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PODCAST

Great Moments in Weed History

David Bienenstock

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.

history

All Episodes

67:19

A Smuggler's Daughter Tells All

Great Moments in Weed History ·

2026/01/28

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 podcasts, not just Disorganized Crime: Smuggler’s Daughter about her

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84:53

Burning Questions, Lit Answers

Great Moments in Weed History ·

2026/01/14

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. PATREON Please ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠support Great Moments in Weed HIstory

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62:09

Meet the Biggest Weed Smuggler in History

Great Moments in Weed History ·

2025/12/31

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 of a larger than life outlaw, a story full of action, adventure,

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58:42

Holidaze Special: Santa is a Mushroom Shaman

Great Moments in Weed History ·

2025/12/17

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. Supporters get exclusive access to video versions of

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82:23

Soul Survivor

Great Moments in Weed History ·

2025/12/04

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 miraculous recovery. We discuss his shooting at the end of the interview,

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74:33

The 'War on Weed' Paved the Way for Authoritarianism

Great Moments in Weed History ·

2025/11/19

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 Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Supporters get

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65:19

Ganjasaurus Rex to the Rescue!

Great Moments in Weed History ·

2025/11/05

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 Center in Redway, CA on Saturday, November

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63:57

I Told The Ultimate Corporate Weed Bro to STFU

Great Moments in Weed History ·

2025/10/22

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, Investment Banks, and the Department of Justice to Build the Cannabis

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65:55

LSD Fueled the Grateful Dead's 'Wall of Sound'

Great Moments in Weed History ·

2025/10/08

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 Wall of Sound and the Quest for Audio Perfection. And oh yeah, they

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85:21

'What is Hype Weed?' w/ The Highest Critic

Great Moments in Weed History ·

2025/09/24

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 Weed HIstory on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Supporters get exclusive access to

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55:55

Weed History in the Middle East

Great Moments in Weed History ·

2025/09/11

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 Being High in Postrevolutionary Iran that traces the custom's roots to

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65:33

From Shy Weed Nerd to Supernova Woman

Great Moments in Weed History ·

2025/08/27

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 2015 to empower Black and Brown small business owners in the cannabis

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48:05

Can 'High Times' Rise from the Ashes? (w/ Josh...

Great Moments in Weed History ·

2025/08/14

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 young stoner who became obsessed with rolling papers, opened a

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58:26

The 'Mayor of Oaksterdam' Fought the Man to Free the...

Great Moments in Weed History ·

2025/07/30

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-block stretch of Oakland, California into a weed autonomous zone

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28:46

Meet the Founder of An Iconic 1970s Weed Magazine

Great Moments in Weed History ·

2025/07/16

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 Smith and reviews of the best weed and hash then available. Hear

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83:00

How A Weed Outlaw Became The Ultimate Cannabis...

Great Moments in Weed History ·

2025/07/02

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 of the cannabis closet and creating yet another new life for

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65:31

High Times, Free Weed, and Home Grown: The Danny...

Great Moments in Weed History ·

2025/06/19

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 some good shit… and jump into the hot box time machine for a heady

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45:32

Celebrating Weed, Pride and Weed Pride w/ Laganja...

Great Moments in Weed History ·

2025/06/04

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 2014 while competing on RuPaul's Drag Race—but I feel like we

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89:52

A Weed Expat Inhales Amsterdam's Glory Years

Great Moments in Weed History ·

2025/05/21

Adam Dunn first arrived in Amsterdam as a teenager, and quickly found himself at the center of the city's famed international cannabis scene. In time, Adam would launch his own innovative ventures, including T.H.Seeds, which developed world-famous and award-winning strains including Bubblegum, S.A.G.E., Heavy Duty Fruity, and Chocolate Chunk. He also started Hempworks, Europe’s first dedicated hemp store, with its influential in-house clothing label. Twenty years after first encountering Adam at

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53:46

How 'Appellations' Will Put Cannabis on Par With...

Great Moments in Weed History ·

2025/05/07

Much how wine, cheese, and other agricultural products are authenticated as coming from their traditional geographic zone of origin, a new program about to launch is California will help old school growers in traditional cultivation communities protect their regional legacies in the world of weed. To explain this exciting new development, we shared a sesh with Genine Coleman, founder and Executive Director of Origins Council, a California nonprofit advocacy, education and research organization

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172 results

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