The MAHA woo-war

Plus more on people treating AI as New Age oracle

Welcome to another Tuesday Brunch, a weekly round up of stories I’m tracking. First bit is free, the rest is for paid subscribers.

I’m off to the UK today to get married and then go on a honeymoon so things will be a bit crazy until June 5^th when I get back to Costa Rica. However, I plan to keep posting occasionally in a stream of consciousness sort of way! Thank you for supporting my newsletter and if you want to check out or even support our honeymoon plans they’re here!

• This coming Sunday will be another peer support group for those experiencing post psychedelic difficulties, at 6pm UK time – pass it along if you think someone could do with support and email me for details.

The main story in the world this week is obviously Pakistan and India teetering on the brink of war. But you wouldn’t guess that if you went on Twitter / X. What was once the premier website for keeping track of global events in real time is now basically WWE for MAGA. This week, there was a MAGA-MAHA smackdown over RFK’s nomination for Surgeon General, which could have implications for how the new government treats psychedelics.

The nominee, Casey Means, is a former doctor and now a leading wellness influencer, co-author (with her brother Calley Means) of Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health. She and her brother also have warm things to say about psychedelic medicine, and she’s said shrooms helped guide her to a husband, so her pick is good news for the psychedelic movement.

RFK nominated Casey Means after his previous nomination, Janette Nesheiwat, stepped back when it was discovered she misrepresented her medical education and lied about being an army officer. She was also denounced by Trump confidante and right-wing online conspiracist Laura Loomer, who said she was ‘not ideologically aligned’ with Trump. Now Loomer has turned on Casey Means as well, attacking her for being ‘woo woo’, anti-Trump, pro-vax and even for doing shrooms. Loomer has called herself a ‘pro white nationalist’ and once said if Kamala Harris is elected ‘the White House will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center’, but apparently she still has some influence with president Trump.

Unfortunately for Casey Means, various MAHA figures have also attacked her nomination, including Naomi Wolfe (who was hoping for a nomination herself)

Mary Talley Bowden, a MAHA-promoting doctor fired from her hospital for COVID misinformation…

Brett Weinstein, ever humble, suggested the Surgeon General come on his podcast to hear his concerns.

Even RFK’s pick for vice president, Nicole Shanahan, has weighed in to denounce the pick:

What’s going on? This from the X account End Tribalism in Politics:

MAHA has two main factions. One believes the top priority should be vaccines. The other believes it’s food. Casey clearly represents the food side, which is why many supported her appointment, while others were upset. This divide exists at every level of the movement. Many in the medical freedom space, especially those focused on vaccines, have been fighting for years without a platform. They saw RFK as one of their own and believed they were finally going to have a seat at the table. So far, they feel ignored. The Casey appointment became a breaking point after weeks of pent-up frustration.

I also think this is just what happens when you have a movement made up of contrarian-libertarian attention-seeking conspiracy theorists, who are extremely quick to see hidden agendas, secret deals and corrupt cabals behind every public figure or event. That’s great for criticizing the ruling status quo and getting online attention, but not a great mental attitude if you’re trying to create a new status quo, because anyone in power is suspect, and anyone who disagrees with you is suspect - plus you are just permanently in ‘denounce and expose’ mode. So you get a movement barely in power for three months already saying things like ‘RFK is being secretly controlled’, ‘Casey and Calley Means are Manchurian candidates’, or, alternatively, anyone criticizing a MAHA figure is secretly in the pay of Big Pharma.

What does it all mean for psychedelics? Well..at the moment the MAHA movement and Health and Human Services look chaotic and fragmented, so it could be hard for it to do much effective when it comes to psychedelics (of course, it’s early days). Plus it’s a worrying sign that a MAGA influencer is criticizing Means for taking psychedelics. If I were a psychedelic strategist I would be looking to Veteran Affairs’ Doug Collins in hope of clearer leadership.

After the paywall, more on New Age seekers treating ChatGPT like an Oracle – a topic I am finding absolutely fascinating; Nicole Shanahan (ex of Sergey Brin and Elon Musk) denounces transhumanism as Luciferic; two great new papers on traumatic psychedelic experiences and (by our team) on existential confusion and ontological shock after psychedelics. Plus the biggest anti-cannabis non-profit sets its sights on psychedelics…. And a new study finds psychedelics boost cognitive flexibility.