Herbs: 'Planting Medicine,' Pot (Pacifica)

The herbalism and plant medicine show (KPFA)

"Planting Medicine" airs Tuesdays at 1:00 pm on KPFA.org (Berkeley) and KPFK.org (Los Angeles).

"Planting Medicine," formerly "Herbal Highway," enhances the community’s knowledge of herbal (plant) medicines by sharing voices of traditional, holistic healers and their shamanistic healing practices.

Hosted and produced by Emiliano Lemus (aka "Emilia No-Lemus") and Renée Camila.

Planting Medicine originates in the San Francisco Bay Area, each Tuesday at 1:00 pm on 94.1 FM in the Bay and 90.7 FM in the Los Angeles Basin and online at kpfa.org and kpfk.org.

Call the LA studio at (818) 985-5735 and the office (818) 985-2711. Listen LIVE.

• Available for listening after the show at kpfk.org/archive.
• Today's show: Medicinal Berries: Host Emiliano Lemus dives into the world of medicinal berries. Join them to learn about the special healing properties carried by these wondrous fruits.
• (Please don't call in with questions about drugs. This is a serious show about herbs and legal medicinal uses. And if you do call, don't laugh like Beavis & Butt-Head.)

15 Victorian drugs for kids and Brits

(Gaslight Diaries) Shocking plants (heroin, cocaine) and chemicals used as 'medicine' in England

World of herbs is bigger than pot

Good vs. Bad Bud: Differences to Notice

(Cannabis Guy) Oct. 10, 2025: Cannabis Guy breaks down the four signs of quality cannabis — look, smell, and feel. What frosty trichomes really mean, how terpenes reveal top-shelf flower buds, and how to avoid the classic signs of mids. From dull, dry buds to sticky, aromatic flower that burns clean and smooth, this is a complete guide to spotting good cannabis every time. Whether a grower, buyer, or just tired of getting burned by low-grade bud, this video teaches how to identify real quality legal pot.

• Chapter 1: The Look: Visual cues reveal most of a bud’s story. Good: vibrant greens and purples, orange pistils, shimmering frost of trichomes. Trichomes are cannabinoid and terpene factories. Structure and density—tight, compact buds = good growing conditions. Contrast with bad weed: dull, brownish, yellow, moldy, airy, or leafy. Warning: buds with seeds, excess stems, or gray fuzz.
• Chapter 2: The Smell: Aroma is a major quality indicator. Good: bold, distinct scents like citrus, pine, diesel, or berries—driven by terpenes with good preservation through proper curing. Bad weed: smells like hay, grass, or wet cardboard → poor curing. Stale, bland, or ammonia-like smells = old or wet-jarred weed → bacteria/mold risk.
• Chapter 3: The Feel: Texture reveals quality. Good: sticky, springy, and resinous—snaps when broken. The “snap” test is proof of proper drying and curing. Airy/hollow buds = poor lighting or low nutrients. The ideal feel = sticky, dense, but not brittle.
• Info: When it comes to bad vs. good, knowing how to tell good flower apart from trash is key. More

Good plant gone bad: Cocaine market now bigger

• VIDEO: Truth about dangers and possible benefits of homegrown marijuana (free of toxic pesticides in legal weed)

All day 'No Kings' coverage: KPFK.org

Aerial shot captures massive human sign, San Francisco, California, reading 'No Kings Yes on 50'

• KPFK 90.7 FM - Listen LIVE
• NBC 10 Boston: 50 protests across Massachusetts
• (APT) No Kings protests sweep the people's nation
• DC: Weak words of the Right Honorable Bernie Sanders
• HITLER vs. TRUMP: Why knowing history is so important! | TITUS: Doomed To Repeat (clip)

Regressive MAGA

(BTC) Trump keeps gov't shut down to cover up release of Epstein Files

with ranking member of the House Oversight Committee Robert Garcia

(MTN) Trump nigtmare as entire nation rises up against him: C. Leavitt

Trump, Maxwell, Epstein exposed: The Spider

The Spider: Inside the Tangled Web of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell

The Spider: Inside...Maxwell

Investigative journalist Barry Levine has 4.4 out of 5 stars with 582 ratings with this well-researched exposé.

Who was Jeffrey Epstein? Pres. Don "the John" Trump has called the ongoing interest in the child prostitution details about Epstein’s web of powerful sex trafficking clients and enablers a Democrat “hoax.”

But this book by a Pulitzer Prize–nominated journalist delivers the most comprehensive account yet of the disgraced financier’s sex life and [fake] death, revealing a criminal [blackmailing] enterprise that stretched over decades.

“An exhaustively detailed look at the life, death, and alleged crimes of Epstein, along with his [15] years-long friendship with Trump in the 1990s and early 2000s—and how Trump’s ascendancy to the presidency ultimately helped expose Epstein.”

—Forbes

• An ID Book Club Selection • Featured in the Peacock original documentary series Epstein’s Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell 

By now, the basic contours of Jeffrey Epstein’s horrendous crimes—his decades-long serial abuse of young women and underage girls—are familiar. But for all that has been written about Epstein since his shocking death in a lower Manhattan jail cell, an astonishing amount remains unknown.

Epstein seen plain as day in 2025, Pedo Island

A shy [Jewish] Brooklyn kid turned renegade financier, Jeffrey Epstein never wanted to play by the rules of polite society. He was elusive in life, and he has remained just as elusive in [having faked his] death [after returning to his hideout on Pedophile Island, Little Saint James, US Virgin Island, and been photographed and videotaped there by drone].

What is known is that he had amassed nearly [actually much more than] $600 million by the time of his death [much of which he absconded with with the help of powerful figures in the government].

Mossad/CIA asset honeypot blackmailer

That fortune allowed Epstein to pursue a privileged, secretive life, jetting between his fortress-like homes in Manhattan, New Mexico, and Little St. James, his private [molestation resort] island.

You have a Jewish girlfriend, Lewinski? - Yes.

Behind these closed doors, Epstein socialized with scientists and world leaders and preyed on powerless young girls.

In The Spider, Barry Levine shines a light into the darkest corners of Epstein’s world, including

• Epstein’s young adulthood and earliest accusations of sexual misconduct
• the murky sources of Epstein’s fortune and business dealings
• Epstein’s circle of confidantes and employees, particularly the nature of his long relationship with socialite Ghislaine Maxwell

• 

  How much evidence is enough?

  his ties to powerful men, including Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, and Donald Trump [Alan Dershowitz, Bill Gates, Elon Musk...]
• ‘Something dramatic has happened': Robert Reich says U.S. is finally seeing Trump's true impact
• Epstein’s last hours as a free man in Paris and the secret operation to arrest him at a New Jersey airport before he could flee
• details on Epstein’s final days in jail and the mystery surrounding his death.

Featuring rare and never-before-seen photographs, The Spider exposes how Epstein operated and evaded justice for so long—and how he drew so many others into his criminal web. The Spider: Inside the Tangled Web of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell

• Barry Levine, Cary Harrison (KPFK.org); Shauna Schwartz, Pfc. Sandoval, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Alan Watts reveals 'The Secret'

Alan Watts: The More You Let Go, the More Life Gives You

(Buddhism Podcast) Stop SEARCHING for enlightenment. We are it? (The Buddha’s insight)

• Alan Watts, Buddhist Radio, Los Angeles (KPFK 90.7 FM)
• KFPK.org/archives (Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025, 8:00 am)

'Pornography Wars' in US history (video)

Letters & Politics: The Pornography Wars

Assoc. Professor Kelsy Burke, U of Nebraska

(KPFA Radio) Streamed live from Berkeley, California, on June 23, 2023 (rebroadcast on July 21, 2025, in Los Angeles):

Host Mitch Jeserich with guest Associate Professor of Sociology of Religion Kelsy Burke at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is the author of The Pornography Wars: The Past, Present, and Future of America’s Obscene Obsession. KPFA.org #kpfa #kpfaradio #MitchJeserich #news

• The Pornography Wars | KPFA

Past, Present, Future of America’s Obscene Obsession

In the 1960s, sex researchers Masters and Johnson declared the end of the fake orgasm. Nearly two decades later, in 1982, evangelical activist Tim LaHaye foretold that the entire pornography industry would soon be driven out of business.

Neither prediction proved true. Instead, with the rise of the internet, pornography saturates the American conscience more than ever and has reshaped our understanding of sexuality, relationships, media, and even the nature of addiction.

American sociologist Dr. Kelsy Burke has spent the last five years researching and interviewing internet pornography's opponents and its sympathizers.

In The Pornography Wars, Prof. Burke does a deep dive into the long history of pornography in America and then turns her gaze on our present society to examine the ways this industry touches on the most intimate parts of American lives.

She offers a complete understanding of the major players in the debates around porn's place in society: everyone from sex workers, activists, therapists, religious leaders, and consumers.

In doing so, she addresses and debunks the myths that surround porn and porn usage while showing how everything from the way we teach children about sex to the legal protections for what can be published is tied up in the deeply complicated battles over pornography.

Sweeping, savvy, and deeply researched, The Pornography Wars is a necessary and comprehensive new look at pornography and American life. More

Something worse than porn?

• Mitch Jeserich, Prof. Kelsy Burke (KPFA.org, June 23, 2023/KPFK.org, July 21, 2025); Psychosos, YouTube; CC Liu (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Alan watts on the illusion of self (TV)

Maya, the Illusion of the Self: Alan Watts will transform YOU

(Simply Art - Inspire) May 2, 2025: Alan Watts unpacks the ancient concept of Maya — the illusion of the self (The Matrix) — in this 27‑minute remastered talk, set to soothing meditation music and complete with accurate subtitles. Discover how our sense of “I” is shaped by thought (thing) patterns, why letting go of the selfish ego can open us to deep peace, and practical insights for seeing through what is really an illusion.

🔔 Subscribe for more life-changing wisdom and spiritual insights. ► Subscribe to Simply Art - Inspire @simplyart-inspire. Maya, the Illusion of the Self - Alan Watts will transform US

Of course, I'm real! I'm a self with a soul!

What is maya? It literally means "illusion," "magic," or "appearance" [1, 2, 3] but has multiple meanings in Indian philosophies depending on the context. In later Vedic texts, māyā connotes a "magic show, an illusion where things appear to be present but are not what they seem" [2, 4], the principle which shows "attributeless Absolute" as having "attributes" [3].

Māyā also connotes that which "is constantly changing and thus is spiritually unreal" (in opposition to an unchanging Absolute, or Brahman), and therefore "conceals the true character of spiritual reality" [5, 6].

The question becomes, Is this true of the [Five Aggregates clung to as] "self," "ego," "personality," or "soul"? Are they absolutes or conditioned phenomena coming into temporary being utterly dependent on supporting causes and conditions?

The Mahayana (Hindu-Buddhist) way of saying this is to state that self and all other phenomena are empty (Śūnyatā).

• Alan Watts, when there was a Zen boom, provided explanations and answers for Westerners wishing to understand Eastern philosophy and The Way, be that the Buddha's eightfold path or the Tao or the marga as found in the Vedas and Hinduism.
• Alan Watts (alanwatts.org), KQED; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

What if there's no self, Alan Watts?

Alan Watts The Individual and the World Pt.  1 full lecture (Alan Watts Organization Official)

• Alan Watts (KPFK 90.7 FM) "Individual and the World," Pt. 1 (from Buddhist Radio, aka "Something's Happening" Sunday mornings at 8:00 am on KPFK with Diane of Hollywood Tuckman, Roy's wife)

Wait, you can't leave us hanging there, Alan. Keep going, keep explaining

• Alan Watts (alanwatts.org) via Archive.KPFK.org May 11, 2025; Dhr. Seven, Seth Auberon, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Beach Life Music Festival, LA (May 2-4)

I'll be at BeachLife after my haircut without my Bang[le]s

It's always time for Zen (jhana)

Friday was an odd day in Los Angeles, the cosmopolitan neighbor of Orange County, with cloud cover, cold, and a little mist. This is not the beach life, which is usually all sun (with some smog and traffic thrown in just to spoil the dream, a homeless mess and a meanness bordering on NYC style). The Los Angeles County Fair begins, and the Renaissance Pleasure Fair continues. So the BeachLife Festival must go on, and Wisdom Quarterly will be there with Dharma Buddhist Meditation (Meetup) to make it better with public group meditation on the sands of Redondo Beach.

Los Angeles County Fair (Dan Petchye)

Imagine a concert by the seashore with surly winds and California clouds. May is warm, if still a little runny with the remains of the LA Fires. Sometimes Southern California gets a sudden spell of actual weather. This time will work. This time all the bands will rock. This time we're going to make the mood buoyant with mass meditation enough to levitate someone.

In the midst of chaos, metta

Imagine seeing Sublime, CAKE, the Long Beach Dub Allstars, (hot) Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles (the eyes of the band), Skip Marley (grandson of Bob Marley), or Alanis Morissette, The Beach Boys (or what's left of them but including handsome John Stamos)...

Big Head Todd and the Monsters, and a few others like the Pretenders, Lenny Kravitz, Aloe Blacc, The Struts, Shovels & Rope, Digable Planets, Train, O.A.R., Lily Meola, Jackson Brown, and even Mt. Joy.

Beautiful eyes are more beautiful with kohl

Dharma Buddhist Meditation will be present for a mass meditation to bring spiritual vibes to Day 2 of the event by positioning ourselves in different spots all around the concert (wearing Hoffs brand kohl around our eyes) before Sublime, on the sand, near the stage, away from the mosh pit (which will go crazy for CAKE), but be rocking for the LB Dub Allstars, Marley, and The Beach Boys!

It was all nerves, not sexy, seductive confidence?

Lenny Kravitz live at BeachLife Festival, Friday, May 2, 2025

FREE TO RSVP:

beachlifefestival.com

• Disclosure Project: Mass meditation at BeachLife Fest, Redondo Beach, Sat, May 3, 2025, 6:00 PM | Meetup
• Nature Center: Mass meditation at BeachLife Fest, Redondo Beach, Sat, May 3, 2025, 6:00 PM | Meetup
• PasaDharma: Mass meditation at BeachLife Fest, Redondo Beach, Sat, May 3, 2025, 6:00 PM | Meetup

Who's Alanis Morrisette? And is she ironic? - She went from Forgiven to Uninvited

WHAT HAPPENED?

Live 'n stoned at BeachLife Fest '25

(DanfromLA) Dan (possibly exhibiting some level of intoxication but accompanied by his mom for safety) shows the vibe (relaxed) and weather (long sleeves) out at BeachLife Festival 2025, as Lenny Kravitz interrupts him by singing, Friday, May 2, 2025, Redondo Beach, California. But, Dan, what about Susanna Hoffs?

• Redondo Beach, CA Weather Forecast | AccuWeather

Then this moment finally happened in real life!

Susanna feels like making LOVE

She really feels it, so let's help -- and make LOVE (metta) with her:

What is metta (mass) meditation?

Meditation is walking, standing, or lying down

Mettā (Sanskrit maitrī) means "friendliness, loving-kindness (universal agape), benevolence, friendliness, amity, and good will."

It is an active interest in the wellbeing of others that leads to the impulse of compassion (karuna). It is the first of the Four Sublime States (brahma-viharas) recommended by the Buddha as helpful meditations to develop up to absorption (jhana).

Indian eye makeup in Egypt as seen on mural

It is one of the Ten Perfections (dasa pāramīs) of the Theravāda school of Buddhism. The cultivation of it, called mettā bhāvanā, is a popular form of Buddhist meditation. It is a one of the Four Immeasurables (unlimitables, universals) in Divine Abiding meditation.

Metta or "loving-kindness meditation" is often practiced in Asia by broadcast chanting, during which Buddhist monastics chant for lay Buddhists.

It's easier when we act as one. I'll call you back.

The universal aspect of loving-kindness is discussed in the Buddha's Metta Sutta and is also found in the ancient and medieval texts of Jainism and Hinduism as metta and maitri. More

"Mass" meditation is doing meditation en masse, as a whole, in a group, a collective, increasing coherence, power, and influence. One person in samadhi (jhana) through metta is very powerful, imponderably so, but 100 even if they do not attain to the level of absorption, still have a tremendous effect on the collective consciousness of the region.

Alanis Morissette launces world tour in 2025 (Live Nation UK)

• BeachLife Festival | Live Music Festival
• May 2-4, 2025, Redondo Beach, CA, USA

• Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Jen B., Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Israel's slaughter in Gaza, Palestine: 'One Day Everyone Will Have Been Against This'

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This author Omar El Akkad on Gaza (Zeteo)

Author Omar El Akkad has 4.7 out of 5 stars with 91 ratings and the Number 1 new release in democracy. This New York Times bestseller is making an impact.

From award-winning novelist and journalist Omar El Akkad comes a powerful reckoning with what it means to live in a West that betrays its fundamental values.

"[A] bracing memoir and manifesto."

—The New York Times

“I can’t think of a more important piece of writing to read right now. I found hope here, and help, to face what the world is now, all that it isn’t anymore. Please read this. I promise you won’t regret it.”

—Tommy Orange, bestselling author of Wandering Stars and There There

(PoliticsJOE) How the destruction of Palestine will be remembered

On October 25, 2023, after just three weeks of the bombardment of Gaza, Omar El Akkad put out a tweet:

“One day, when it’s safe, when there’s no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this.” This tweet has been viewed more than 10 million times.

• On Sunday, March 16, 2025, at 8:30 am, Akkad was interviewed by Chris Hedges, KPFK, Pacifica free speech radio for Los Angeles. LISTEN: Online Archives - KPFK 90.7 FM

As an immigrant who came to the West, El Akkad believed that the West promised freedom, a place of justice for all. But in the past 20 years, reporting on the War on Terror, Ferguson, climate change, Black Lives Matter protests, and more, and watching the unmitigated [genocidal] slaughter in Gaza, El Akkad has come to the conclusion that much of what the West promises is a lie.

He has further concluded that there will always be entire groups of human beings the West has never intended to treat as fully human—not just Arabs or Muslims or immigrants, but whoever falls outside the boundaries of privilege.

One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This is a chronicle of that painful realization, a moral grappling with what it means, as a citizen of the U.S., as a father, to carve out some sense of possibility in a time of carnage.

This is El Akkad’s nonfiction debut, his most raw and vulnerable work to date, a heartsick breakup letter with the West. It is a brilliant articulation of the same breakup we are watching all over the United States, in family rooms, on college campuses, on city streets; the consequences of this rupture are just beginning. This book is for all the people who want something better than what the West has served up. This is the book for our time. More

• VIDEO: Why didn't the Nazis invade Sweden?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Omar El Akkad was born in Cairo, Egypt, and grew up in Doha, Qatar, before moving to Canada. He worked as a journalist at The Globe and Mail, and his coverage of a 2006 terror plot earned him a National Newspaper Award for Investigative Reporting. His other journalistic work includes dispatches from the NATO-led war in Afghanistan, the military trials at Guantánamo Bay, the Arab Spring revolution in Egypt, and the Black Lives Matter movement in Ferguson, Missouri. He has also received the Goff Penny Memorial Prize for Young Journalists, as well as three National Magazine Award honorable mentions. He is a graduate of Queen's University. He now lives with his wife in the woods just south of Portland, Oregon. Source