Great Moments in Weed History

Great Moments in Weed History

Great Moments in Weed History delves deep into humanity's 10,000+ year relationship with cannabis (a.k.a. marijuana) to explore the humor, heart, and historical importance of the planet's most revered and maligned plant. Hosted by David Bienenstock.

Episodes

True Crime: A Killing in Cannabis

February 25, 2026 • 44 mins
In 2019, Silicon Valley investor and entrepreneur Tushar Atre met a tragic end after paddling out into the rough waters of the underground cannabis scene in surfer haven Santa Cruz, California, At once a love story, a crime drama, and a who-dun-it, this epic tale is chronicled in the riveting new book A Killing in Cannabis. My guest for this episode is the book's author, Scott Eden.
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Reefer Madness 2: Electric Boogaloo

February 11, 2026 • 64 mins
A prominent anti-weed editorial in this week's NY Times is just the latest attempt to resurrect the kind of government propaganda and media hysteria that helped make the plant illegal in the first place. So we talked with Kyle Boyar, a scientist with a background in neurology, microbiology, and analytical chemistry and an expertise in cannabis about the junk science used to discredit cannabis, the harsh reality and hyped hysteri...
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A Smuggler's Daughter Tells All

January 28, 2026 • 67 mins
Rainbow Valentine is the creator behind Disorganized Crime: Smuggler’s Daughter, a first-person podcast series that explores her life growing up as the offspring of two psych*delic pioneers—as she calls them—who together operated a cross-country w--d distribution ring while living a life fully immersed in hippies, seekers, and counterculture luminaries.  After digging into our GMIWH interview, be sure to check out Rainbow’s own po...
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Burning Questions, Lit Answers

January 14, 2026 • 84 mins
Roll up for a special edition of the pod where Bean answers your w--d advice questions with a little help from green-minded journalist Mary Jane Gibson and the Reddit r/trees community. Think of it as everything you ever wanted to know about your favorite plant but were afraid to ask. Check out Mary Jane (yes, that's her real name) via her incredible "My Sandwich, My Choice" Substack and her videos on Instagram and Tiktok. PA...
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Meet the Biggest Weed Smuggler in History

December 31, 2025 • 62 mins
Harold Derber pioneered the modern narcotics trade with his groundbreaking invention: the mothership. By operating a fleet of clandestine motherships floating in international waters, Derber eventually became the most prolific supplier of illicit weed in American history. In this interview with David Tuch, author ofThe Wireless Operator: The Untold Story of the British Sailor Who Invented the Modern Drug Trade, we tell the tale ...
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Holidaze Special: Santa is a Mushroom Shaman

December 17, 2025 • 58 mins
Get ready to experience a beloved annual tradition as we celebrate the many surprising ways that Santa Claus is based on old trippy traditions around psychedelic mushrooms. So please, buckle up your sleigh bells, roll up and get ready to take a wild reindeer ride with Santa, Bean and Abdullah Saeed, former co-host of Great Moments in Weed History.  PATREON Please ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon...
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Soul Survivor

December 3, 2025 • 82 mins
In January, Martin Olive was shot seven times outside the Vapor Room dispensary, which he co-founded in San Francisco in 2004.  Located in the legendary Haight Street neighborhood, the Vapor Room was known for its extensive compassion program offering free cannabis to patients in need, and for the vibrant community of mutual support that took root in its on-site consumption lounge. Over the past year, Martin has made a truly mira...
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The 'War on Weed' Paved the Way for Authoritarianism

November 19, 2025 • 74 mins
The most heinous legal and human rights abuses of our current political moment all have their roots in the War on Drugs, from corruption and racism, to propaganda and mass incarceration. Our guest this week, Dr. David Farber, is a distinguished professor and the author of War on Drugs: A History. Together, we explore how the drug war served as a pilot program for American authoritarianism. PATREON Please ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠support Gr...
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Ganjasaurus Rex to the Rescue!

November 5, 2025 • 65 mins
In 1987, real life outlaw growers in Humboldt County, CA made a low budget monster movie called Ganjasaurus Rex, a cult classic that we explore in this episode with special guest Jon Gabrus (Staying Alive, 101 Places to Party Before You Die). Attention anyone currently in Humboldt County, where the film was made and the story was set, Bean from GMIWH will be hosting a Ganjasaurus Rex screening + Harvest Celebration at the Mateel ...
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I Told The Ultimate Corporate Weed Bro to STFU

October 22, 2025 • 63 mins
Fed up with finance d-bags enshitifying everything? Well, I can't stop them from trying to take over weed too, but I did just tell one of the worst offenders to hit the bricks, only with much more colorful language. Adam Bierman—co-founder and former CEO of a massive cannabis dispensary chain called Medmen—was originally pitched to me by his publicist, upon publication of his new book Weed Empire: How I Battled Gangsters, Inves...
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LSD Fueled the Grateful Dead's 'Wall of Sound'

October 8, 2025 • 65 mins
An underground chemist, acid-soaked sound engineers, a bestselling author, and a psychedelic band all set out together in the 1970s in pursuit of audio perfection. Together, they created and destroyed a legendary sound system known as the Wall of Sound, which was as tall as a school bus is long and more than a hundred feet wide.  Author Brian Anderson explores this wild journey in his new book Loud and Clear: The Grateful Dead’s W...
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'What is Hype Weed?' w/ The Highest Critic

September 24, 2025 • 85 mins
Caleb Chen is a weed enthusiast, researcher, reviewer and academic, who runs "The Highest Critic," and is well on his way to earning a doctorate in the subject. He's also a Ganjier and a reviewer with Budist. Caleb joins the podcast for an engaging discussion of what's cutting-edge in cannabis, or "hype weed" as the young people like to say when it comes to our favorite plant. PATREON Please ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠support Great Moments in We...
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Weed History in the Middle East

September 11, 2025 • 55 mins
From ancient traditions to the evolution of modern cannabis culture in Morocco, India, Egypt, Nepal, and other traditional hashish regions, get ready for a fascinating time getting high on history with Dr. Maziyar Ghiabr, Director for the Centre of Persian And Iranian Studies at the University of Exeter’s Institute for Islamic and Arabic Studies.  Maziyar is also the author of a fascinating new book called We Smoke Flowers: On Be...
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From Shy Weed Nerd to Supernova Woman

August 27, 2025 • 65 mins
Amber E. Senter’s impressive legal cannabis career began with years of underground weed growing, hashmaking and edibles slanging. Amber is the founder and CEO of MAKR House, a cannabis house of brands, and she has served as the Chief Operations Officer of a prominent cannabis dispensary. In addition to her various business ventures, Amber is also co-founder and Executive Director of Supernova Women, an organization formed in 201...
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Can 'High Times' Rise from the Ashes? (w/ Josh Kesselman)

August 14, 2025 • 48 mins
When a bunch of vulture capital d-bags ran High Times into bankruptcy, the magazine's illustrious fifty year history appeared to be burnt out. But then, in June, Raw Papers founder Josh Kesselman announced that he’d bought the brand for $3.5 million. In this episode, Josh explains how and why he bought High Times, and his high hopes for a return to glory. Josh also shares his own weedy life journey, an inspiring tale of a youn...
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The 'Mayor of Oaksterdam' Fought the Man to Free the Weed

July 30, 2025 • 58 mins
Richard Lee's life changed forever in 1990 when he slipped on a catwalk while setting up the lights for an Aerosmith concert, suffering a spinal injury that left him paralyzed from the waist down. A Texas native raised by conservative Republican parents, he would subsequently dedicate his life to educating his family, the government, and ultimately the entire country about medical cannabis. Along the way, he transformed an eight-b...
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Meet the Founder of An Iconic 1970s Weed Magazine

July 16, 2025 • 26 mins
Charlotte Parker started Head magazine while working an entry level publishing job at Penthouse, in order to cover the world of weed in depth at a time long before legalization. Looking back at a few covers from those 1970s glory days shows she was well ahead of the curve, with stories like “How to Make Hash Oil in Your Kitchen,” and “Grow the Most Potent Pot Plants Indoors.” Plus, Head featured interviews with the likes of Patti...
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How A Weed Outlaw Became The Ultimate Cannabis Connoisseur

July 2, 2025 • 81 mins
After being incarcerated as a teenager for weed, Kevin Jodrey joined the military and trained as a deep sea diver, only to end up conscripted into performing anti-drug interdiction raids out in the middle of the ocean.  From there he slid back into the weed underground, spending the next few decades moving serious weight in from Mexico and joining Northern California’s second wave of off-the-grid growers. Before at last coming out...
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High Times, Free Weed, and Home Grown: The Danny Danko Story

June 19, 2025 • 63 mins
From judging the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam, to touring Northern California during harvest season, to seshing with the steady stream of growers, dealers, breeders, smugglers, rogues, outlaws, musicians, celebrities, and activists who stopped by the High Times offices in New York City during our illustrious tenure at the mag, Danny Danko and I have shared many incredible adventures in the field.. So lets exhale the bullshit…. inhale...
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Celebrating Weed, Pride and Weed Pride w/ Laganja Estranja

June 4, 2025 • 43 mins
What does it mean to talk about Pride when it comes to cannabis? First and foremost it means celebrating the central role that the LGBTQ+ community has played in the global struggle for weed liberation. Pride also has a special meaning for all of us weed enthusiasts who’ve been stigmatized, criminalized or ostracized for our love of this plant.  Prior to this conversation, I’d never met Laganja Estranja—who made a star turn in ...
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