>>>
>>> TIME
>>> TIME TO GET A LITTLE BIT WEIRD.
WEIRD.
WEIRD. A
WEIRD. A NEW BOOK EXPLORES THE STRANGE
HISTORY OF 1970S COUNTERCULTURE
AND THE PSYCHEDELIC MOVEMENT ON
THE WEST COAST.
THE AUTHOR ERIK DAVIS IS A
JOURNALIST AND EXPERT ON 70s
COUNTERCULTURE.
COUNTERCULTURE. >> DID YOU BECOME AN EXPERT BY
DOING A LOT OF SHROOMS?
>> IT DID NOT HURT.
I GREW UP IN SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA AND A BEACH TOWN IN
THE AFTERMATH OF THE
COUNTERCULTURE.
COUNTERCULTURE. I WAS ALWAYS INTO THE STUFF
WITH THE SHOWS AND THE WHOLE
GAMUT OF EXPERIENCES.
SO THAT SHAPED ME PERSONALLY.
I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN TOTALLY
FASCINATED WITH IT SO IT WAS
GREAT TO DIVE BACK IN AND TRY
TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS GOING
ON.
ON.
ON. >>
ON. >> THIS IS A SIZABLE BOOK.
>> IT IS A MONSTER.
>> SO HOW DID YOUR BACKGROUND
FEEL YOUR PASSION FOR IT.
>> I WAS REALLY INSPIRED BY
THESE EXPERIENCE WHEN I WAS
YOUNG AND I FELT THAT SOMETHING
WAS MISSING IN THE MEMORY OF
THE 1970S WHEN WE THINK ABOUT
THE COUNTERCULTURE WE THINK
ABOUT THE 60s WITH THE SUMMER
OF LOVE AND THE STUDENT
MOVEMENTS AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS.
SOMETHING HEINICKE IS WEIRD
AROUND 1970 AND 1971.
YOU STILL HAVE THIS VERY
SIGNIFICANT COUNTERCULTURE
SIGNIFICANT COUNTERCULTURE THROUGHOUT THE 1970S.
PEOPLE ARE SEARCHING FOR NEW
MEANINGS AND COMING UP WITH NEW
RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS AND
FOLLOWING GURUS AND IN THE CASE
OF THESE GUYS THEY WERE
EXPLORING PSYCHEDELICS AND
VISIONARY EXPERIENCE AS FAR AS
THEY COULD POSSIBLY GO BECAUSE
THERE'S A SENSE THAT THIS
EARLIER EXPERIMENT DID NOT WORK
SO LET'S SEE WHAT ELSE IS
AROUND THE CORNER.
>> YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT THESE
THREE GUYS IN THE BOOK.
>> THE REASON I FOCUS ON THEM
AS THEY WERE ALL EXTRAORDINARY
VISIONARIES.
VISIONARIES. TWO OF THEM BECAUSE THEY WERE
TAKING PSYCHEDELICS AS FAR AS
HE COULD POSSIBLY TAKE THEM.
IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD.
WITH PHILIP WHO IS PROBABLY THE
BEST-KNOWN SCIENCE FICTION
WRITER WHO WROTE THE BOOK THEY
BASED THE MOVIE BLADE RUNNER ON
HE WAS MORE UNNATURAL AS HE
MIGHT SAY.
MIGHT SAY. THEY ALL HAD THESE
EXTRAORDINARY EXPERIENCES THAT
ARE KIND OF EXPLORING THOSE
CONNECTIONS.
CONNECTIONS. HOW DO WE TALK ABOUT THINGS
THAT HAPPEN TO THOSE.
BECAUSE THEY WROTE THESE GREAT
BOOKS BASED ON THEIR
EXPERIENCES.
EXPERIENCES. THEY GO VERY DEEP AND GET CLOSE
TO THE FABRIC PARTICULARLY IN
IS CRAZY..
IS CRAZY.. >> HOW DO YOU THINK WHAT THEY
DID HELP SHAPE?
>> THERE'S A RENAISSANCE IN
PSYCHEDELICS.
PSYCHEDELICS. THEY ARE BASICALLY MAINSTREAM
AGAIN IN TERMS OF THE INTEREST
IN THEIR HEALING POWERS.
MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE
TURNING TO A VERY POWERFUL
PSYCHEDELIC AND EVERYBODY KNOWS
ABOUT BURNING MAN WHICH IS A
VERY PSYCHEDELIC FESTIVAL.
THERE'S SOMETHING VERY
CONTEMPORARY WHICH IS RELATED
WEIRD TIMES AND IT'S ONLY
GETTING WEIRDER.
GETTING WEIRDER. A LOT OF WAYS THINGS THAT
HAPPEN IN THE 70s LOOK FORWARD
TO THINGS WE ARE WRESTLING WITH
TODAY.
TODAY.
TODAY. >>
TODAY. >> WE HAVE BEEN AT THE
FOREFRONT OF THIS WILL
MOVEMENT.
MOVEMENT.
MOVEMENT. >> THE WEST COAST WAS WHERE
PSYCHEDELIC CULTURE IN THE
MODERN SENSE AROSE.
BEFORE THAT IT WAS INDIGENOUS
CULTURE SCATTERED AROUND THE
WORLD.
WORLD.
WORLD. IN
WORLD. IN TERMS OF THE MODERN WORLD IT
REALLY BEGINS IN CALIFORNIA ALL
THE WAY UP THROUGH THE HOLE
WEST COAST IN SASKATCHEWAN AND
BRITISH COLUMBIA.
BRITISH COLUMBIA. ALL AROUND IN TERMS OF PEOPLE
USING THEM FOR THEIR
PSYCHOTHERAPY EFFECTS AND ALSO
EXPLORING NEW CULTURES OUT OF
THESE EXPERIENCES.
THESE EXPERIENCES. >> THAT IS WHERE MESCALINE IS
WERE ALDUS HUXLEY GOT HIS
MESCALINE WHERE HE WROTE THE
DOORS OF PERCEPTION FOR.
WE HAVE TO ASK YOU ABOUT THIS
CONNECTION THAT WE BRING UP
ABOUT PLAYBOY MAGAZINE AND THE
CONSPIRACY CULTURE.
CONSPIRACY CULTURE. >> IT IS REALLY FUNNY.
ROBERT ANTON WILSON WORKED FOR
PLAYBOY IN THE LATE 1960S AND
HE EDITED THE LETTERS SECTION
WHERE THERE WAS A LOT OF
POLITICS WITH PEOPLE TALKING
ABOUT CIVIL LIBERTIES.
THEY WOULD GET ALL THESE
LETTERS THAT WERE CONSPIRACY
THEORIES.
THEORIES.
THEORIES. THEY WERE PEOPLE WORRYING ABOUT
THE GOVERNMENT OPENING THEIR
MAIL AND RUMORS ABOUT THE
ILLUMINATI.
ILLUMINATI. AS EDITORS THEY WERE FASCINATED
WITH THIS MATERIAL SO WHAT THEY
SAID WAS LET'S WRITE A BOOK
WHERE ALL OF THESE CONSPIRACIES
ARE TRUE AT THE SAME TIME.
SO THAT BOOK BECAME A REALLY
SIGNIFICANT FEATURE IN THE
GROWTH OF THE ENTERTAINMENT
FACTOR OF CONSPIRACY CULTURE
WHICH IS A BIG PART OF THE
CONTEMPORARY MOVEMENT AS WELL.
>> SO WHAT DO YOU WANT THE
AVERAGE READER TO TAKE FROM
THIS BOOK?
THIS BOOK? >> THE WORLDS OF HUMAN
EXPERIENCE GO FARTHER THAN WE
NORMALLY BELIEVE AND YOU CAN
ACTUALLY COME BACK FROM THEM
WITH SOME GOOD STORIES TO TELL.
>> IS THERE A FAVORITE PART OF
THIS BOOK?
THIS BOOK? >> I LIKE THE BEGINNING WHERE I
TALK ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE
WORD WEIRD.
WORD WEIRD. SUE BIRD ALL THE TIME.
>> IT IS A SIGNIFICANT PART OF
OUR WORLD TODAY.
>> IT IS A WEIRD WORD.
>> SO YOU WILL BE AVAILABLE TO
TALK ABOUT THIS BOOK.
SO YOU CAN