The Shadow of the Psychedelic Movement: An Interview with Erik Davis | ICPR2024

In this interview, we talk with Erik Davis about the forgotten shadows of psychedelic history, the need for cultural memory, and the deeper meanings hidden within blotter art. Filmed at the Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research (ICPR) 2024 in Haarlem, The Netherlands.

00:00 Intro
00:05 Eric, how did you get interested in psychedelics?
01:27 In the 60s, for many people, psychedelics served as a gateway to eastern spirituality for other people, it was the other way. How was it in your life?
02:58 The counterculture in the 60s had a complicated relationship with psychedelics. Can you talk about that relationship?
04:08 Did the counterculture fail its mission?
05:04 While reading your articles, I had the feeling that you are an archeologist and you would like to dig up something which many in the psychedelic movement would today rather bury. Is that right?
07:07 Another person who is controversial today is Terence McKenna. How do you see his legacy?
09:30 When I was a teen, I read a lot of Carlos Castaneda, and I was pretty disappointed when I learned that his book was fiction. How do you see his legacy?
11:40 Do you think one day we will celebrate these elders in the West the same way as indigenous people celebrate their own elders?
13:53 Can we say that what you do is, in a certain way, pushing the psychedelic movement to do its shadow work?
14:48 Do you think we will lose something important if psychedelics are legalized?
16:25 It seems many people in the psychedelic movement are sharing your concerns because as I see, some of the criticism is coming from within the movement and not outside of it.
19:37 As far as I remember, it was Terence McKenna who said that, after you received the message, hang up the phone.
20:34 Your new book is about LSD blotter art. What do they reveal about LSD culture?

Drugreporter (EN): https://www.drugreporter.net/ Facebook (HU): https://www.facebook.com/drogriporter/ Facebook (EN): https://www.facebook.com/drugreporter/ Instagram (HU): https://www.instagram.com/drogriporter/ Instagram (EN): https://www.instagram.com/rrfdrugreporter/ X.com (EN): https://x.com/RRFdrugreporter TikTok (EN): https://www.tiktok.com/@drugreporter_rrf/ Bluesky (EN): https://www.bsky.app/profile/drugreporter.bsky.social/ A Jogriporter Alapítvány: https://www.jogriporter.hu/ The Rights Reporter Foundation: https://www.rightsreporter.net/