Discover how scientific self-experimentation went from heroic standard practice to career-ending stigma—and what we lost about consciousness research in the process.

Why 19th-century scientists routinely self-experimented with psychoactive substances

How the 1962 FDA amendments changed scientific culture forever

The underground networks continuing psychedelic research outside institutions

What the MDMA therapy rejection reveals about modern scientific politics

Links & Resources:

"Psychonauts" by Mike Jay

"Free Radicals: How a Group of Romantic Experimenters Gave Birth to Psychedelic Science"

Full interview available on Mind Body Health & Politics podcast

Imperial College London psychedelic research

Native American Church peyote ceremonies

Timestamped Chapters: (00:00) - Introduction: The Scholar's Privilege (02:00) - When Self-Experimentation Was Standard Practice(05:00) - Humphrey Davy and the Birth of Psychedelic Science (11:00) - Freud, Cocaine, and Neurasthenia (15:00) - William James and the Stream of Consciousness (20:00) - Barry Marshall: The Last Nobel Prize Self-Experimenter (25:00) - How the FDA Changed Everything in 1962 (30:00) - UK Government vs. Psychedelic Research (35:00) - MDMA Therapy and Medical Double Standards (40:00) - The Underground Networks Filling the Gap