The Science of Psychedelics | With Madison Margolin

The Science of Psychedelics | With Madison Margolin

What drives someone to seek a life without numbing out, yet still chase big spiritual experiences? This conversation brings together exactly that mix, as Sony Perlman sits down with journalist and author Madison Rachel Margolin to talk psychedelics, Judaism, and healing in a way that's raw, funny, and deeply practical.

Madison shares her unusual upbringing in a "Hindu" home – a blend of Hinduism and Judaism – with a cannabis-defence-lawyer father who became close to Ram Dass and a mother from Queens who kept the Jewish roots alive.

Her book, *Exile and Ecstasy: Growing Up with Ram Dass and Coming of Age in the Jewish Psychedelic Underground*, is described by Sony as “fan-freaking-tastic” and as a form of gonzo journalism where, as she explains, “you are part of the story… you’re a character in your own story.” The chat moves from her childhood Pesach with dreadlocked kirtan-singing guests to her later immersion in the Hasidic psychedelic underground.

She talks about meeting off-the-derech kids experimenting with drugs and how their “earnestness” and warmth pulled her in, eventually leading her towards a more observant Jewish life almost by accident. For anyone in addiction recovery or questioning their relationship with substances, the heart of the episode is Madison’s clear stance on psychedelics-as-healing tools.

She stresses that “no one’s going to heal you… the only thing that heals you is you yourself and God,” and pushes back on the idea of psychedelics as a magic fix. Instead, she and Sony unpack integration, community, risk, and why doing the basics – sleep, food, movement, prayer, relationships – still matters more than any ceremony.

If you’ve ever wondered whether psychedelics can genuinely support healing without becoming another escape, this conversation might get you asking: are you chasing medicine, or learning that you’re the medicine?