Witty Historian

<p>For centuries, nutmeg was more than just a kitchen spice. It appeared in old medicines, medical reports, prisons and strange experiments as people discovered that large amounts could produce powerful psychoactive...

For generations, doctors have tried to find better ways to help people sleep. Early sedatives gave way to barbiturates, benzodiazepines and newer sleep medicines, with each era promising something safer, more precise or...

<p>For generations, doctors have tried to find better ways to help people sleep. Early sedatives gave way to barbiturates, benzodiazepines and newer sleep medicines, with each era promising something safer, more precise...

Designer drugs travelled from obscure laboratory research into clubs, smartshops and street markets. From Ecstasy and research chemicals to Spice/K2 and bath salts, scientific discoveries, changing drug laws and growing...

<p>Designer drugs travelled from obscure laboratory research into clubs, smartshops and street markets. From Ecstasy and research chemicals to Spice/K2 and bath salts, scientific discoveries, changing drug laws and...

In 1980s America, anti-drug campaigns became impossible to ignore. From “Just Say No” and D.A.R.E. to the famous “Your Brain on Drugs” ads, television, schools, celebrities and public campaigns helped turn drugs into...

<p>In 1980s America, anti-drug campaigns became impossible to ignore. From “Just Say No” and D.A.R.E. to the famous “Your Brain on Drugs” ads, television, schools, celebrities and public campaigns helped turn drugs into...

Tonight we’re heading into the Viking Age to explore what getting high really meant to the Vikings, from drinking and feast halls to trance, ritual, strange plants and Norse beliefs. A long, slow Viking history...

<p>Tonight we’re heading into the Viking Age to explore what getting high really meant to the Vikings, from drinking and feast halls to trance, ritual, strange plants and Norse beliefs. A long, slow Viking history...

Ever heard of candy flipping? The term became closely associated with 1990s rave culture, where LSD and MDMA were combined into a very different kind of psychedelic experience. As rave culture grew, so did new ideas...

<p>Ever heard of candy flipping? The term became closely associated with 1990s rave culture, where LSD and MDMA were combined into a very different kind of psychedelic experience. As rave culture grew, so did new ideas...

The history of weed in America is much stranger than its modern image suggests. Cannabis has been sold as medicine, portrayed as a dangerous social threat, embraced by the counterculture, targeted by the war on drugs...

<p>The history of weed in America is much stranger than its modern image suggests. Cannabis has been sold as medicine, portrayed as a dangerous social threat, embraced by the counterculture, targeted by the war on...

Ecstasy in the 1990s is often remembered very differently from what people encounter today. In this video, we trace how the pills, the chemistry, the market, and the culture around ecstasy changed over the decades and...

<p>Ecstasy in the 1990s is often remembered very differently from what people encounter today. In this video, we trace how the pills, the chemistry, the market, and the culture around ecstasy changed over the decades...