CNN Goes Psychedelic: Anderson Cooper's Upcoming Show On Magic Mushrooms

Psychedelics continue to make their way into the mainstream media. This time they will feature in CNN Anderson Cooper’s upcoming show “The Whole Story.”

In a direct reply to Michael Pollan’s “How To Change Your Mind” (see Netflix’s NFLX book-based series) “Magic Mushrooms: Can They Change Your Mind?” features this Sunday, June 18 at 8 PM ET. The program will dive into psilocybin’s potential as a therapeutic through reporter David Culver’s journey at a Jamaican retreat. 

See also: This Ecotourism Resort In Jamaica Now Offers Psilocybin Microdosing Retreats And Experiences

The episode will follow Culver to Jamaica where magic mushrooms are legal to grow and use, to explore their therapeutic benefits in a medically supervised setting.

While two U.S. states have legalized natural psychedelics, federal law still has them listed as illegal substances though they show promise in treating multiple conditions including depression, anxiety and substance abuse, “There’s still a lot we don’t know about how psilocybin affects the brain, and many are asking if it’s too soon to offer these treatments,” says CNN's release.

That and vast public discussion around psychedelics, is what has triggered the episode, where spectators will join a group of Americans traveling to Jamaica to try psilocybin “in an effort to reconnect with themselves, curb addiction, and find inner healing in a deeply personal and intimate journey aimed to find healing,” says Culver, who wanted to try the “therapeutic magic” on himself. 

“Having lived and reported through China’s relentless ‘Zero-Covid’ policies, including harsh and punishing lockdowns, I wondered if the medicine –as they call it– might help me better process my nearly three years isolated from family and loved ones back in the U.S.,” he said. And indeed, the mushrooms took him on a journey he “did not expect.”

The episode also takes the viewers to Oregon, the first state to legalize psilocybin for therapeutic purposes where CNN’s correspondent shares reflections and lessons from his experience in Jamaica.

The show, produced by Susan Chun, will stream live for paid TV subscribers and CNN OTT and mobile apps or CNNgo. It will also be available On Demand beginning Monday, June 19 to paid TV subscribers.

Photo: Benzinga edit with photo by Pixabay and Pexels.