Why a British MP was filmed taking mescaline

We begin with the trial of the former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor. It was claimed that he traded in arms and ammunition in return for so-called blood diamonds.Our guest, gemmologist James Evans discusses the creation of synthetic diamonds.Next we head to Syria where a gr ...  Show more

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Professor Guri Hjeltnes, an author and World War Two historian. We start with Nazi Germany’s occupation of Norway during World War Two by hearing about a secret res ...  Show more

# Warning: This programme contains scenes of drug use #In 1955, a British member of parliament, Christopher Mayhew, took the hallucinogenic drug mescaline and had his experience filmed by the BBC. The drug was legal at the time and the experiment was supervised by the pyschiatris ...  Show more

*WARNING this episode includes adult themes and conversations about mental health and drug use.*

In 2020, the UK government revealed that 17% of the adult population of Britain were prescribed medication for their mental health. But when were these drugs invented? Ho ...

Recorded live from the launch event of David Nutt's latest book, "Psychedelics: The Revolutionary Drugs That Could Change Your Life – a guide from the expert," in this episode Dr. David Erritzoee and David Nutt engage in a discussion about Psychedelics. During the conversation ...

The first 'war on drugs' was launched by US President Richard Nixon in 1971. He described drug abuse as a 'national emergency' and asked Congress for nearly four hundred million dollars to tackle the problem. Claire Bowes spoke to one of Nixon's policy advisors, Jeffrey Donfeld, ...  Show more