Many people know about some the biggest heroes of cannabis, like Carl Sagan, Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg, and Maya Angelou. But what do you really know about them? How much of their personal history and relationship to cannabis can you recall, if any? If you answered in the negative to either question, or you’re just curious to learn more, a new cannabis history podcast fills in the gaps.
“Great Moments in Weed History” is hosted by two veteran cannabis journalists: Abdullah Saeed and David Bienenstock. In each episode, the pair highlights a new marijuana culture hero. For instance, one episode covers the night Willie Nelson smoked a joint on the roof of the White House to “the compelling evidence that Jesus performed healing miracles by infusing THC into his Holy Anointing Oil.”
Saeed is the host and producer of Viceland’s “Bong Appetit,” while Bienenstock is the author of “How to Smoke Pot (Properly): A Highbrow Guide to Getting High,” and also co-produced episodes of “Bong Appetit” with Saeed. The podcast is thoughtfully constructed and well researched, but as an LA Times article noted, the “easy-going stoner rapport between the co-hosts.” Each episode begins with the co-hosts lighting a joint and listeners are encouraged to join in the fun.
“We’re generally a two-joint show,” Bienenstock told the LA Times. “We fire one up at the beginning of every episode, and I tell people to hit pause if they need the chance to roll [one] up and then usually around the 42-minute mark—most shows are a little under an hour—we go for a booster rocket.”
The first episode of the podcast regards Willie Nelson’s first toke in West Texas, chronicling how he ended up smoking a “fat Austin torpedo” atop the White house. For the show’s Easter episode, they tackled when famed poet and memoirist started smoking “grifa” and how it opened “new postures” and “new dreams” Angelou.
You can listen to the podcast on the Apple Podcast app, GooglePlay, Soundcloud, and Stitcher. New weekly episodes will be released every Tuesday, according to Bienenstock.
