The Weed Witch
Pipe Dreams by The Weed Witch
Recent Episodes
Truth be told, the lifestyle industry doesn’t give as much lip service to some of the issues it enables—be it the alcohol industry and alcoholism, the fashion industry and shopping addictions, or cannabis culture and the rising mental health issues that the plant potentially harms as much as it helps.
Still, these heavier topics need to be addressed, as the spread of legalization continues to proliferate and expose new generations to plant-based medicine as a recreational product during a time when the country faces a larger national addiction and mental health crisis.
On the pod today: noted cannabis industry O.G. and founder of the eponymous global lifestyle brand, Jane West. Fresh off her guest appearance on the “Is it just weed?” episode of Dr. Phil Primetime addressing marijuana addiction, West shares her perspective as a longtime advocate following the twists and turns of the industry on the challenges, opportunities, and silver linings for creating a socially responsible future cannabis landscape.
Listen, like and share the episode. Follow Jane West on Instagram and browse her stunning glassware over at Flwr.Shop. And make sure to follow The Weed Witch on Substack for all of the latest and greatest.
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Mary Jane Gibson has the makings of a hero with new feminist project, "My Sandwich, My Choice"
On the show today: Mary Jane Gibson, a prominent female voice in cannabis media and former culture editor at High Times, who has been tracking the legalization and culture of medical marijuana and adult-use cannabis since 2007. After writing at High Times for over a decade, she now writes at-large at outlets like Rolling Stone and Vox where she covers cannabis culture, psychedelics, arts, entertainment, news, and cutting-edge trends. She is also an award-winning actor and playwright, and a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada.
After penning an article on sexism in the cannabis industry, Gibson predictably received an onslaught of shitty comments from fragile dudes throwing tired “make me a sandwich” jokes. Rather than grin and bear it, she decided to take their advice and do just that: make delicious, nourishing, sandwiches all for herself, while educating the masses about the horrific rollback and daily assault on reproductive rights. Evolving from a clapback into a full-fledged project, “My Sandwich, My Choice” has gained the attention of over 30K followers on Instagram and 14K followers on TikTok as Gibson uses the platform to sling sandwiches with a statement. Most recently, she’s added a Substack (which you should absolutely subscribe to).
On the latest Pipe Dreams podcast, Mary Jane shares her journey from theater kid to High Times editor, reproductive rights activist, and legacy sand-weed-witch. Listen, like and share the episode. Follow Mary Jane on Instagram, TikTok, and Substack. And make sure to follow The Weed Witch for all of the latest and greatest.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theweedwitch/supportThere’s nothing like pouring your heart, soul, and wallet into your debut book only launch it during the worst timing possible—be it a travel book during a global lockdown or a book a psychedelic Judaism during the height of the latest iteration of the never-ending Israel-Palestine conflict. At the same time, these are exactly the critical moments when uplifting books that inspire new thinking are the most needed.
On the show today: Madison Margolin, a journalist covering psychedelics and spirituality, and the author of Exile & Ecstasy: Growing Up with Ram Dass & Coming of Age in the Jewish Psychedelic Underground, a memoir-meets-Gonzo journalism endeavor that was just released on November 6. Madison is also the host of Be Here Now Network's Set & Setting Podcast, as well as the co-founder of both DoubleBlind Magazine and the Jewish Psychedelic Summit.
Exile and Ecstasy takes readers on a trippy coming-of-age journey through Margolin’s early years growing up within "HinJew" community surrounding Ram Dass—author of Be Here Now—and in the cannabis legalization movement, laying the groundwork for going inside New York's Jewish counterculture and the Hasidic underground, and somehow coming full-circle to find unexpected intersectionality between the Jewish and psychedelic experience.
Living on the fringe within the Jewish and psychedelic worlds, she uses journalistic reporting to offer practical, yet mystical ways to integrate psychedelic experiences into the everyday to feel connected, grounded, and reconcile “seemingly disparate experiences of spirituality and psychedelics, with traditional religion.”
She joins the podcast to discuss her book, the multitudes of Judaism, the concept of psychedelic lifestyle beyond drugs, and her visit to Ramallah just days before October 7 to meet with Arabs and Jews using psychedelics to resolve ancestral trauma.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theweedwitch/supportFounded by Lana Van Brunt and Hayley Dineen in 2018, New York-based cannabis lifestyle company and multidisciplinary product design and production studio Sackville & Co. stood out for its eye-catching accessories shiny gilded grinder and sleek joint carrying case fit for the stiletto stoner crowd.
Both carrying an impressive pedigree in design and fashion, the move into cannabis lifestyle seemed like a natural fit. Van Brunt, the former Director of Experiential Marketing, Head Talent Buyer and Director of Business Operations at VICE Media, and Dineen, who worked in product design and development for luxury brands through the United Nations ethical fashion program to create programs for Vivienne Westwood, Stella McCartney, and Karen Walker, brought a new vision to cannabis where users no longer needed to sacrifice form for function.
Since then, the company has grown exponentially, exposing cannabis culture to a new generation of consumers thanks to collaborations with Wu-Tang’s GZA and streetwear brands like Sundae School and Carrots Carrots that sell out almost instantly at each drop—but also a more mainstream, older demographic gravitating towards the plant.
While the growing number of beautifully crafted smokeable objets d’art have helped to normalize, destigmatize, and ease consumers’ apprehensions about dipping into world of weed, the road to success hasn’t always been easy. In fact, Van Brunt and Dineen almost lost the company.
Today, they join the podcast to share their insights on the chaotic New York market, the changing face and culture of cannabis, and Sackville’s triumphant comeback story.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theweedwitch/supportTaste is one of our most important senses, yet the majority of people still don’t have the language to articulate exactly why they love or hate something.
In the past, tasting education had been limited to restaurant and hospitality professionals, most often deferring to rigid French wine classifications that rely on blind tasting to consider the more nuanced principles of how the natural environment or terroir (soil, topography and climate) impacts the expression of flavor within the final product, including how it looks, smells, tastes and feels. However, thanks to the emergence of pedestrian-friendly craft beer education over the past decade, widespread interest in food culture, and even the impact of sensory loss from COVID, there’s been an uptick in curiosity about our personal relationships with taste. And we now have the ultimate handbook to understanding the science and art behind flavor.
Joining the podcast today is New York-based Advanced Cicerone, Certified Taster, and journalist Mandy Naglich, whose latest book “How To Taste: A Guide to Discovering Flavor and Savoring Life,” was released just last month. Teaching both consumers and professionals about flavor and service across the beverage alcohol category, her wildly popular tasting classes frequently sell out around the city and virtually. Her work has been featured in Vice, Taste of Home, VinePair, and Wine Enthusiast, and has generated a considerable following on her blog, Drinks With Mandy. Today, she shares the story behind her unconventional job and how taste can create daily opportunities for joy in the every day.
Listen, like and share the episode. Follow Mandy on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. And make sure to follow The Weed Witch for all of the latest and greatest.