Offline Recs: 4/20 Hang with Lindsay MaHarry and Mary Carreón
Tips for defying capitalism and celebrating our connection to the Earth from two of our favorite reporters in the drugs space.
On the surface, 4/20 is all about smoking weed, but if you ask the experts, it goes much deeper than that. For today’s edition of Offline Recs, we’re joined by two California-based reporters who have dedicated their careers to exploring our connection with plants and fungi that nourish and heal us, along with the powerful economic and political forces that are constantly getting in the way of it.
One of them is Lindsay MaHarry, a cannabis journalist and content creator (@_oystergirl_) who covers the culture of medicinal plants and fungi around the world for places like Uproxx, Weedmaps, and her own Substack, Hot Tokes with Oystergirl. The other is Mary Carreón, an independent journalist, editor, and podcaster (@maryyyprankster) who reports on the environment, Schedule I drugs, and the intersection between the two, with a focus on accessibility, the environment, and marginalized communities. You can find it in Billboard, KCRW, DoubleBlind Magazine, and more.
In a special bonus episode for all our listeners, we speak about their experiences navigating the stigma and censorship that drug reporters face by virtue of the topics they report on, along with actual explicit instances of shadowbanning on social media; the biggest issues they’re covering right now; and why you should pay attention to them regardless of whether you indulge in the devil’s lettuce. Lucky for you, they were also generous enough to share a massive, tantalizing list of books, shows, food, music, seeds, and, of course, what to smoke, for our readers to dig into. All of them are extremely offline and extremely good, both for 4/20 and year-round.
Listen to the conversation above read their recommendations below. To support our work — and get full access to all of our bonus episodes and culture recs — consider taking advantage of our special ***4/20 discount***: Between today and Monday, April 24, we’re giving away a full year-long subscription (usually $50) for only $21. That’s only 42.0% of the original price (nice).
Most importantly, treat yourself with kindness today and make sure to go outside — even if it’s just to marvel at the invasives poking up through the cracks in the sidewalk.
Read
Wild Fermentation, by Zandor Katz
Lindsay Maharry: Zandor Katz is, like, the gay fermentation god of the 90s. I just moved into my new spot, so I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, but these regenerative farmers up in Mendocino showed me this book, and they said that it's basically the fermentation Bible. It's everything from yogurt and cheese, to tempeh and vegetables, to beers, wines, and meads.
I was talking with my friend yesterday about how there's kind of two tiers of being a consumer: You can either poison yourself with toxic food that's literally going to kill you, or you have to spend, like, a billion dollars at a health food store. Sauerkraut is one of the most amazing things you can do for your full-body health, your gut — everything. It's just cabbage and salt and water, but they're selling it for like $15 at the store. So I've been really into books that kind of connect back to us being more self-sufficient, without having to rely on these paradigms that are predatory in [one way or another].
All of Scott Cunningham's books
Lindsay: Scott Cunningham is this guy from the ‘90s, and he wrote all of these super magical books. My favorite one is called Wicca in the Kitchen, which is a book of Wiccan spell recipes. So he has, like, “psychic awareness” foods, and “peace and happiness” foods, and “purification” foods. He has all these broad, sweeping ideas, and he doesn't really explain them, but they're super fun and magical and funny. He just has a really playful way of dealing with spells and food and rocks and crystals — the way all of the elements of the earth intertwine to create magic is basically what he writes about.
Chumash Ethnobotany: Plant Knowledge Among the Chumash People of Southern California, by Jan Timbrook
Lindsay: I live in Ojai, which is a sacred place to the Chumash people. There's a really high concentration of medicinal plants and edible plants, so I’m really into plant identification and I make a lot of teas and stuff. A lot of Western people do plant research from a botany angle, but it's often missing the element that the Native Americans spent thousands of years learning about these plants. So Jan Timbrooke linked up with a bunch of Chumash elders, and they have a major voice in the book. They go into these long, in-depth explanations of everything that they would use the herbs for, and it's just kind of beautiful, because so little of this Native American plant knowledge has been preserved.
The Wild Kindness: A Psilocybin Odyssey, by Bett Williams
Mary Carreón: The Wild Kindness is this whimsical ode to mushrooms. It’s kind of a memoir, but it’s also just a searing criticism of the psychedelics industry and movement that's growing right now. It's one of the few books that has been produced in the drugs world and cannabis world that I report on and operate in — and it's kind of like if the beat generation were queer feminists and Joan Didion were more fluid and down to trip balls.
It's beautiful, it's sharp, it's painful, it's trippy, it's whimsical — and there's also this prescient quality to it, because since it was written and released into the wild, a lot of the things that she mentions about the psychedelics movements have come to life in a kind of a negative way — specifically, with psychedelic therapy. It's not that pretty when you think about it — the commodification of these substances and capitalism interacting with these drugs that are the antithesis of what capitalism is. I recommend it to anybody who wants to learn about what's happening in the space, and who also enjoys literature.
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures, by Merlin Sheldrake
Mary: I just started The Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake. I recommend it for anyone who's trying to dive into a mushroom book — not necessarily a psychedelic mushroom book, but if you’re looking to learn about the different types of mushrooms, and how they impact you, and are looking for it presented in a way that isn't this superior, God-like presentation of what's going on in the psychedelics world. This is an exploration of how mushrooms, and more specifically mycelium, are the foundations of human life, and it's both grounding and meta. It connects you to nature, which is the best of all worlds, honestly.
Drug Use for Grown-Ups, by Dr. Carl Hart
Mary: I chose this book because it's actually, literally, mind-blowing. The info in it feels like it should be illegal to know. Dr. Carl Hart is a Black neuroscientist who's now a professor at Columbia University. And he used to conduct drugs research for the National Institutes of Health, which is an agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services that conducts drugs research from the lens of, basically, drug abuse and addiction, and from a very drug war lens.
This book is an exploration of why the drug war is scientifically unfounded. And he goes [into] every single drug, and why the data that the United States uses to say that “drug use is bad drug use is dangerous” — which of course, it's all about the relationship with how you're using this drug — is not correct and not accurate. And he goes into all of the reasons why that is, and why the government is pushing out these messages. He's releasing very serious secrets into the world about the way that this country runs its drug policies, so I highly recommend this book.
Watch
MILF Manor
Lindsay: Oh God. I watch really bad TV, and I watched this show, MILF Manor, that was so fucking insane. The fact that this is even on television to me is so fucking bleak and dark. But it’s basically this show where these guys are told that they are going to be set up with older women, and then they get there and the older women are their moms. It’s 10 sons and 10 moms, and then they have to date each other.
My advice for MILF Manor would be to definitely get stoned. But don't watch it alone; you need to watch it in a group, or it gets a little creepy. Naomi Fry wrote about it for The New Yorker, and she does a really good job just talking about why it's culturally significant, because we've just kind of never gotten this low before. it's worth the watch just from a cultural criticism standpoint — like, okay, this is where we're at.
Kiki's Delivery Service, from Studio Ghibli
Mary: What I recommend for 4/20 is watching something beautiful and chill, so anything from Studio Ghibli. I love Miyazaki. His anime is outrageous, especially while you're stoned. The clouds are my favorite, and I feel like anybody who's stoned can just get into the way that they depict nature in those films, even if you get too high to follow the storyline.
I really like the witchy ones. My favorite is Kiki's Delivery Service. I don't know — they're flying on broomsticks, she's on this adventure, there are black cats, she’s in the clouds. It’s wonderful.
Listen
Ray Barretto, Acid
Mary: My jam right now is anything by Ray Barretto. He was a Latin jazz musician, but I guess Latin jazz is definitely fusion in a way, because it taps into all kinds of Latin culture and it's just really beautiful. It's great for anybody who's looking to move and dance to different music than what's popular right now and looking for something just to groove to on 4/20. The album is called Acid [1968], and there's also a song on the album called “Acid” that I recommend.
Skinshape, Nostalgia
Lindsay: I love the new Skinshape album. It's called Nostalgia, and it is nostalgic. I feel like a lot of bands in the modern psychedelic genre have a hard time not just fully recreating stuff from the 60s. But he does a beautiful job of making old sounds modern and nodding at these great psychedelic sounds that are really nostalgic — especially for people in the drug space — without biting them. It's really good mushroom music, chilling music. I think it's perfect for 4/20 music.
Cook
Crushed cucumber and red cabbage salad
Lindsay: I don't like the notion of munchie food being what you should eat when you're stoned — like, all of that nasty junk food. I think it reinforces the idea that cannabis is bad for you or something that should be viewed solely as a recreational, indulgent thing, when it's not like that. So on 4/20, I like to eat foods that are nourishing and uplifting. I've been making this really good crushed cucumber and red cabbage salad. The dressing is like sesame oil and soy sauce and lemon and chili oil and stuff. You kind of let it sit there for a while, and it's just this bright, amazing salad.
Greek yogurt parfait
Mary: I don't love munchie foods either, mostly because they're all made by terrible corporations and I just can't participate in the degradation of the environment like that on 4/20; it's too close to Earth Day. But I get down on breakfast super hard, and I love making a Greek yogurt parfait with blueberries, raspberries, bananas, and granola or nuts. I put some coconut butter in there, I drizzle honey over it, and I sprinkle some Reishi cacao or lavender over the top.
I honestly think it would be, like, $25 in LA because of inflation and everything, but [I make it myself]. It’s almost munchie food, just because it's so good and so decadent. But also it's healthy, and I think you can have both.
Smoke
Sun-grown cannabis
Lindsay: Mary and I are really into the sun-grown cannabis movement. There's different ways you can grow weed: You can grow weed in a way that heals the earth and the people — like regenerative farming — or you can grow it in this toxic, corporate way. And I think sun-grown cannabis is just a reminder that you don't have to produce things in a way that destroys everything on Earth.
Mary: When you smoke outdoor flower — cannabis that's grown in soil and tended to and cared for — it's impossible not to feel the difference. I think for people who just get too high, however that makes them feel — whether that's paranoid, whether that's anxious, whether that's just like a zombie — a lot of the weed right now available is super high in THC. Which is fine, I guess. But there's just so much more out there, and sun-grown cannabis is such a great way to tap into how else weed can make you feel.
Lindsay: if you're in LA, you should go to the Cornerstone dispensary. Some of my favorite brands are [distributed by] Redwood Roots, who represent a ton of small farmers up in Humboldt. They rep some of these brands, but I also like Ridgeline Farms, Farm Cut, Emerald Spirit Botanicals, Sun Roots, WildLand — there's so many good ones. Sol Spirit is one of my all-time favorites. Esensia Gardens is another one. And I think that's a good list to get started with.
Mary: I also would like to shout out Briceland Forest Farm. Lindsay turned me on to Morning Cuddles, and it changed my life. I don't even know how to describe how it makes you feel. But it just makes you want to get up and dance, or lay down in the field and stare at the clouds.
Wild Card
Growing your own weed seeds
Mary: My wildcard recommendation is getting your own weed seeds, because I think we need to exercise our rights as Californians and people who live in legal states to grow our own weed. I still think that it's an act of resistance to do that. I don't think that federal legalization is going to support us being able to grow our own stuff at home. And even a lot of legal brands don't want you to do that, because they want us as consumers to depend on them and pay them for a product that we could grow in our backyard or on our windowsill.
Danny Danko, who is a High Times legend, has [written some good books with] tips on the best ways to grow at home. And if I could recommend any seeds, I would recommend Aficionado seeds. That's a brand up in Humboldt run by Leo Stone. So yeah, get your hands in the dirt. It will change your relationship with the plant entirely.
Lindsay’s special mushroom tea
Lindsay: My wildcard rec is my own mushroom tea that I'm going to be releasing soon with this amazing mycologist in Humboldt called Humboldt Fungi. I make these teas a lot, and they've been popular with my friends. They're, like, mid-to-low dose.
You know how mushrooms can kind of make you sick, especially when you eat the fruit itself? The cellular walls of mushrooms are really tough, and they can be difficult for humans to break down. So there’s different blends, but I include fruit peels that have different enzymes [that can help break that down] and things like anti-inflammatory herbs and ginger and things that calm your stomach. I'm going to be launching that, I think, in May. [They’ll be available] on my Substack.
What's the difference between a plant and a weed? Judgement.