Pushkin.

It's hard to read the news these days without asking yourself, how did we get here?

Fiasco is a history podcast for the co-creators of Slow Burn.

In our first season, Bush v. Gore, we examine an unmistakable turning point in American politics, the 2000 election, which resulted in a high-stakes stalemate, ended with one of the most controversial rulings in Supreme Court history.

So if you're trying to make sense at the present moment, check out Fiasco, Bush v. Gore. Listen on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

From Pushkin Industries, this is Deep Background, the show where we explore the stories behind the

stories in the news. I'm Noah Feldman. One of my favorite conversations on Deep Background this year, and judging by downloads,

one of your favorites too, was my interview with Professor Carl Hart, a Columbia University

neuroscientist who argues that our policies towards recreational drug use are far more

harmful than the substances themselves.

In today's episode, we're going to approach related issues, but from a different angle.

We're going to talk about the emergent research on the efficacy of psychedelic-assisted

psychotherapy and the associated question of recreational use of psychedelics.

There's been an explosion of research, which we're going to hear about shortly, from one of the

leading experts on the topic. That's Dr. David Raven, who's a neuroscientist, a board-certified

psychiatrist, who does psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy,

and is also the co-founder and chief innovation officer at Apollo Neuroscience.

He's going to talk to us about some of the new research in the field,

what the mechanisms are for why and how psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy seems to be working,

and what it tells us about the brain and its capacities to heal in general.

Dave, thank you so much for joining me here on Deep Background.

I want to begin with some research that's gotten a lot of attention

...