amazon.com/James-Penner/e…

June 12 is "Tram Day" celebrating Susi Ramstein - the first woman to take LSD, and Hofmann's assistant who kept track of him on Bicycle Day. Check out the live streaming event by the Women's Visionary Congress - eventbrite.com/e/tram-day-a-c… #psychedelicwomen

My Piece on Anthony Bourdain's tragic suicide. medium.com/@jameslpenner/…

Thoroughly enjoying 'Psychedelics: A Visual Odyssey' by Erika Dyck ❤️📖 Review coming soon ✍️

Our new book, Cobweb of Trips, takes Aldous Huxley's suggestion that certain drugs might make 'this trivial world sublime' and asks how this influenced psychedelia in the mid-20th century ⬇️ Thread /1

Michael Nott’s colossal biography "Thom Gunn: A Cool Queer Life" begins with the death of Gunn's mother. "Nott steers clear of hagiography and makes no attempt to shield us from chaotic or unpleasant truths," writes James Penner. altaonline.com/books/nonficti…

My review of Michael Nott's Thom Gunn: A Cool Queer Life for Alta Journal. Its the first biography of Thom Gunn to appear. #ThomGunn #FarrarStrausGiroux preview.mailerlite.com/g8b0b3q9t1/255…

My interview with Rob Dickins of #PsychedelicPress is up. We discuss his fascinating new book, "Cobweb of Trips." Recovering the Psychedelic Players from the Margins of History lucid.news/recovering-the… via Lucid News Robert Dickins

Delightful review of Cobweb of Trips: A literary history of p$ychedelics, and Q&A with author Robert Dickins "Dickins enjoys finding unsung psychedelic players who lurk in the margins of history." James Penner Robert Dickins lucid.news/recovering-the…

Twenty years after Thom Gunn's death, we learn the real story behind the poet's tragic death. I review #MichaelNott's engaging biography for #AltaJournal.

Ernesto Londono, a NY Times War Correspondent, takes #Ayahuasca in the Amazonian jungle; this article looks at his encounter with the mysterious, mind-altering plant. #Londonoe #lucidnews lucid.news/a-skeptical-jo…

Fascinating interview about ayahuasca with Ernesto Londoño conducted by James Penner lucid.news/a-skeptical-jo…

New California bills focus on veterans; the State of Psychedelics; Death penalty for dealers? themicrodose.substack.com/p/new-californ…

"Robbins identified his main themes as transformation, liberation, and celebration, with plenty of paradox and irreverence thrown in." Gary Lippman remembers his friend, the late American author Tom Robbins. lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-sy…

A trip too far: The LSD experience that blew up the Huxley family bit.ly/4imzpII

The LSD trip that was too weird for the Huxleys. A collaboration with my good friend Ed Prideaux salon.com/2025/04/19/a-t…

“They really did share this belief in p£ychedelics as a way to augment the psyche, heal the world. ‘True belief’ really enabled that behavior, but ‘ego inflation’ actually got in their way” - Susannah Cahalan Interview by James Penner psychedelicpress.substack.com/p/rosemary-woo…

"But perhaps psychiatrist Sidney Cohen came closest to understanding what had really happened to the Huxleys when he wrote that “LSD does nothing specific … it springs the latch of disinhibition.”" Fascinating article from Ed Prideaux and James Penner salon.com/2025/04/19/a-t…

My new article on the LSD Trip that divided the Huxley family. This piece for #psypre is longer the piece that was published in Salon.com in April. It also focuses more on Aldous's relationship with his son, Matthew Huxley. psychedelicpress.substack.com/p/huxley-famil…

Great article exploring a Huxley family trip by James Penner psychedelicpress.substack.com/p/huxley-famil…