Mushroom Revival Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Michael Beug: A Legendary Mycology Professor Aug 31, 2021

Show notes

Today we are joined by Micahel Beug, a legendary professor and scientist from Evergreen State College. Micheal mentored a handful of the today’s great mycologists such as Paul Stamets, Jonathan Ott and Jeremy Bigwood. With a PhD in organic chemistry and a love for mushrooms, Michael’s expertise was and continues to be instrumental for the growth of mycology as a whole. After just publishing a field guide “Mushrooms of Cascadia: An Illustrated Key”, we are blessed to have this opportunity to talk with Michael. Tune in for some insider info on culture and science of mycology in the western world.

Topics Covered:

Stories from the mushroom toxicology call list
The development of mycology education at Evergreen State College
Michael Beugs recent publication “Mushrooms of Cascadia: An Illustrated Key”
Early mycological culture with a renown crew including Paul Stamets, Jeremy Bigwood, Jonathan Ott
Researching psychotropic fungi at Evergreen: methods, chemistry, bureaucratic, and more
Professor Beug’s specialty in biochemistry and enzyme kinetics, and how that supported the mycology research at Evergreen
Michael’s work on studying the ecological impacts of DDT, effectively ending the use of DDT in North America!
Basics of fungal metabolism
The national effort to define the mycoflora of North America

Show Notes:

Michael Beug’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwbeug44/
Publication on DDT: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/18165522_Carbonic_Anhydrase_Interaction_with_DDT_DDE_and_Dieldrin
Mushrooms of Cascadia: An Illustrated Key: https://fungi.com/collections/identification-guides/products/mushrooms-of-cascadia
Evergreen College: https://www.evergreen.edu/
Fungi Magazine Contributing Author: https://www.fungimag.com/bios/beug.htm

www.mushroomrevival.com

We are a functional mushroom company and make 100% certified USDA Organic and Vegan mushroom supplements. We are transparent with our lab results, and use actual fruiting bodies aka mushrooms! We provide our supplements in tincture, capsule, powder, and delicious gummy form.

Energy (Cordyceps): Need a little pick-me-up before a workout or when you’re picking up your kids from school? The Energy Cordyceps is the mushy match for you.

Focus (Lion’s Mane): Needing a little more focus in your daily life? Lion’s Mane is known to be the mushroom for the brain and may support cognitive function.

Calm (Reishi): Looking for some tranquility and zen in your life? Reishi will bring you into the zen state of mind you’ve been searching for.

Daily 10 (Mushroom Mix): It’s like having 10 bodyguard mushrooms fighting off all those bad guys. This is a good place to start as it contains all of the daily mushies you need.

Not sure where to begin? Take our mushroom quiz here.

Use code ‘PODTREAT’ for a 30% discount.

Psilocybin & Weight Loss Aug 24, 2021

Show notes

All bodies are beautiful. All healthy lifestyle changes are beautiful. And for those who choose to pursue a goal of losing weight for the right reasons, there is a new ingredient showing promising results — psilocybin.

While known for mental and spiritual support, psilocybin’s benefit can transcend into the physical realm by way of mental health, as well as biophysically. We discuss the mental reframe that can support a weight loss regime and how psilocybin itself has appetite suppressant properties.

We are joined by Trevor Miller who is on the board of directors for MAPS (Multidisciplinary association for psychedelic studies) and has been advocating for psychedelic therapies for years. Trevor is now on the advisory board for NeonMind Biosciences, a Canadian company who is involved in some cutting edge research on the topic of psilocybin and weight loss, and the belief that lives change when minds change.

Topics Covered:

The origin story of NeonMind Biosciences and their novel approaches in psilocybin therapy
Psychedelic use among people in the industry
Psilocybin’s evolutionary ecology
Psilocybin as an appetite suppressant
Psilocybin as a pattern interruptor especially with dietary habits
The importance of acknowledging toxic stigmas around weight and reminding ourselves it is not bad or wrong

Show Notes:

Neon Mind Website: https://neonmindbiosciences.com/

Canadian Psychedelic Association: https://www.psychedelicassociation.net/

Psygen: https://psygen.ca/

www.mushroomrevival.com

Energy (Cordyceps): Need a little pick-me-up before a workout or when you’re picking up your kids from school? The Energy Cordyceps is the mushy match for you.

Focus (Lion’s Mane): Needing a little more focus in your daily life? Lion’s Mane is known to be the mushroom for the brain and may support cognitive function.

Calm (Reishi): Looking for some tranquility and zen in your life? Reishi will bring you into the zen state of mind you’ve been searching for.

Daily 10 (Mushroom Mix): It’s like having 10 bodyguard mushrooms fighting off all those bad guys. This is a good place to start as it contains all of the daily mushies you need.

Not sure where to begin? Take our mushroom quiz here.

Use code ‘PODTREAT’ for a 30% discount.

Spalted Wood Aug 17, 2021

Show notes

Spalted wood is beautiful. It’s a form of rotting, and it’s caused by fungi. Spalting comes in many forms: patterns, colors, textures. Until this century, the biology of spalting wasn’t well understood, and even less so any methods to produce it in a laboratory setting. We are once again joined by Javier Ribera, a wood materials scientist and mycologist from EMPA to discuss new research on spalted wood. The team at EMPA has built off of existing literature on the biology of spalting which has allowed them to artificially produce spalted wood, potentially opening a market for designer wood rot.

Topics Covered:

History of spalted wood use in the United States
Three kinds of spalting: zone lines, pigmentation and white rot
Mel & Mark Lindquist’s legacy of spalted wood in woodcraft
DIY spalting methods: the possibilities and limitations
The mycology of zone line spalting: what species are involved? What does wood anatomy have to do with it?
How researchers at EMPA are commercializing spalted woods
How you can spalt your own wood at home!

Show Notes:

EMPA’s Fungal Biotech: https://www.empa.ch/web/s302

Spalted Wood The Movie: http://spaltedwood.com/

Zone Line Spalting from Science to Application: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264127521000332

GIY Spalted Wood Methods: https://www.finewoodworking.com/2009/04/14/spalt-your-own-lumber

Wood Spalting Starter Pack: https://www.mossycreekmushrooms.com/product/spalting-liquid-culture-pack/

More spalting species (members only): https://www.northernspalting.com/buy-materials/fungi/

Compatible woods + examples: https://www.northernspalting.com/spalting-info/wood-species-examples/

Dr. Sara (Seri) Robinson book on Spalted Wood: https://www.abebooks.com/Spalting-101-Robinson-Dr-Seri-C/30973684244/bd?cm_mmc=ggl-_-US_Shopp_Trade-_-product_id=COM9780764360893NEW-_-keyword=&gclid=CjwKCAjw3_KIBhA2EiwAaAAlipUvXMCvEPINjOPvbbXRh6epgaMoJPs504UaowGjmrDTZaOPjiLjgRoCSJIQAvD_BwE
www.mushroomrevival.com

Find your mushy match and take our mushroom quiz here.

Use code ‘PODTREAT’ for a 30% discount.

Mycowood: A New Era for Instruments Aug 11, 2021

Show notes

Hear that...? Fungal violins have entered the music scene. This technology, known as Mycowood, uses fungi to partially degrade wood used to make violins; and it results in superior acoustics. We are joined by the scientist behind these innovative fungal projects, Dr. Javier Ribera, who is a materials scientist at EMPA with specialties in cellulose and wood materials. Javier walks us through the creation of Mycowood technology, and how this unique application could evolve in further wood-based design.

Topics Covered:

The inspiration for creating Mycowood
How climate change is physically altering our lumber supply
The history, theory, and materials science of the famous Stradivarius Violin
Wood as a material for resonance, and how fungi can be used to engineer the acoustics
The three fungi tested by EMPA for Mycowood including Schizophyllum commune, Physisporinus vitreus, and Xylaria spp.
Processes of creating Mycowood
The current availability of Mycowood technologies

Show notes:

Dr. Javier Riberia’s Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Javier-Ribera-2

Interview with Francis Schwarze: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48H_-CRuzWY

EMPA Website:https://www.empa.ch/

Violino ai funghi (Fungal Violin): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlICRNzPoic

EMPA Report on Mycowood for Violins: https://www.empa.ch/web/s604/mycowood-violin?inheritRedirect=true

BIotech Stradivari: https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ppp3.10097

Mycowood Violins in the NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/29/learning/mycowood-violins-a-different-kind-of-time-machine.html
www.mushroomrevival.com

Energy (Cordyceps): Need a little pick-me-up before a workout or when you’re picking up your kids from school? The Energy Cordyceps is the mushy match for you.

Focus (Lion’s Mane): Needing a little more focus in your daily life? Lion’s Mane is known to be the mushroom for the brain and may support cognitive function.

Calm (Reishi): Looking for some tranquility and zen in your life? Reishi will bring you into the zen state of mind you’ve been searching for.

Daily 10 (Mushroom Mix): It’s like having 10 bodyguard mushrooms fighting off all those bad guys. This is a good place to start as it contains all of the daily mushies you need.

Not sure where to begin? Take our mushroom quiz here.

Use code ‘PODTREAT’ for a 30% discount.

The Soil Food Web Aug 04, 2021

Show notes

Modern farming practices are destroying vital soil ecologies, and our patch work solutions aren’t making things any better. Today we are joined by Dr. Elaine Ingham, a leading soil ecologist who has established the Soil Food Web School, a platform that teaches people how to optimize their growing operation and advocates the return to greener practices.

We discuss how we can repair the land using simple, natural, systems, and how in doing so we heal the planet by increasing carbon sequestration, depolluting water supply systems, catalyzing environmental justice and so much more.
Topics covered:

Soil health before human influence
Practical ways we can rebuild microbial populations for healthier soil
Specialized relationships between soil fungi and plants
Successions of ecosystem health from the soil to mature plants
The adversaries of inorganic fertilizers
Analyzing ratios of the fungal and bacterial needs to grow healthy plants
Cultivating and sourcing biocomplete compost
Industrial level compost production and soil remediation
Carbon sequestration in soil health

Show notes:

Soil Food Web website: https://www.soilfoodweb.com/

Dr. Ingham’s published work on soil ecology: https://www.soilfoodweb.com/publications/
www.mushroomrevival.com

Energy (Cordyceps): Need a little pick-me-up before a workout or when you’re picking up your kids from school? The Energy Cordyceps is the mushy match for you.

Focus (Lion’s Mane): Needing a little more focus in your daily life? Lion’s Mane is known to be the mushroom for the brain and may support cognitive function.

Calm (Reishi): Looking for some tranquility and zen in your life? Reishi will bring you into the zen state of mind you’ve been searching for.

Daily 10 (Mushroom Mix): It’s like having 10 bodyguard mushrooms fighting off all those bad guys. This is a good place to start as it contains all of the daily mushies you need.

Not sure where to begin? Take our mushroom quiz here.

Use code ‘PODTREAT’ for a 30% discount.

The Psilocybin Industry: A Conversation with Ron Shore Jul 27, 2021

Show notes

Where is psilocybin headed? Recent societal vindication of psilocybin and other psychedelic therapies are paving a prominent future for these substances, especially in psychiatric therapy. But how do we navigate this resurgence for the better? What conversations should be had, what questions should be asked, and who should we trust?
These are big questions that will evolve with the industry. Today we welcome Ron Shore, who has spent years studying clinical applications for psychedelic therapy and collecting related data to initiate conversations around these important elements. Ron is a PhD candidate at Queens University who has spent years in the public health world. Ron offers a needed perspective on the growing economy of psilocybin and other entheogens.

Topics Covered:

Combining neuroscientific and traditional ceremonial settings for psychedelic healing spaces
Revisiting psychedelic science with new understandings in neuroscience & psychiatry
The importance of maintaining and respecting all cultural elements without cultural appropriation
The economy of psilocybin — what is it like now? How will it progress and what should we be aware of as the industry grows to ensure we uphold cultural and economic equality?
Attempts to patent natural psychedelic substances such as ayahuasca
Behind the scenes of psychedelic clinical trials and how we can improve by being more inclusive
Obtaining funding for psychedelic research
Steps that industry leaders and influencers can take to be in their highest integrity while doing this work
Resources and thoughts on educating ourselves on the psychedelic history
Psilocybin and associated alkaloids of psilocybe mushrooms
The current state of scientific literature on synthetic or ‘pure’ psilocybin compared to the natural biomass of psilocybe mushrooms
Animal studies with psilocybin
How psychedelics influence your brain physiologically
How consciousness is a ‘fruiting body’, and therefore, a mushroom ;)

Show Notes:

Dimensions healing :https://dimensionshealing.com/
Ron Shore’s website: https://www.ronshore.ca/
Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines: https://chacruna.net
Francoise Bourzat: https://francoisebourzat.com/
Michael Pollan's books: https://michaelpollan.com/books/
Landmark study on neurogenesis: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2021.06.008
- More articles: https://news.yale.edu/2021/07/05/psychedelic-spurs-growth-neural-connections-lost-depression
- https://neurosciencenews.com/depression-dendrites-psilocybin-18856/
Robin Carhart-Harris’s publications on psilocybin & other psychedelics: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7_MD_w0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

www.mushroomrevival.com
We are a functional mushroom company and make 100% certified USDA Organic and Vegan mushroom supplements. We are transparent with our lab results, and use actual fruiting bodies aka mushrooms! We provide our supplements in tincture, capsule, powder, and delicious gummy form. Use code ‘PODTREAT’ for a 30% discount.

What Fungi Reveal About Multicellular Life Jul 21, 2021

Show notes

How did multicellular life evolve? We don’t know! However, fungi are helping us develop ideas about the emergence of complex life. Today we are joined by Dr. William Ratcliff, who has successfully induced naturally unicellular yeast to evolve into multicellular ‘snowflake yeasts’ in his lab at Georgia Tech. Prepare for a delightful interview featuring evolutionary history, biotechnology, semantics, philosophy, and life itself.
Dr. William Ratcliff has his Ph.D. in Ecology evolution and Behavior and runs the Ratcliff lab at Georgia Tech and is the Co-Director of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Quantitative Biosciences.

Topics covered:

The difference between multicellular life and single cellular life
What is an organism?
Evolutionary trends and novelties in multicellular life
Catalyzing multicellular life in vitro
Why yeast— specifically saccharomyces cerevisiae — are so widely used in genomics research and biotechnology
The Ratcliff Lab’s development of multicellular yeasts dubbed ‘snowflake yeast’
Mechanistic basics of multicellular yeasts, particularly entanglement
Prototaxites and its characteristics of entanglements
Cellular differentiation and cellular suicide in evolving snowflake yeasts
Reversing multicellular evolution
Cyanobacteria, Bangiomorpha pubescens and other early forms of multicellular life
Ways that multicellularity can be expressed
- Myxococcus xanthus
- Acellular slime molds
How to grow snowflake yeast at home!

Show notes:

The Ratcliff Lab: https://ratclifflab.biosci.gatech.edu/

Grow your own multicellular yeast: http://www.snowflakeyeastlab.com/the%20kit.htm

The Biophysics if nascent multicellularity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WwBiBUcKG4

William Ratcliff’s Publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wdVRIS0AAAAJ&hl=en

Snowflake Yeast Microscopy Photos: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1h7CqrmjId8r50zT6v_1qXoJWMcHa6JJ9?usp=sharing
www.mushroomrevival.com

Energy (Cordyceps): Need a little pick-me-up before a workout or when you’re picking up your kids from school? The Energy Cordyceps is the mushy match for you.

Focus (Lion’s Mane): Needing a little more focus in your daily life? Lion’s Mane is known to be the mushroom for the brain and may support cognitive function.

Calm (Reishi): Looking for some tranquility and zen in your life? Reishi will bring you into the zen state of mind you’ve been searching for.

Daily 10 (Mushroom Mix): It’s like having 10 bodyguard mushrooms fighting off all those bad guys. This is a good place to start as it contains all of the daily mushies you need.

Not sure where to begin? Take our mushroom quiz here.

Use code ‘PODTREAT’ for a 30% discount.

Mushroom Chocolate Jul 13, 2021

Show notes

Love chocolate? You have fungi to thank for that! On today's show we are walking you through the complex journey between the cocoa bean and a chocolate bar. The unmatchable decadence is achieved by unique fermentation methods and microbes. Yeast, filamentous fungi, and bacteria are all at play and today we have a chocolate scientist and PhD candidate, Caitlin Clark, who has dedicated her research to chocolate fermentation.
Topics Covered

Lactic acid fermentation versus chocolates specialty microbes
The complex and ethical journey of chocolate making
Alkalizing chocolate
Polyphenol content in a variety of chocolate products
Psychoactive properties in chocolate’s constituents such methylxanthine and theobromine
How fermentation alters potency of these constituents
Mycorrhizal, endophytic, and pathogenic fungi involved in the cacao trees
Other fungal relationships such as endophytes and mycorrhizal species
Microbiome of fermentation in cocoa including yeasts, filamentous geotrichum, bacillus bacteria and more
Wild ferments, aseptic ferments and experiments with starter cultures
Chemical and mechanical ways that fungi transform the stock
What determines a ‘good’ microbial presence versus a ‘bad’ one in the chocolate making process
How cocoa byproducts are made
Bloom in chocolate
How to shop for the best quality chocolate

Show Notes

Caitlin’s website: https://www.trimethylpyrazine.com/
Caitlin’s Instagram: @chocolate.graduate
Chocolate Vendor’s
- Bar & Cocoa: https://barandcocoa.com/
- SOMA: https://www.somachocolate.com/
- Quntu: https://en.qantuchocolate.com/
- Nuance Chocolate: http://www.nuancechocolate.com/
- White Label: https://www.whitelabelchocolate.com/
Ethical aspects of the cocoa and chocolate value chain
Natto: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natt%C5%8D
Mycotoxins in chocolate making and cocoa products
Further reading: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-DNBQ5kJRWPWm1nZXzjGH-VMgLJBtjsC?usp=sharing

www.mushroomrevival.com

Energy (Cordyceps): Need a little pick-me-up before a workout or when you’re picking up your kids from school? The Energy Cordyceps is the mushy match for you.

Focus (Lion’s Mane): Needing a little more focus in your daily life? Lion’s Mane is known to be the mushroom for the brain and may support cognitive function.

Calm (Reishi): Looking for some tranquility and zen in your life? Reishi will bring you into the zen state of mind you’ve been searching for.

Daily 10 (Mushroom Mix): It’s like having 10 bodyguard mushrooms fighting off all those bad guys. This is a good place to start as it contains all of the daily mushies you need.

Kew's Fungarium: The World's Largest Collection of Fungi Jul 07, 2021

Show notes

Over one million specimens of fungi share a space known as the Fungarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It is the largest collection of dried fungi in the world with specimens as old as the 1700s.
Today we welcome lead mycologist Tuula Niskanen, and Fungarium curator Lee Davies to spotlight this important collection. We discuss when, where, why, and how fungi from all over the world are collected, studied and preserved.

Topics Covered:

How the Kew Fungarium is curated and maintained
The value and importance of saving physical specimens
Shelf life and preservation methods of fungi in the form of spores, mycelium and fruiting bodies
Specimen highlights
The Kew Gardens State of the World’s Fungi Report
How citizen science can help and benefit from Kew

Show notes:

Access the Fungarium: https://herbtrack.science.kew.org/search

IMI database: http://www.herbimi.info/herbimi/home.htm

Beyond the Gardens short virtual tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9HitGBVlIY

State of The World’s Fungi: https://stateoftheworldsfungi.org/

Ophiocordyceps taylorii photo: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tBG__EwAt-vH1kjI2qAbxckRJovJPBAv/view?usp=sharing

Hongos de Patagonia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yya-bvYTSas

www.mushroomrevival.com

Energy (Cordyceps): Need a little pick-me-up before a workout or when you’re picking up your kids from school? The Energy Cordyceps is the mushy match for you.

Focus (Lion’s Mane): Needing a little more focus in your daily life? Lion’s Mane is known to be the mushroom for the brain and may support cognitive function.

Calm (Reishi): Looking for some tranquility and zen in your life? Reishi will bring you into the zen state of mind you’ve been searching for.

Daily 10 (Mushroom Mix): It’s like having 10 bodyguard mushrooms fighting off all those bad guys. This is a good place to start as it contains all of the daily mushies you need.

Not sure where to begin? Take our mushroom quiz here.

Use code ‘PODTREAT’ for a 30% discount.

Mycoviruses: Fungi Can Get Sick, Too Jun 29, 2021

Show notes

Today’s show covers a field known as mycovirology, or the study of viruses that infect fungi. This esoteric science is nascent but profound in its applications, and we are welcoming one of the few people in the world who are studying these relationships. Why do mycoviruses matter? How can we work with and against them? How can this subfield influence mycology as a whole?

We welcome Dr. Brenda Wingfield from the university of Pretoria in South Africa. Brenda holds her degree in fungal genomics and has published over 300 respective articles. Her work has expanded the mycological fields of taxonomy, phylogeny, ecology and tree pathology.

Topics Covered:

Defining mycovirology
What makes fungal viruses unique from others
Stuck fermentation caused by killer yeasts
Asymptomatic vs symptomatic viruses
Mechanisms of viral infection in fungi
Using mycoviruses to combat Chestnut Blight
Viruses transferring from plants to fungi
Armillaria viruses
Genetic engineering with viruses
What we know about the fungal immune system
The detriment of La France disease in Agaricus bisporus farms
1000 Fungal Genome Project

Show notes:

Dr. Brenda Wingfield's publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=tnLyuG0AAAAJ&hl=en

Five Questions about Mycoviruses: https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1005172

Mycoviruses educational video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXZBMcmGv84

Killer Yeasts in Wine: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0922338X9390056E

Secrets of Fungal Viruses: https://theconversation.com/researchers-unlock-the-secrets-of-fungal-viruses-why-it-matters-158632
www.mushroomrevival.com

Energy (Cordyceps): Need a little pick-me-up before a workout or when you’re picking up your kids from school? The Energy Cordyceps is the mushy match for you.

Focus (Lion’s Mane): Needing a little more focus in your daily life? Lion’s Mane is known to be the mushroom for the brain and may support cognitive function.

Calm (Reishi): Looking for some tranquility and zen in your life? Reishi will bring you into the zen state of mind you’ve been searching for.

Daily 10 (Mushroom Mix): It’s like having 10 bodyguard mushrooms fighting off all those bad guys. This is a good place to start as it contains all of the daily mushies you need.

Not sure where to begin? Take our mushroom quiz here.

Use code ‘PODTREAT’ for a 30% discount.

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