#23 Dennis Walker: The Court Jester of Psychedelics

Welcome back to The Trip Report Podcast, a production of Beckley Waves, a Psychedelic Venture Studio.Today, I am speaking with Dennis Walker, AKA the Mycopreneur.I don’t know about you, but I am always flummoxed by the seriousness of the discourse among stakeholders in the ‘psychedelic renaissance.’My guess is that this earnestness is the result of a few things:* a reverence and respect for the medicine* an attempt to extend objective scientific rigor to human communication and * the don’t-rock-the-boat-formality of the biopharmaceutical industry to avoid regulator scrutiny.But whatever it is that has led to such formality we can be grateful that The Cosmic Joke will reliably appear on the timeline, thanks to Dennis.I imagine that many Trip Report subscribers are familiar with Dennis as the Court Jester of Psychedelics through his satirical video shorts and articles with titles like “Netflix Announces America’s Next Top Shaman” and “Drake Enters MDMA-Assisted Therapy after Kendrick Traumatizes Him”.But in addition to lighthearted satire, Dennis and Mycopreneur are also focused on mushroom entrepreneurship beyond psychedelics in areas like myco-materials, mycoremediation, mycofiltration, and mycelium-based food products.It turns out that mushrooms have many, many potential and emerging uses in the modern economy.In this conversation, Dennis and I discuss:* The Origin and Evolution of Mycopreneur* The potential impact of Mushroom-based-technology* The importance of community in the mycological industry* The redefinition of the 'legacy market' versus the 'black market' for psychedelics* The gap between the demand for and the legal supply of legal psychedelic experiences * And much moreAnd now, I bring you my conversation with Dennis Walker.Listen to the episode on Substack, Spotify, Google or Apple.Credits:* Hosted by Zach Haigney * Produced by Zach Haigney, Erin Greenhouse, and Katelin Jabbari* Find us at thetripreport.com* Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube* Theme music by MANCHO Sounds, Mixed and Mastered by Rollin Weary This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thetripreport.com