Video of Programs (search and sort)

Hallucinogenic Mushrooms
02/18/2024
Michael Beug

Presentation by Michael Beug, author of “Mushrooms of Cascadia: An Illustrated Key”.In a 1957 Life Magazine article “The Discovery of Mushrooms that Cause Strange Visions.” North Americans  were introduced to psilocybin mushrooms. Late in the 1990s, research on psilocybin continued. Since 2010, we have discovered many roles for these compounds in psychotherapy. They also produce mystical experiences, generally increasing empathy. Psilocybe mushroom therapy has the potential to make the world a more caring place. Michael Beug completed his Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Washington in 1971. He taught for 32 years at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. Michael started mushrooming in 1968. His photographs have appeared in over 80 books and articles on mushrooms.

Free Markets
02/04/2024
Jeff Seward

Presentation at Friendly House by Jeff Seward.. Free market fanatics often exaggerate their virtues and all but ignore their potential problems. Progressives often underestimate the virtues of markets but strangely may also underestimate their vices. This lecture explores the virtues of markets as proclaimed by economists like Adam Smith, Milton Friedman, and Friedrich von Hayek but also the vices of markets with radical views of Robin Hahnel. Is there a way to harness the virtues of markets while minimizing their negative effects? Jeff Seward has been a Political Science professor and TV politics reporter, and has presented often to HGP.

The Artist and His Work
01/14/2024
Jerry Dickason

Presentation  by Jerry Dickason. Why do I paint? What is it about painting that keeps me painting? All art is problem-solving. I have a curious itch to create that begs to be expressed. Mark-making touches that volatile, internal spot that spurs me on to wonder how to solve a notion of fulfillment. Jerry started studying art after retiring in 2002. In 2007 he began painting in academic and private artists studios.

Unpopular Positions
12/17/2023
Doug Matheson

Presentation at Friendly House titled, “Fiddling or Being Willing to Advocate for Unpopular Positions -- a look at a key root of the fact/alternative fact phenomenon.“ Doug Matheson considers what happens when we give ourselves permission to believe whatever we want to believe, and then expect to be respected and to not be challenged. Matheson grew up a missionary kid in India. He spent more than a decade trying to reconcile evidence with his beliefs. When he was 37, he “encountered the straw that broke the camel’s back” and then quietly left the faith.

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