. More visions are stitched together, with Masha giving birth to Tatiana and deciding, at the hospital, that there is no father. David was never aware of Masha's pregnancy, and she was convinced he wouldn't want to be the father of a one-night stand baby anyway. Masha wanted to raise Tatiana to stand on her own but the rest, as they say, is history. As for Masha, she became obsessed and found out David was back in Russia several years later after their one night stand. He walked past her and didn't bat an eyelid, which she took as a sleight. Interestingly, the man he's speaking to on the way happens to be a military contractor by the name of Sergei Ivanvov. Masha was determined to keep writing and trying to expose whatever was going on involving drones, but that just made her a target to dangerous men. Masha was punished for meddling and she actually reached out to David at this time. She threatened him with exposure but David received nothing. She believed it was him snubbing her but in reality, it seems like David's associates kept him from getting the messages. This then coincided with Tatiana's hit and run, caused by the Russian military contractors getting revenge. As Masha breaks down crying, David comforts her and in the morning, post-hallucinatory experience, he explains that he actually experienced the same emotions she did. David sees a market for this, believing the whole experience has been eye-opening and he wants to help her. However, it turns out Martin has been listening this whole time, and he does not look happy. The Episode Review Nine Perfect Strangers dives back in time and gives us some back story for Tatiana and how Masha's daughter ties into David and what he's been doing with his business. We now understand exactly why Masha holds a grudge, and why she's so determined to make David experience what she has. The problem is, all of this comes about in a season that completely misunderstands what made season 1 so endearing. Yes, it's good to see what happened to Tatiana but did we actually need to learn it's all one big conspiracy? The whole episode – like the season at large – feels dragged out and meanders on. There's also a distinct lack of comedy too, with these bites of levity in season 1 working well to offset some of the more mysterious and dramatic elements. The biggest sin a TV show can commit is boredom and unfortunately, Nine Perfect Strangers season 2 is very content to be the poster child for this. Hopefully the episodes ahead can improve. Previous Episode Next Episode Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!
New York Times
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
How the Bay Area Shaped Sly Stone
Several cities played outsized roles in the life of Sly Stone, the musical innovator who died on Monday at 82. There was Denton, the northern Texas town where he was born; Los Angeles, where he spent his later years; and even New York City, where he played several memorable concerts, including a Madison Square Garden date in 1974 at which he got married onstage. But no place was more central to Stone's formation and rise than the Bay Area. His family moved there shortly after he was born, and it's where he got his professional start and rose to stardom amid the multiracial psychedelic ferment of the 1960s. Here are five Bay Area spots important in his life. Stone's first encounter with music came as a child in Vallejo, Calif., north of Oakland. His father was a deacon at a local congregation affiliated with the Pentecostal sect the Church of God in Christ, and when he was 8 years old, Stone, whose given name was Sylvester Stewart, and three siblings recorded a gospel track. Stone appeared in several bands in high school. And then for a stint in college, he studied music theory and composition — and picked up the trumpet, to boot — at Vallejo Junior College, today known as Sonoma Community College. He was best known for funk and psychedelic rock, but Stone's eclecticism can be heard in the slow, firmly 1950s-style doo-wop music of the Viscaynes, one of his earliest groups. In an instance of foreshadowing, the Viscaynes, like the Family Stone, were multiracial at a time when that was exceedingly uncommon. ('To me, it was a white group with one Black guy,' Stone wrote in his memoir.) The Viscaynes recorded in downtown San Francisco underneath the Geary Theater, now known as the Toni Rembe Theater, and associated with the nonprofit company American Conservatory Theater. Stone attended broadcasting school in San Francisco and was then a D.J. at two local AM stations: KSOL, based out of San Mateo, and then KDIA, in Oakland. Both were aimed at Black listeners; KSOL, Stone wrote, had even changed its call sign to remind listeners that it played soul. But Stone again broke the mold, playing not just soul and R&B, but the Beatles and Bob Dylan. 'Some KSOL listeners didn't think a R&B station should be playing white acts,' he later wrote. 'But that didn't make sense to me. Music didn't have a color. All I could see was notes, styles and ideas.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
