About this episode

The episode explores the life and influence of Terence McKenna through conversations with those who knew him.

Terence McKenna was the stand‑up philosopher of the apocalypse. A cognitive libertarian. The anti‑guru who rejected authority—even his own. Twenty‑five years after his passing, the “Tryptamine Elf King” still haunts the present, reverberating through the sensorium of a new generation. Inspired by Graham St John’s definitive magnum opus, Strange Attractor: The Hallucinatory Life of Terence McKenna, the inner circle—the family, the friends, and the co‑conspirators who knew the man behind the myth—came together for an extraordinary online conversation. PANELISTS BIOGRAPHIES: Dennis McKenna and his brother Terence first came to S. America in 1971. Their unexpected adventures in pursuit of exotic psychedelics led to some surprising discoveries recounted in Terence’s book, True Hallucinations, and Dennis’ 2012 memoir, The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss. In 1981, Dennis returned to Peru, this time as a graduate student, and began his scientific investigations of ayahuasca. In 2019 he founded the McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy. Graham St John, PhD, is a cultural anthropologist and historian of transformational events, movements, and figures. His new book Strange Attractor: The…

People in this episode

Guests: Dennis McKenna, Graham St John

Topics covered

• philosophy
• psychedelics
• cultural anthropology
• Terence McKenna
• online conversation
• family and friends

Keywords

• Terence McKenna
• psychedelics
• Dennis McKenna
• Graham St John
• cognitive libertarian
• apocalypse
• cultural anthropology

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy, MIT Press

Books & works: Strange Attractor: The Hallucinatory Life of Terence McKenna, True Hallucinations, The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss, Mystery School in Hyperspace: A Cultural History of DMT

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