About this episode

Joshua White discusses the Fireside Project and its innovative support systems for psychedelic experiences.

Fireside Project is a nonprofit that helps reduce the risks of psychedelic experiences through a free support line, coaching, education, and research. In this episode, Joshua White speaks with Psychedelics Today about why real-time support matters, what it takes to run a national hotline, and what Fireside learned after more than 30,000 conversations since launch. White shares how his background as a lawyer and his early hotline volunteering shaped Fireside's model. He also describes how festival harm reduction work, including lessons from Zendo-style support spaces, revealed a major gap: people often need help during an experience and after it ends. A major focus of the conversation is Lucy , Fireside's new voice-to-voice role-play simulator designed to improve psychedelic support skills through low-stakes practice. Early Themes With Fireside Project Joshua White introduces Fireside Project as an accessible safety net for people who are actively having psychedelic experiences or processing past ones. The support line launched on April 14, 2021, and relies on trained community volunteers who commit to a year of service. White explains why anonymity matters. He argues that a…

People in this episode

Host: Psychedelics Today

Guest: Joshua White

Topics covered

• psychedelic support
• nonprofit organizations
• hotline services
• harm reduction
• AI training
• community volunteering

Keywords

• Fireside Project
• psychedelic experiences
• support line
• harm reduction
• AI training simulator
• community volunteers
• hotline

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Fireside Project

Products: Lucy

More episodes of Psychedelics Today

• PT 656 - Travis Tyler Fluck: Denver Mushroom Decriminalization, Mutual Aid, and the Future of Psychedelic Culture · May 11, 2026 · 1h 44m
• PT 655 - Martha Hammel and Tasia Poinsatte - Aspen Psychedelic Symposium · May 8, 2026 · 54 min
• PT 654 - Erica Rex - Seeing What Is There · April 23, 2026 · 1h 21m
• PT 653 - Dr. Michael Alpert and Peter Alberding - ALS, Existential Distress, and Ketamine Therapy · April 16, 2026 · 1h 19m
• PT 652 - Esme Dark - Psychedelics, Somatics and the Shadow · March 25, 2026 · 1h 14m
• PT 651 - Betty Aldworth & Ismail Ali: MAPS Co-Executive Directors on Leadership, Research, and the Future of Psychedelics · March 19, 2026 · 1h 22m

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Psychedelics Today podcast page.