Ever had someone tell you an epic, personal story at dinner about some crazy shit that happened to them? The response is usually, “You’re trippin’.” That’s pretty much the vibe you’ll get when you take a listen to Kat Walsh’s new podcast called Trip on This.
These days, especially during quarantine, you can find a podcast on almost any subject you’re interested in. If that interest dabbles in the use of psychedelics – a subset of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or “trips” ) via serotonin 2A receptor agonism – then, BOOM, you have found your new home on Trip on This.
Walsh, the former Cashmere agency exec describes the series as, “the rainbow raft needed to help navigate these colorful waters.” Take a listen to a couple of the episodes and you’ll quickly see why.
Gorgeous and affable, Walsh holds court in her living room trading mind-expanding experiences of self-realization, transformation, and just outright psychedelic fun with her guests. The interviews are genuine and really funny.
Listeners can live vicariously through Walsh and her guest’s experiences, and feel the building excitement as she experiences her guest’s “trip” and reflects on her own experiences.
“I wanted to help people who were just like me, surviving not thriving, and open their minds to the incredible power they have within themselves. Because they do. We all do. And though psychedelics is by no means the only way to access that highest truth, it sure is one way. “
-Kat Walsh, trip on this host
Like any psychedelic trip, no one experience is the same. And neither are the episodes. Listen to a few and you can find a range from funny and wild, to informative and relevant to the current psychedelic renaissance, to more spiritual and philosophical as we unpack deeper truths about what it means to be human. Take a listen below:
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“Psychedelics changed my life. I wanted to share the power of these transformative medicines with the world. To help reshape and reframe the way in which we view psychedelics as a society. There is no Trip on This without psychedelics. Not because of the subject matter itself, but because Kat two years ago would have never bet on herself. I would have told you “Why would anyone care what I have to say? I’ve never even done anything like this,” Walsh told Reel 360.
When asked what triggered the change, Walsh replied, “I went through a stint of pretty regular psilocybin mushroom trips for about 6 months in 2019. Then something profound happened. I remember the night so clearly, I was tripping on mushrooms watching a friend’s show, when suddenly I thought to myself ‘I can do anything I want.’ This incredible light bulb moment. It was so odd because I wasn’t even thinking about my own life or anything of that nature. It just came to me. A divine gift. And from there, the programming and conditioning around what I believed was and wasn’t possible started to unravel through deep, personal self-exploration and I began to write a new story.”
While there are other podcasts on the topic, we wanted to know what set Walsh’s apart. What we discovered is that many of the other podcasts are primarily tackling the science of psychedelics, the ceremonial side of plant medicine, or from the healing perspective.
While Trip on This does delve into these areas, Walsh dares to explore the elephant in the room – the JOY of psychedelics. The fun. The reason they are so prevalent at music festivals.
Trip on This goes there.
“Let’s be honest, there’s a lot of people out there who may just want to plan a beach day with their friends and experience magic mushrooms or LSD for the first time, but want to do it safely and know they have “set themselves up for success” the best they can. Enter Trip on This. There is so much to learn from listening to personal stories about the tips and pitfalls that incurred on someone’s personal psychedelic journey,” Walsh notes.
She adds, “We don’t just cover the good trips. We cover the tougher times too. Always with an air of responsibility, I want to make sure I’m being responsible and showing that psychedelics are no walk in the park at times. Hearing about what a ‘bad trip’ might look like from a personal experience can be quite illuminating.”
While Walsh hopes to continue building her audience, she does have another goal – the legalization and decriminalization of psychedelics.
“Psychedelics have been and will continue to be on the ballot. I wanted to create a fun and engaging resource for people to come and learn about psychedelics from a firsthand account. Help normalize them. Hear personal stories from all different types of people and backgrounds. So that when it’s time to hit the voting booth, people can make the best possible decision for themselves.
Follow Trip on This here.
Colin Costello is the West Coast Editor of Reel 360. Contact him at colin@reel360.com or follow him on Twitter at @colinthewriter1
