Confessions on a dance floor

“This could save lives, cure depression, help alcoholism, get people off opioids—why wouldn’t I want to be invested?” advertisement advertisement Shark Tank host Kevin O’Leary is sitting across from me in a restaurant talking about a recent investment. He was part of a $6 million round in MindMed, a company that’s taking psychedelic drugs and turning them into medicine. Its first drug has the potential to turn a person’s addictions—to cocaine, methamphetamine, morphine, sugar, alcohol—off like a light switch. It has a clear opportunity to help lower the nearly 70,000 annual drug overdose deaths that take place in the U.S. But the compound, 18-MC, has yet to undergo human efficacy trials, leaving open a big question: Will it even work? Scientists have been aware of the potential of LSD and psilocybin (the psychoactive component in mushrooms) as addiction killers for decades. Outside of the lab, too, people have been … [Read more...] about Silicon Valley’s psychedelic wonder drug is almost here

It’s just before 9 a.m. on an overcast February morning. About 60 fifth graders at a Harlem charter school have just filed into a multipurpose room to hear architect Phil Freelon talk about his career-defining work on the National Museum of African American History and Culture, or NMAAHC, in Washington, D.C., the universally celebrated newest addition to the Smithsonian Institution. But before he gets to his lesson about the design—a brilliant, bronze-hued building that alights the Mall like a shining crown—he warms up the crowd by letting them in on a secret: He once played drums in a band with his brother, Gregory Freelon, a teacher at the school. The room’s energy perks up as students whisper; Phil has instantly connected to each of them. Now it’s time for the meatier part of his talk. advertisement advertisement Eager hands shoot into the air. “Art is a subject of creativity,” a boy says. “It’s expressing … [Read more...] about America’s Humanitarian Architect

One thousand years ago, on the stone floors of a monastery in Tibet, a monk hunches on his knees, placing rubies the size of dust motes to draw a delicate line of glowing red sand. It’s punishing but sacred work. Days into the process already, his back and joints ache, yet he has to be careful not to exhale too hard or set his hand in the wrong spot. advertisement advertisement He’s drawing an image of an enlightenment, a combination of his inner and outer world, if he could see it through perfect eyes, and it takes every bit of his focus for days, weeks, even months, placing individual grains alongside his brothers to make the vision real. When finished, this dazzling mandala will offer an initiate of the highest tantra yoga practices a focal point for reflection and contemplation—a visualization born from a blitzkrieg rush for spiritual completion, since the Buddhists who practice in this particular tantric branch believe in the radical possibility that … [Read more...] about The Ancient Origins Of Your Obsession With Coloring Books