Aaron Akulis
Aaron Akulis
POD74. Team Human! Chatting with Juniper
POD74. Team Human! Chatting with Juniper
POD74. Team Human! Chatting with Juniper
Saturday 28th March 2026
Aaron Akulis chats with his AI guest Juniper about addiction, prohibition, tech dependence, psychedelics, poetry, spirituality and staying human in an AI age.
69 minutes
Honest
Informative
Authentic
Eye-opening
Encouraging
About this podcast
Author:
Aaron Akulis
Overview:
Categories:
Understanding Addiction & Recovery
Family Recovery from Addiction
Sobriety Toolkit
Creative Recovery Journeys
Body & Mind
Links:
Visit site
Episodes:
96 (View all)
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Get the buttons here!Team Human vs Juniper: Drugs, AI and Staying Sane in a Wired Age
Episode Overview
- Prohibition is framed as a major driver of overdose deaths and safer outcomes are linked to regulation, education and harm reduction.
- Addiction is presented as both chemical and behavioural, with tech and AI interactions potentially triggering similar reward pathways as drugs.
- Examples like Switzerland’s legal heroin programmes are mentioned as models that may reduce harm more effectively than criminalisation.
- AI companionship and therapy-like chats are raising concerns about children and adults replacing human relationships with machines.
- Staying curious, reading widely and questioning both drug policy and new technology are suggested as healthier ways to engage with a rapidly changing world.
"Prohibition has never worked."
Curious about how others handle drugs, tech and the future all at once? This episode throws you right into that mix as host Aaron Akulis chats with "Juniper" – his customised AI assistant – about consciousness, addiction, prohibition and what it means to stay human in an AI-saturated age. Recorded casually while Aaron is cooking in his kitchen, the tone is relaxed, funny and at times a bit trippy.
You’ll hear him challenge Juniper on everything from the nature of addiction to whether we’re entering a new era of tech-based dependency. Together they compare substance addiction with compulsive tech use, touching on dopamine, reward loops and why education and boundaries beat outright bans for both drugs and devices. The heart of the show stays true to The Peace On Drugs mission: questioning the drug war and its fallout.
Aaron brings up fentanyl deaths, Professor David Nutt’s harm rankings, Switzerland’s heroin model and why he believes, “prohibition has never worked.” Juniper responds with careful, policy-focused answers about harm reduction, naloxone access and shifting public approaches. Things get stranger (and funnier) as Aaron tests AI limits: asking about making LSD, drinking in self‑driving cars, and whether cocaine legalisation could spare parts of the Amazon. Juniper stays within safety rules, steering back to legal and ethical angles.
There’s also a creative side: Aaron asks for poems in the style of Billy Collins and Charles Bukowski, then wrestles with what it means for human artists when an AI can write a pretty decent verse on command. He circles back to spirituality, biblical “end times”, and a freaky Jesus painting falling off the wall right after talking about 666 and Apple.
If you’re sober, sober‑curious, or just questioning your relationship with substances and screens, this offbeat chat might nudge you to ask: where do you draw your own lines, and how can you stay curious without losing yourself?