#6: Life, Death, & the Space Between With Dr. Katherine MacLean

Join Justin Cooke and J Gordon Curtis as we sit down with Katherine MacLean, Ph.D., renowned neuroscientist and author of “Midnight Water: A Psychedelic Memoir.” Katherine offers a deeply personal look into the interplay of psychedelics, grief, and death, drawing from her own poignant experience after her sister’s passing.

As a seasoned neuroscientist, her insights on dealing with mortality and the healing potentials of psychedelics are compelling and invaluable.

Disclaimer: This episode contains discussions about sensitive subjects, including terminal illness, death, assisted suicide, and cancer. Listener discretion is advised.

• Find Katherine MacLean on Twitter & Bluesky
• You can find her book at KatherineMacLean.org
• Follow Tripsitter on Twitter, Bluesky, & Instagram

Some of Katerine’s Research:

1. 🚪 Mystical experiences occasioned by the hallucinogen psilocybin lead to increases in the personality domain of openness
2. 🧘 Intensive meditation training improves perceptual discrimination and sustained attention
3. 🍄 Factor analysis of the mystical experience questionnaire: A study of experiences occasioned by the hallucinogen psilocybin

Further Reading | Topics Discussed

• MEQ-30 (Mystical Experience Questionnaire)
• Psychedelics & The Mystical Experience (Tripsitter)
• The Bigger Picture: How Psychedelics Can Help Us Make Sense of the World (Alexander Beiner)