Sophia Rokhlin is an author, speaker and nonprofit organizer dedicated to supporting the conservation of Indigenous wisdom and territories.Sophia is a co-author of When Plants Dream: Ayahuasca, Amazonian Shamanism and the Global Psychedelic Renaissance (Watkins, 2019), and her research has been featured in publications including the New York Times, PBS, the BBC and others. She has worked with the Environmental Justice Atlas mapping grassroots activism related to commodity extraction in the Americas. She previously served as a Program Coordinator at the Chaikuni Institute, supporting regenerative agriculture in the Peruvian Amazon. Okay, that's the official bio.  My UNOFFICAL bio is Sophia has spent a lot of time studying indigenous cultures, participating in ayahuasca ceremonies, and thinking about the issues I like to think about.  She also toured with Comedian Shane Mauss delivering talks about Ayahuasca to the public and is unusually articulate on the subject.Read the book! I loved it! If you are interested in/have participated in Ayahuasca--then this book is partially about you and the phenomenon you are a part of.   For me, it was a little bit of a splash of cold water to the face, viewing myself as part of a much larger trend/movement. It's also just loaded with information, perspectives, and authors I'd never considered. For the true Ayahuasca nerd. YAS!Speaking of Books, did you know I wrote a novel?  Maybe not since I never promoted it on MY OWN PODCAST.  What is it about?  Ayahuasca of course.  And a science experiment gone wrong, the spirit world, technology and mysticism, heart breaks and setbacks, late 20's angst...The Eagle And The Condor.  Check it out!https://www.natefalkoff.com/bookOKAY, here are some of the things Sophia and I discussed, or at least the ones I wrote down while I was editing before I stopped taking notes.--New research indicating that in ancient history, the Amazon was an agriculturally managed Garden--not a 'wild' jungle.--There is no "original" ayahuasca ceremony. It's a blend of influences that differs from tribe to tribe and is ever evolving as it meets Western culture.--Does Ayahuasca inherently bring you towards an appreciation of nature? Why?--Deconstructing the Ayahuasca culture that may organically emerge from the use of a plant, similar to how there may be a Coffee Culture or a Cocaine Culture.--What are some of the negative sides to viewing Ayahuasca as a benevolent, loving Mother who is saving Humanity?--I criticize over-identification with the Ayahuasca lifestyle and Sophia agrees but points out she wrote an entire book about it and I have a podcast about it. (lol)--"If you don't share your medicine it'll make you sick." How and when to share your experiences with humility?--Difficult Ceremonies as a great equalizer--Our personal health is inextricably linked to our environment--As a culture we are starved for Rites of Passage. Ayahuasca and other ceremonies feed a deeply human need to pause, assess, transform--Science/Mysticism are intertwined, both parts of the human experience, only recently have we separated them into incompatible disciplines--Sinister ideas of why right-wing investors might become involved in psychedelic therapy--Sophia teaches me about Astrology and Chakras at my insistence.