Strange Attractor: The Hallucinatory Life of Terence McKenna

Graham St John, PhD, is a cultural anthropologist and historian of transformational events, movements, and figures. His forthcoming book Strange Attractor: The Hallucinatory Life of Terence McKenna (MIT Press, Sep 30, 2025) is the latest among his ten books, which also include Mystery School in Hyperspace: A Cultural History of DMT (North Atlantic Books 2015). Graham is Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Media, Humanities and the Arts at the University of Huddersfield, UK.

Chapters

• (00:00:13) - Introduction
• (00:01:38) - Early McKenna Brothers’ History
• (00:06:38) - Terence’s Rejection of Science & Authority
• (00:09:49) - Timewave Zero Theory
• (00:18:10) - Limitations & Criticism of Timewave Zero
• (00:22:35) - Compressionism & Acceleration of History
• (00:25:59) - Possible Modern ‘Transcendental Object’—AI
• (00:28:27) - Terence’s Oratory Legacy & Cultural Impact
• (00:33:01) - AI Simulations of Terence’s Voice
• (00:40:12) - Research Process & Acknowledgements
• (00:41:36) - Rick Watson & Early Psychedelic Experiments
• (00:46:49) - John Parker’s Influence
• (00:49:03) - Unusual Characters from Paonia
• (00:52:25) - Telegraph Avenue ‘Salon’
• (00:55:31) - Neo Etudiant Newsletter
• (00:59:54) - Morning Glory Seeds & Hawaiian Wood Rose as Psychedelics
• (01:03:59) - Need for Further Research
• (01:05:03) - Writing the Biography During COVID
• (01:06:26) - Closing Remarks