The Onion of The Psychedelic Space

This week I got permanently banned on Tik Tok.

My reaction?

“God damn, Finally”

My infraction?

Violent Imagery.

The ‘violent imagery’ post that got me permanently banned was video of a ‘Black Friday Brawl at the Mall’ embedded in a piece of social commentary that pitted Terence McKenna’s utopic vision of the future against the current reality of our world.

The source of the video?

CNN.

Prior to this offense, I ran afoul of the Chinese spyware overlords for a different infraction that felt completely baseless given the seriousness of the allegation -

I posted an image falling under the umbrella of “Child Endangerment” - something that all of us should agree is an inexcusable, egregious offense.

The image?

A picture of a refugee family that I sourced directly from the UNHCR website.

The image was included in a satirical social commentary piece called “Starving Refugee NFT’s” that landed very well with the educated, empathetic and open-minded audience that my work is intended for - most of whom engage with me on platforms outside of Tik Tok.

In total, I had 7 warnings, each one more stern than the previous. The bulk of the penalties came for using the word ‘psychedelic’ in some shape or form, a flag for censorship that many creators on the app circumvent by changing the spelling  to ‘p$schedel1cs’ and using cryptic code language and stupid shit like that.

And this is precisely the problem - with the censorship of legitimate and intelligent discourse on psychedelics, and many other arenas of society for that matter, Tik Tok is leading the charge in curtailing free speech - and more alarmingly - intelligent discourse.

And they’re far from the only platform doing it.

Joe Rogan, Dave Chappelle, and The Babylon Bee have each been the recent target of “anti-hate speech” witch hunts and deplatforming crusades for not assenting to the ideological terms and conditions that are increasingly being imposed upon society.

I’m not interested in defending the talking points and personal views of the aforementioned cases - which I don’t personally share - but I am interested in living in a future society where divergent view points and intelligent discourse is not only tolerated, but encouraged. I’m not holding my breath that such a future will unfold, but there are thousands of headlines and punchlines that should see the light of day before we ultimately arrive at our definitive, collective ‘party line’.

It’s my perspective that in a truly equitable society, divergent viewpoints and intelligent discourse should be welcomed and collectively unpacked rather than censored and deplatformed in top-down fashion.

Listen to Mycopreneur Podcast

I started Mycopreneur Podcast in January 2021 to platform mushroom entrepreneurs from all over the world. In 72 episodes, I’ve had fungi entrepreneurs from 15 countries share their unfiltered points of view about a range of topics that span far beyond mushrooms.

And then I accidentally made a viral satire video, and discovered that a lot of people want psychedelic-informed humor and cynical wit moreso than interviews with spokespeople for fungi brands.

As the platform has grown, I’ve been increasingly motivated to expand the scope of what Mycopreneur offers - which has extended beyond fungi entrepreneurism and into arts and culture, politics, tech, and sports — with each of those topics being approached through a lens of satire.

But shit, why shouldn’t we get to dabble in serious journalism too?

The more credibility and audience trust the platform earns, the more I realize that Mycopreneur Podcast has successfully outgrown its name and origins.

While I will continue to record podcasts and produce content under the Mycopreneur brand, I’d like for Mycopreneur Podcast to be just one media property among a collective of different digitals assets and IRL experiences belonging to a broader platform.

How about a Psychedelic Satire Comedy Festival?

A graphic novel with a White Shaman protagonist bumbling through the realms of self-discovery?

A Drug Education podcast? A Psychedelic True Crime podcast?

A late night sitcom style puppet show?

I’m actively pursuing the launch of a new platform that better serves the expanded offering and horizons of potential that exist for social commentary and satire in the psychedelic space, and in the Brave New World beyond it.

I’m debating between 3 or 4 names for this new platform, and invested in rolling it out over the next few months - hopefully with the help of a small team.

With the impending United States election cycle and forthcoming social and environmental chaos, it feels like a good time to start developing a platform that isn’t entirely dependent upon social media - but which still leans heavily into it.

I experimented with launching a psychedelic satire platform proof of concept a few months ago, but ultimately wasn’t equipped to effectively individually manage the launch of a new platform while keeping up with the quality control and consistency that Mycopreneur requires - and I was on an extended trip in the Middle East at the time, which deprived me of the necessary headspace and energy necessary to channel into a new venture.

Imagine the satire opportunities that exist on the horizon for the psychedelic industry and global societal reform in the coming years.

Donald Trump Opens Trump Brand Ketamine Clinics.

Davos Conference Attendee Accidentally Microdoses Her Way To Philanthropy

Chad Moola Announces New Wild Peyote Harvesting Venture

Mike Tyson Gioes Ape Shit On Trip Sitter

Gabon launches ESG Fund For Iboga Practicioners

These headlines are off the cuff, with zero effort - what could this platform look like if it was driven by a dedicated team backed with resources?

Psychedelic Satire is a fucking literal and figurative gold mine.

But only if I don’t get deplatformed first.