Psychedelic Outlaws

The Movement Revolutionizing Modern Medicine

By: Joanna Kempner PhD

Narrated by: Paige Reisenfeld

An award-winning sociologist unearths how a group of ordinary people debilitated by excruciating pain developed their own medicine from home-grown psilocybin mushrooms—crafting near-clinical grade dosing protocols—and fought for recognition in a broken medical system.

Cluster headache, a diagnosis sometimes referred to as a ‘suicide headache,’ is widely considered the most severe pain disorder that humans experience. There is no cure, and little funding available for research into developing treatments.

When Joanna Kempner met Bob Wold in 2012, she was introduced to a world beyond most people's comprehension—a clandestine network determined to find relief using magic mushrooms. These ‘Clusterbusters,’ a group united only by the internet and a desire to survive, decided to do the research that medicine left unfinished. They produced their own psychedelic treatment protocols and managed to get academics at Harvard and Yale to test their results. Along the way, Kempner explores not only the fascinating history and exploding popularity of psychedelic science, but also a regulatory system so repressive that the sick are forced to find their own homegrown remedies, and corporate America and university professors stand to profit from their transgressions.

From the windswept shores of the North Sea through the verdant jungle of Peruvian Amazon to a kitschy underground palace built in a missile silo in Kansas, Psychedelic Outlaws chronicles the rise of psychedelic medicine amid a healthcare system in turmoil. Kempner’s gripping tale of community and resilience brings listeners on a eye-opening journey through the politics of pain, through the stories of people desperate enough to defy the law for a moment of relief.

©2024 Joanna Kempner (P)2024 Hachette Books

Critic reviews

"A compelling account of the promise of psychedelic drugs to treat crushing pain. Kempner tells a convoluted story with sympathy and respect, adding her personal experience to solid research."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

“Psychedelic Outlaws is a deeply absorbing examination of pain and perseverance. Joanna Kempner's investigation into the Clusterbusters, a group of unforgettable characters caught in the crosshairs of politics and medicine, is an ode to self-experimentation that manages to be as clear-eyed as it is moving.”—Susannah Cahalan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Brain on Fire and The Great Pretender

“A very readable and well researched account of the emerging role of psychedelics in the treatment of cluster headaches. This book is more than a narrative of individuals in pain, for it also describes the history of research on psychedelics as well as raising important issues about the racist and politicized anti-drug policies that did—and still do—limit effective research and roll out of these novel treatments.”—Professor David Nutt, neuropsychopharmacologist and author of Psychedelics, Drink?, and Drugs without the Hot Air

great listen for clusterheads

great listen for psychonauts, but especially great for clusterheads like myself. Finally progress in the research in psychedelics for people with Clusterheadache.

Unlikely underground medical researchers

I had no idea there was this group of unlikely researchers experimenting with psychedelic medicine with more progress than the establishment. Such an engaging story with Ann interesting cast of characters

Genuine heroes.

For me, this was an incredibly nostalgic trip down memory lane. I remember those first posts by Flash and Mark. I loved watching the community grow. This story definitely took years to write. I appreciate the depth Joanna went into the history of these medicines and how much this condition affects our families and lives. I am grateful for the work that our allies do for our community every day. Without the work of Bob and so many others, I’m not sure I’d still be here to have listened to this book and write this review. It is a story of incredibly strong people on the brink of defeat, filled with despair. They band together with the intention to eliminate suffering and literally save lives. True heroes that have fought an uphill battle with this condition, but they never give up. They are literally doing God’s work.