Tim Ferriss Takes His Psychedelic Patronage A Step Further With A Generous Donation To UC Berkeley

Tim Ferriss wants to help “bend the arc of history” with an $800,000 donation to UC Berkeley’s Center for the Science of Psychedelics to foster better reporting on the emerging topic of psychedelics.

In an effort to provide the reading public with reliable and engaging written and audio stories on the expanding field of psychedelics, Ferriss - podcaster, author and entrepreneur - recently gave the grants, to be spread over three years, in the hope of creating a fellowship for journalists working in the field.

As the acceptance of psychedelics continues to evolve, Ferriss believes that rigorous reporting on the subject will require discerning journalists who can separate hype from verifiable fact.

“If you want to bend the arc of history, longform and investigative journalism is one of the best contemporary tools that we have,” Ferriss tweeted when announcing the fellowship. “The Cambrian explosion of psychedelic medicine brings with it both incredible promise and incredible complexity. Dedicated journalists are needed to help separate fact from fiction, hold people accountable, and much more.”

The grants are meant to cover reporting costs for a new generation of early- to mid-career writers creating “comprehensive print and audio stories on the science, policy, business and culture around psychedelics.” Grants will range from $5,000 to $15,000.

The Ferriss-UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellowship will be overseen by Michael Pollan, author of the bestselling book “How to Change Your Mind,” which in 2018 helped to reignite public interest in psychedelic therapies and exploration.

“As the field of psychedelics explodes, we’re going to need sophisticated journalism to provide the public with reliable information and the field with accountability,” said Pollan, who is a professor at the graduate school at UC Berkeley. “The Ferriss Fellowship will help the Graduate School of Journalism to support young journalists working in this area, which in turn will hasten the establishment of psychedelics as an important and vibrant journalistic beat.”

Ferriss is no stranger to this kind of funding for psychedelic research. In 2019 he helped spearhead fundraising of $17 million to pay for the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research and donated more than $2 million of his own money. Over the ensuing years, he’s helped raise even more funds for similar psychedelic research by tapping his expansive network.

Ferriss explained to the New York Times his personal motivations for donating to Johns Hopkins’ groundbreaking research.

“I lost my best friend to a fentanyl overdose,” Ferriss said. “I have treatment-resistant depression and bipolar disorder in my family. And addiction. It became clear to me that you can do a lot in this field with very little money.”

The author-entrepreneur has also put money toward a psychedelic center at Imperial College London, as well as donated money for research projects at the University of California, San Francisco, which is examining psilocybin combined with psychotherapy for distress in long-term AIDS patients.

An announcement from UC Berkeley notes that awards are intended to cover reporting costs and that the university “expects news organizations to pay journalists for their work once stories are published or aired.”

The application goes live on December 1st.