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POD 91: Norman Ohler on LSD, Alzheimer's disease, Nazis, and methamphetamine

🕑 Added 2023-11-17 07:45:37 +0000 UTC

Comments

rabidreject

Do you guys sing that ‘hitler has only got one ball’ song in America as well? Or is that an English sort of joke?

Davin

Happy holidays, indeed...."mk".

TripOverThis420

I think the idea of a substance being able to take away your self worth is not a great feeling but I fell into an I.V. methamphetamine addiction at just 16 and would say it was harder to quit than cigarettes as I still vape after 6 years of being cigarette free. Always appreciate the podcasts Hamilton, been watching your content since like 2014.

William Armour

Late to the conversation, but it seems like the neutral or toxic argument/theme of the conversation can be summed up by newer research implying that psychedelic experiences just enhances one’s previous world view and beliefs?

Corey Sauder

I can tell you’re a lot of fun!

M

There's no why he has enough to time to read a book to you like a bed time story 😂

M

More like you act like a child. Quit drinking poison and your mind might (if your lucky) become more sharp. 🤦

mk

Blitzed was quite an interesting book, I found it telling how on one hand they arrested those who showed the negative pattern of symptoms associated with stimulants and on the others hand, tried to hide Hitlers use schemata. I was also interested in the information about the Novartis archive. I would also want to note that shiploads of documents generated by private businesses in Switzerland in the years 1939-1945 have been shredded. Maybe the banks had kept their documents and gold and other valuables could be returned to jewish families but the offspring of those who profited from doing business with the Nazis have got away scot free and many families have hidden fortunes of unknown origin in Switzerland. It is a very complicated and confusing time, did you know Swiss Me-109 shot down Nazi Me-109s over West Switzerland? Exactly, this is where Messerschmidt vs. Messerschmidt played out. Oerlikon 20mm cannons decorated US carriers and especially their destroyer escorts like the needles of a 🌲 . The Nazis imported machine parts („Automobilteile“) and ammunition from Switzerland, they didn’t invade because of the prospect of a costly war with dug in Swiss soldiers and loosing the Gotthard tunnel, the vital connection between Germany and Italy, the line where trains carrying „coal“ (ammunition covered with a tarp and a fine layer of coal) ran from Germany to Italy. The ammunition was produced by private companies, same applied for the cannons and „Automobile-parts“ (that were so heavy they could only be used for tanks). Most of their archives have been lost to time. I wonder what the Swiss chemical industry was manufacturing for the Nazis. I really do. And yet: Methergine is an incredibly underrated product, it was manufactured by Novartis in Switzerland until about 2017. A very cheap drug and yet of incredible value for humanity. Methergine alone has saved millions of women from bleeding to death after childbirth. Millions of women over decades. and counting. I recall that Sandoz also worked with Wander and other companies. I found it very interesting that Hofmann tried microdosing LSD during his army service. I laughed at the idea of a „Rauschraum“ as I know there also used to be a balcony where the pretty French worker girls would enjoy some sunshine during their lunch break whilst the guys who worked in maintenance were always servicing the HVAC system on another adjacent building over lunchtime. The Sandoz company culture used to be like a nuclear family whilst Ciba was known for a pretty cold work climate but excellent pay. Ciba was the company that brought methylphenidate to market, it too was manufactured by Novartis until ~2018 in Switzerland. I think there’s more to be found in the archives in Basle. Maybe the Ciba archives are the ones with more missing parts than Sandoz. Great stuff. Excellent. My S.O. and I didn’t find the thought of testing decades old Pervitin disturbing. Happy Holidays!

Brian

Just pre-ordered his book Tripped (aka LSD for Mom). Looking forward to reading it.

Tzanjo

Ohler seems a bit downbeat here compared to the earlier short on-stage interview with HM. He appears sensitive to HM's references to his own view that individual drugs are neutral in character, while Ohler disagrees insisting that methamphetamine is toxic in character. His sensitivity seems somehow linked to the critical review in the Guardian newspaper by historian Richard J Evans of Ohler's 'Blitzed', which he effectively accuses (if not intentionally) of exonerating the German army if not the general populace of their war crimes through being under the influence of drugs. My recently published essay 'Bicycle Day in Ritual, Myth and History' covers just a little of the same ground as Ohler's new book, chiefly the wartime operations of Sandoz, its shabby treatment of Willstatter and Stoll as an art collector, his particular interest in Hodler, and the restitution of one work of art bought by Stoll that had originally been seized from a Jewish family. I very much look forward to reading Ohler's new book when it is published in English in April 2024.

Jacob Worley

Explaining Hitler: https://youtu.be/jNDZ9EKJLJs?si=a0bR3u9sE4Ns7sqh

Leigh Bergin

"Scientists would say that this is anecdotal, obviously, but we enjoy these anecdotes, and she enjoys them, too." Beautiful.

Alexis Dimitriou

I was surprised to hear Ohler say hat he thinks Meth is "not neutral" but rather "toxic" at the end. Even if that's his opinion, I thought the way he described drug use by the Nazis does a great job sidestepping Pharmacological Determinism, even though "Nazis on Meth" seems like the perfect invitation for it.

Hamilton Morris

The app is a much better listening experience, it also allows you to change the speed.

Goopy

Desktop... Maybe it's my setting then. I'll have to check. Thanks for the response.

David Augustine

How are you listening to it? I've never had problems with it saving my spot when using the app or desktop.

Goopy

Off topic, but is there anyway to have my spot saved in Patreon? Every time I leave and come back, the interview starts back at the beginning. I've started writing down the time when I leave but I would like a more efficient way.

gossamer

Would love an ep with your boy Langlitz

Honey-el

I immediately recognized the brand name Pervitin. I'm quite certain my grandmother used to say that in her youth the only drugs pharmacy was selling was "camphor drops and pervitin". So is it possible that my devoutly Christian grandma used methamphetamine pills in her youth?? Well no. According to knowledge I acquired from reading Wikipedia, the stuff sold to consumers under that brand name contained coffee and aspirine. But it is possible that my grandfathers, who fought against the Soviet Union during WWII, did use the actual Pervitin... Finland was allied with Germany; the German army used it a lot; so they gave some to Finns; who gave it to their elite soldiers. In 1941 Germany decided they didn't want to do methamphetamine as much as they had before, so they gave part of their excess stock to Finland. That year Finnish army had a stock of 850 000 Pervitin pills - Finland's population being under 4 million at the time. During Karelian offensive in 1944 Pervitin was given even to ordinary soldiers. Finns were also among the top users of legal heroin per capita because heroin was cheap and Finland was poor country. Finnish army used it mainly for pain relief of course, but to save money it was used even for cough. The result was that after WWII many Finnish veterans had heroin addiction... although excessive alcohol consumption was by far the most popular way to cope with war traumas.

Corey Sauder

Tick tick chemistry boy it’s been almost 9 days (I am drunk and idk when this episode was last released but I’m impatient and I want more like a child)

Macray Braxton

Steve1989MREInfo reference was lovely

Michael Pearsall

My type of person I love the 2cx series

Mike

My wife and I were just discussing the same idea the other day.

Natty L

Great talk. I love how you're able to ask non-agreeable questions in a cool way. I struggle with that but I'm learning.

Psychestim

His new book is absolutely amazing! Read the whole thing while on 12mg 2C-T-2 and it was an emotional rollercoaster, to say the least. Highly recommend.

Devan Ghai

My fam calls me nanga boy cuz it means naked haha and I always go shirtless

Andy Braham

Where can I read more about amphetamine use in Vietnam?

mia

Petition for Hamilton to read more books aloud to us

James Lovekamp

I listened to this episode during my layover in Frankfurt. Felt appropriate. Fascinating stuff.

Brian

This was a great episode. Thanks to Norman Ohler for his tireless pursuit of this subject, and thank you Hamilton for doing the interview. This is the second anecdote I have heard from someone you have interviewed reporting that microdosing psychedelics has significantly improved the symptoms of a person who is in the advanced stages of dementia (the other was mentioned by Amanda Fielding). I am curious if there is any research being done on this. There is mention of a study on the Beckley Foundation website, but I can't find any information about its progress, and they haven't responded to my email. Other studies such as the one by Dr. Albert Garcia-Romeu at Johns Hopkins are only studying patients in the early stages. In your interview with Dr. David Nichols, he mentioned that a phase 1 study of LSD in elderly people showed that it is safe even at higher doses. I wonder why more research isn't being done into this, since there is so much potential for improving the lives of people living with a disease that has no cure, and so few approved treatments.