Plants of the Gods: Hallucinogens, Healing, Culture and Conservation podcast
May 18, 2026 · 52 min · 22 segments
How do Indigenous knowledge and Western science come together in the study of nature and plant medicine? Dr. Rosa Vásquez Espinoza, a chemical biologist and author of The Spirit of the…
Rosa Vásquez EspinozaGuest
Mark PlotkinHost
Mark Plotkin, an ethnobotanist with Plants of the Gods, coming to you courtesy of the Amazon Conservation Team, www.amazonteam.org. Today, we're honored to have a special guest, Dr. Rosa Vásquez-Espinoza, who has come out with a wonderful book called Spirit of the Rainforest, published by Gaia.
Now, as our lo- loyal listeners know, indigenous cultures have long insisted that the plants of the rainforest and elsewhere are not passive objects, but teachers.
Now, if you have any doubts about this, you should read Rosa's wonderful book, Spirit of the Rainforest, and as a companion, I wanna recommend that people read Light Eaters, which talks about similar aspects in a parallel vein, literally in the case of plants.
Western science, for the most part, has treated these claims with skepticism, sometimes, uh, outright dismissal, although sometimes this dismissal is with reason, and we're gonna get into that today.
But what happens when someone is trained in both worlds, Western science and indigenous wisdom? Today's guest, Rosa, grew up in the Amazon with a grandmother who understood plants in ways that science is only beginning to approach, and Rosa then went on to become a scientist herself.
It challenges how we define knowledge, evidence, intelligence, and our relationship with nature.
Mark Plotkin, an ethnobotanist with Plants of the Gods, coming to you courtesy of the Amazon Conservation Team, www.amazonteam.org. Today, we're honored to have a special guest, Dr. Rosa Vásquez-Espinoza, who has come out with a wonderful book called Spirit of the Rainforest, published by Gaia.
Now, as our lo- loyal listeners know, indigenous cultures have long insisted that the plants of the rainforest and elsewhere are not passive objects, but teachers.
Now, if you have any doubts about this, you should read Rosa's wonderful book, Spirit of the Rainforest, and as a companion, I wanna recommend that people read Light Eaters, which talks about similar aspects in a parallel vein, literally in the case of plants.
Western science, for the most part, has treated these claims with skepticism, sometimes, uh, outright dismissal, although sometimes this dismissal is with reason, and we're gonna get into that today.
But what happens when someone is trained in both worlds, Western science and indigenous wisdom? Today's guest, Rosa, grew up in the Amazon with a grandmother who understood plants in ways that science is only beginning to approach, and Rosa then went on to become a scientist herself.
It challenges how we define knowledge, evidence, intelligence, and our relationship with nature.
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