#  Ernesto Londoño on "Trippy," in conversation with Ellen Barry 

 



####  calendar\_today Date and Time 

 **October 28, 2024** 

 06:00PM - 06:00PM EDT 

####  pin\_drop Location 

 **Sever Hall, Room 113**  



 

 



 

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##  [Psychedelics in Society and Culture](/psychedelics-society-and-culture)

###  About the Event

 When he signed up for a psychedelic retreat run by a mysterious Argentine woman deep in Brazil’s rainforest in early 2018, Ernesto Londoño, a veteran *New York Times* journalist, was so depressed he had come close to jumping off his terrace weeks earlier. His nine-day visit to Spirit Vine Ayahuasca Retreat Center included four nighttime ceremonies during which participants imbibed a vomit-inducing plant-based brew that contained DMT, a powerful mind-altering compound.

 The ayahuasca trips provided Londoño an instant reprieve from his depression and became the genesis of a personal transformation that anchors this sweeping journalistic exploration of the booming field of medicinal psychedelics. Londoño introduces readers to a dazzling array of psychedelic enthusiasts who are upending our understanding of trauma and healing. They include Indigenous elders who regard psychedelics as portals to the spirit world; religious leaders who use mind-bending substances as sacraments; war veterans suffering from PTSD who credit psychedelics with changing their lives; and clinicians trying to resurrect a promising field of medicine hastily abandoned in the 1970s as the United States declared a War on Drugs.

 Londoño’s riveting personal narrative pulls the reader through a deeply researched and brilliantly reported account of a game-changing industry on the rise. *Trippy* is the definitive book on psychedelics and mental health today, and Londoño’s in-depth and nuanced look at this shifting landscape will be pivotal in guiding policymakers and readers as they make sense of the perils, limitations, and promises of turning to psychedelics in the pursuit of healing.

###  About the Speakers

 [Ernesto Londoño](https://www.nytimes.com/by/ernesto-londono) is a national correspondent at *The New York Times*, where he has worked since 2014. He was born and raised in Colombia and has spent two decades covering some of the most important stories of his generation. He covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; the Arab Spring; served on the editorial board of *The New York Times*; and was the newspaper's bureau chief in Brazil.

 [Ellen Barry](https://www.nytimes.com/by/ellen-barry) is a reporter covering mental health for *The New York Times*. She writes about people living with mental illness, the big ideas defining the field, and systems set up to provide care.



 

 



 

 See also:- [ Psychedelics in Society and Culture ](/event-series/psychedelics-society-and-culture)
- [ Public ](/event-type/public)
 
 

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