I Told The Ultimate Corporate Weed Bro to STFU

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 Industry in America. Now, to steal a phrase, that’s a book title so full of crap there’s a colon right in the middle of it.  For a more honest take on the MedMen saga I recommend this 2020 deep dive from Politico. Anyway, our interview ended kinda abruptly, but maybe you'll find it cathartic to hear me tell this guy to STFU. I also explain why he deserved it and more. And yes, Medmen is the company that was ruthlessly parodied on South Park. PATREON Please ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Supporters get exclusive access to video versions of this podcast and private seshes, plus cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. EPISODE ARCHIVE Visit our podcast feed for 150+ episodes of Great Moments in Weed History, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every Weednesday.

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 hid all kinds of secret compartments in the speakers so they could smuggle their own homegrown Cali weed from show to show. PATREON Please ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Supporters get exclusive access to video versions of this podcast and private seshes, plus cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. EPISODE ARCHIVE Visit our podcast feed for 150+ episodes of Great Moments in Weed History, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every Weednesday.

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 video versions of this podcast and private seshes, plus cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. EPISODE ARCHIVE Visit our podcast feed for 150+ episodes of Great Moments in Weed History, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every Weednesday.

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 a pre-Islamic faith called Zoroastrianism, and explores its flowering in modern day Iran.   PATREON Please ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Supporters get exclusive access to video versions of this podcast and private seshes, plus cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. EPISODE ARCHIVE Visit our podcast feed for 150+ episodes of Great Moments in Weed History, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every Weednesday.

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 industry. In that role, she assisted in the creation of Oakland's social equity program, the first such program in the country. But before all that, Amber was a shy young weed nerd who anonymously haunted internet message boards looking for tips on how to improv her craft. PATREON Please ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Supporters get exclusive access to video versions of this podcast and private seshes, plus cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. EPISODE ARCHIVE Visit our podcast feed for 150+ episodes of Great Moments in Weed History, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every Weednesday.

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 bootstrapped headshop while still a college student, and eventually created an iconic global weed brand of his own.  PATREON Please ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Supporters get exclusive access to video versions of this podcast and private seshes, plus cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. EPISODE ARCHIVE Visit our podcast feed for 150+ episodes of Great Moments in Weed History, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every Weednesday.

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 lovingly known as Oaksterdam. It included his two cannabis coffeeshops, a medical cannabis dispensary, his political headquarters, and the 30,000 square foot main campus of Oaksterdam University, the country’s first trade school dedicated to training people for careers in the legal cannabis industry. Richard then put up his own money to run a state-wide marijuana legalization initiative in California. Not long after, the Feds came to shut him down, and the city of Oakland rose up in his defense. Richard Lee passed away this week. May he Rest in Plants... PATREON Please ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Supporters get exclusive access to video versions of this podcast and private seshes, plus cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. EPISODE ARCHIVE Visit our podcast feed for 150+ episodes of Great Moments in Weed History, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every Weednesday.

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 Charlotte tell the whole story, including the rebirth of Head she's currently cultivating.

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 himself, this time as an internationally recognized expert on the plant’s cultivation, classification and connoisseurship as co-founder of The Ganjier, a first of its kind sommelier like program for weed.

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 trip back to a far more freewheeling, swashbuckling era in weed history than we find ourselves in now. And we'll also hear about Danny's new gig as cultivation section coordinator for the influential and historic Champs Trade Shows. PATREON Please ⁠⁠⁠⁠support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠. Supporters get exclusive access to video versions of this podcast and private seshes, plus cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. EPISODE ARCHIVE Visit our podcast feed for 150+ episodes of Great Moments in Weed History, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every Weednesday.