PT551 Tripped: The Connection Between LSD, Nazi Germany, and MKUltra, with Norman Ohler

Published: Sept. 27, 2024, 4:03 p.m.

In this episode, Joe interviews award-winning novelist and screenwriter, Norman Ohler.

Following in the footsteps of "Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich," his newest book, "Tripped: Nazi Germany, the CIA, and the Dawn of the Psychedelic Age," tells the story of how the Nazi\u2019s passion for methamphetamine turned into a curiosity about LSD, and how their experiments with trying to harness LSD as a truth drug eventually led to the CIA continuing their research under their MKUltra program. The book came about from trying to understand why LSD never became medicine \u2013 a question posed by his father, when discussing how LSD could help with his wife\u2019s progressing Alzheimer\u2019s symptoms.

He discusses:

  • His path to becoming a \u201cgonzo historian\u201d and how his early psychedelic research was inspired by a friend\u2019s discovery of methamphetamine tablets from the 40s
  • Henry Beecher\u2019s LSD experiments with students at Harvard, and how researchers often didn\u2019t know they were contributing to MKUltra
  • His recent appearances on The Joe Rogan Experience and Jesse Watters Primetime
  • His mother\u2019s experience with microdosing LSD and why police showed up at his father\u2019s door with a warrant
  • Why he believes psychedelics will be legalized in the U.S. in the next 10 years

and more!\xa0

For links, head to the show notes page.\xa0