Empire of the Mind

Psychedelics are set to transform the medical industry in an explosion of treatments and research poised to generate billions in revenues every year. To many, the expanding options seem life-changing. But to some, the commodification of age-old substances, many of them once freely available in nature, reveals a profound clash of ideologies and motivations.

As pharmaceutical giants and lab researchers lock horns with philanthropists and whistle-blowers, patients find they are caught in the middle. Olivia Goldhill leads us on an urgent investigation into the emerging class of billionaire-backed entrepreneurs, exposing the rising stakes in how we access cures – and at what cost. In this race to turn old magic into new medicine, who will come out on top?