The Drug Science Podcast 135. Ethnomycology with Darren Le Baron
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Sep 3, 2025 In this discussion, mycologist Darren Le Baron shares his journey from East London, where he empowers at-risk youth through horticulture and mushroom programs. He dives into his series on psychedelics in Africa, highlighting ancient and modern links between psychedelics and African culture. By sharing insights on iboga, psilocybin, and the challenges of stigma, he emphasizes the importance of including indigenous perspectives in the psychedelic conversation, confronting the erasure caused by coloniality.
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Start Small And Recruit A Champion
- Use permaculture and small-space solutions to bring horticulture into urban schools with no gardens.
- Start by finding a supportive teacher, then get headteachers, PTAs and councils involved to secure a space.
Horticulture And Psychedelics Intersect
- Darren links personal interest in altered states and dreams to a search for ancestral African traditions.
- He merged horticulture and psychedelic inquiry into a single holistic path of living.
Psychedelics In Africa: A Field Journey
- Darren researched African origins and created the series 'Psychedelics in Africa: The Untold Story' visiting elders to learn oral traditions.
- He frames psychedelics as technologies used for ancestor communication, divination and community needs.