Latest news with #CommonSideEffects
CNET
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNET
I Watch a Lot of Sci-Fi, and This Mind-Altering Adult Swim Show Is One of the Year's Best
Before I get into it, I must come clean: I am not a big fan of present-day animation. Sure, I can get down with some anime classics and will always give experimental stuff like Love, Death + Robots a shot. But there's this unfortunate trend of cookie-cutter projects getting the green light with the goal of replicating the success of animated hits like Rick and Morty instead of giving risky, original, cutting-edge programs a chance to find an audience. All this said, Adult Swim's conspiracy thriller Common Side Effects floated under my radar when it premiered on Max this year. I was aware of its existence but paid the show no mind. With names like Beavis & Butthead's Mike Judge and The Office's Greg Daniels attached as executive producers, you'd think I'd have perked up. Well, I didn't. My watch-list as a TV critic is always crowded, and, honestly, my patience for trying shows like this is quite slim. Yet, one of my goals for 2025 is to fight the persistent urge to say no. So I eventually found it and clicked play. And hoo golly, I'm glad I did. Alan Resnick plays Zane, the drug-loving pet store owner in Common Side Effects. Screenshot by Aaron Pruner/CNET Common Side Effects centers on Marshall Cuso, an eccentric anti-establishment dude who goes out in public bare-chested and preaches the wonders of a special blue mushroom (known as the "blue angel"). It was discovered in the jungles of Peru and contains magical properties that can cure any medical ailment. When there's a limited supply of a wonder-cure-all mushroom, the possibilities of solving humanity's problems can boggle the minds of those striving to uphold the greater good. Unfortunately, there is also a collection of selfish, profit-minded opponents who have a considerable presence in the world. So if word got out about such a discovery, you'd have to expect Big Pharma, rogue criminals and special interests within the government would all come out of the woodwork to get control of the substance. Read more: Max Streaming Service Review: Loads of Content, but You Have to Make It Fit You Being a stereotypical recluse whose closest friend is a tortoise named Spartacus, Marshall is evidently dedicated to keeping this mushroom discovery close to the vest. Yet, after running into Frances (Emily Pendergast), an old high school friend he believes he can trust, he lets her in on his secret. Unbeknownst to him, she works for a pharmaceutical company named Reutical and is the right hand to the company's dopey CEO, Rick Kruger (voiced by the iconic Mike Judge). These events, which all transpire in the first episode, kick off a layered conspiracy that finds Marshall fighting tooth and nail to keep his mushroom safe from the power-hungry hands of greed that will eventually come to surround him. On one side, there's his potential relationship with Frances, which leads the audience to consistently question her motives and how their partnership could put Marshall in danger. On the other side are quirky DEA agents Copano (Joseph Lee Anderson) and Harrington (Martha Kelly), tracking Marshall's every move. To them, he's a domestic terrorist tied to the illegal drug world. You have a group of backwoods militia who align with Marshall's mission to grow this mushroom but they're part of the illicit drug world I just mentioned. Mike Judge voices Reutical Pharmaceuticals' CEO Rick Kruger in Adult Swim's conspiracy thriller Common Side Effects. Adult Swim Topping off this conspiratorial triangle is Jonas "the Wolf" Backstein (Danny Huston), the sinister owner of Reutical, whose influence impacts politicians, the FBI and other such government entities. Backstein is the epitome of bad guys. He's kind of like this show's version of the Smoking Man from the X-Files. Our would-be hero -- this harmless, unbuttoned, tortoise-loving man who just wants to help people -- ends up being a high-value target on multiple watchlists. His journey to save humanity turns into a race to save not just others' lives but also his own. All while opponents with ulterior motives consistently fire weapons at him, spy on his every move and erratically chase him down on the highway. The result is a riveting conspiracy thriller unlike anything I've seen in an animated series. Okay, here's where I do my best to quantify all the ways Common Side Effects is a success. First, I have to acknowledge the creative narrative skills of the show's co-creators, Steve Hely (who cut his teeth on comedies like The Office and Veep) and Joe Bennett (the man behind the beautiful, yet creepy, animated series Scavengers Reign). They put their heads together and blended their understanding of comedy, crisis, capitalism and conspiracy to create a program that taps directly into the zeitgeist. On the other side of the coin is the show's nature element. This aspect of the story recalls the type of science-minded individuals who journey into the jungle to find new medicines. Aside from the Ayahuasca vibe of it all, this component further examines the public's hunger to find alternate cures aside from what Big Pharma could be pitching, as well as digging into the negative cost these ecosystems undergo, all in the name of profit. I realize how heavy this all sounds. But, trust me, it's all worth your time. Common Side Effects does a fabulous job of balancing the drama with a steady flow of unique bits of levity. Through captivating animation sequences, like the ones depicting the mushroom's various types of hallucinatory drug trips, the offbeat relationship dynamics of nearly every character featured in the show -- the partnership of Copano and Harrington is an absolute highlight; pet store owner Zane is a laugh riot -- the unique synth-heavy score by Nicolas Snyder (which reminds me of The X-Files, as well) and the impeccably placed needle drops, the show delivers a storytelling experience that is equal parts thought-provoking and awe-inspiring. Oh, and it's fun. To offset all this magic, the creators found a voice cast that delivers an understated performance, which oddly elevates the story. These are actors who are not at all acting and what I mean by this is that everyone's dialogue has a flawed quality, which helps ground things in a relatable human way. The show embraces mistakes, stutters and deadpan inflections, which coincide with its rudimentary animation style quite well. As grandiose as the story becomes, these elements offset things in a welcome way while steadily building the emotional stakes. I never thought I'd connect so much to a shlubby mushroom nerd, but here we are. Joseph Lee Anderson and Martha Kelly play DEA agents Copano and Harrington in Adult Swim's conspiracy thriller Common Side Effects. Adult Swim With shows on Adult Swim, I have seen a whole slew of big creative swings that, to me, haven't fully stuck the landing. Common Side Effects is a breath of fresh air for the studio. It's original, enthralling and delightfully unpredictable. A surprisingly hopeful vibe permeates the story through all the drama and kept me glued to the screen. Simply put: This is one of the best sci-fi shows of the year. I'm not sure I'd have the same opinion if it were live action. I truly hope season 2 will continue pushing the story envelope and expand the miraculous canon of Marshall's mushroom mission. Until then, you can find me recommending the brilliance of Common Side Effects to anyone who'll listen. This is the hill I shall die on. It's that good, trust me.
Business Upturn
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Business Upturn
Common Side Effects Season 2: Release date speculation, cast and plot details – Everything we know so far
By Aman Shukla Published on May 26, 2025, 18:30 IST Last updated May 26, 2025, 11:39 IST Common Side Effects, the critically acclaimed animated series on Adult Swim, has captured audiences with its unique blend of dark humor, conspiracy-driven storytelling, and innovative animation. Following the success of its first season, fans are eagerly awaiting news about Season 2. With the show officially renewed, here's everything we know so far about Common Side Effects Season 2. Common Side Effects Season 2 Release Date Speculation While Adult Swim has confirmed the renewal of Common Side Effects for a second season, an official release date has not yet been announced. Based on industry trends and the production timeline of animated series, speculation points to a potential release in late 2026. This estimate considers the typical production cycle for high-quality animated shows, which often takes 12-18 months, especially for a series with Common Side Effects ' intricate animation style and serialized storytelling. Common Side Effects Season 2 Expected Cast The voice cast for Common Side Effects has been a highlight, bringing depth and personality to the show's quirky characters. While no official casting announcements have been made for Season 2, it's highly likely that the core cast will return, given the serialized nature of the story and the prominence of the main characters. Based on Season 1, here are the key players expected to reprise their roles: Dave King as Marshall Cuso : The cautious and knowledgeable protagonist who discovers the Blue Angel Mushroom. Marshall's journey is central to the series, and his return is almost certain. Emily Pendergast as Frances Applewhite : Marshall's former high school lab partner, now working to bring the mushroom's healing properties to the world. Her dynamic with Marshall drives much of the plot. Mike Judge as Rick : The distracted CEO of Reutical Pharmaceuticals, known for his phone obsession, voiced by the legendary Mike Judge ( Beavis and Butt-Head , King of the Hill ). Martha Kelly : A versatile voice actress whose role adds depth to the ensemble. Joseph Lee Anderson: Another key member of the cast, contributing to the show's rich character dynamics. Common Side Effects Season 2 Potential Plot Common Side Effects Season 1 ended with a thrilling finale titled 'Raid,' leaving fans with plenty of questions about the Blue Angel Mushroom and the conspiracy surrounding it. While specific plot details for Season 2 remain under wraps, creators Joseph Bennett and Steve Hely have hinted at continuing to push the boundaries of animation and storytelling, describing the opportunity as a 'wonderful mushroom dream.' The show's blend of dark humor, conspiracy themes, and social commentary on the pharmaceutical industry will likely continue, maintaining its unique tone. Aman Shukla is a post-graduate in mass communication . A media enthusiast who has a strong hold on communication ,content writing and copy writing. Aman is currently working as journalist at
CNET
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNET
Hear Me Out: This Weird Adult Swim Series Is One of the Best Sci-Fi Shows of the Year
I need to admit something right off the bat: I am not a huge animation fan. Mind you, I can watch any number of animated programs. But I've come to understand that I resist embracing new projects within the genre. Maybe it's because of the cookie-cutter nature of some of these titles, which tend to mimic hits like Rick and Morty instead of carving out a new space in the medium to thrive. I say all this because I didn't pay attention when Adult Swim released Common Side Effects on Max this year. In fact, I shrugged it off as another flash in the pan. You'd think I wouldn't have reacted this way with names like Mike Judge and Greg Daniels attached as executive producers. As someone who makes a living watching TV shows, I have found my patience for trying shows like this quite slim. Yet, one of my goals for 2025 is to fight resistance and say yes more often. So I eventually found it and clicked play on it. And hoo golly, am I glad I did. Common Side Effects centers on Marshall Cuso, an eccentric anti-establishment dude who goes out in public bare-chested and preaches the wonders of a special blue mushroom (known as the "blue angel"). It was discovered in the jungles of Peru and contains magical properties that can cure any medical ailment. When there's a limited supply of a wonder-cure-all mushroom, the possibilities of solving humanity's problems can boggle the minds of those striving to uphold the greater good. Unfortunately, there is also a collection of selfish, profit-minded opponents who have a considerable presence in the world. So if word got out about such a discovery, you'd have to expect Big Pharma, rogue criminals and special interests within the government would all come out of the woodwork to get control of the substance. Read more: Max Streaming Service Review: Loads of Content, but You Have to Make It Fit You Dave King provides the voice for Marshall Cuso, the mushroom expert at the center of a growing conspiracy, in Adult Swim's Common Side Effects. Adult Swim Being a stereotypical recluse whose closest friend is a tortoise named Spartacus, Marshall is evidently dedicated to keeping this mushroom discovery close to the vest. Yet, after running into Frances (Emily Pendergast), an old high school friend he believes he can trust, he lets her in on his secret. Unbeknownst to him, she works for a pharmaceutical company named Reutical and is the right hand to the company's dopey CEO, Rick Kruger (voiced by the iconic Mike Judge). These events, which all transpire in the first episode, kick off a layered conspiracy that finds Marshall fighting tooth and nail to keep his mushroom safe from the power-hungry hands of greed that will eventually come to surround him. On one side, there's his potential relationship with Frances, which leads the audience to consistently question her motives and how their partnership could put Marshall in danger. On the other side are quirky DEA agents Copano (Joseph Lee Anderson) and Harrington (Martha Kelly), tracking Marshall's every move. To them, he's a domestic terrorist tied to the illegal drug world. You have a group of backwoods militia who align with Marshall's mission to grow this mushroom but they're part of the illicit drug world I just mentioned. Mike Judge voices Reutical Pharmaceuticals' CEO Rick Kruger in Adult Swim's conspiracy thriller Common Side Effects. Adult Swim Topping off this conspiratorial triangle is Jonas "the Wolf" Backstein (Danny Huston), the sinister owner of Reutical, whose influence impacts politicians, the FBI and other such government entities. Backstein is the epitome of bad guys. He's kind of like this show's version of the Smoking Man from the X-Files. Our would-be hero -- this harmless, unbuttoned, tortoise-loving man who just wants to help people -- ends up being a high-value target on multiple watchlists. His journey to save humanity turns into a race to save not just others' lives but also his own. All while opponents with ulterior motives consistently fire weapons at him, spy on his every move and erratically chase him down on the highway. The result is a riveting conspiracy thriller unlike anything I've seen in an animated series. Okay, here's where I do my best to quantify all the ways Common Side Effects is a success. First, I have to acknowledge the creative narrative skills of the show's co-creators, Steve Hely (who cut his teeth on comedies like The Office and Veep) and Joe Bennett (the man behind the beautiful, yet creepy, animated series Scavengers Reign). They put their heads together and blended their understanding of comedy, crisis, capitalism and conspiracy to create a program that taps directly into the zeitgeist. On the other side of the coin is the show's nature element. This aspect of the story recalls the type of science-minded individuals who journey into the jungle to find new medicines. Aside from the Ayahuasca vibe of it all, this component further examines the public's hunger to find alternate cures aside from what Big Pharma could be pitching, as well as digging into the negative cost these ecosystems undergo, all in the name of profit. I realize how heavy this all sounds. But, trust me, it's all worth your time. Common Side Effects does a fabulous job of balancing the drama with a steady flow of unique bits of levity. Through captivating animation sequences, like the ones depicting the mushroom's various types of hallucinatory drug trips, the offbeat relationship dynamics of nearly every character featured in the show -- the partnership of Copano and Harrington is an absolute highlight; pet store owner Zane is a laugh riot -- the unique synth-heavy score by Nicolas Snyder (which reminds me of The X-Files, as well) and the impeccably placed needle drops, the show delivers a storytelling experience that is equal parts thought-provoking and awe-inspiring. Oh, and it's fun. To offset all this magic, the creators found a voice cast that delivers an understated performance, which oddly elevates the story. These are actors who are not at all acting and what I mean by this is that everyone's dialogue has a flawed quality, which helps ground things in a relatable human way. The show embraces mistakes, stutters and deadpan inflections, which coincide with its rudimentary animation style quite well. As grandiose as the story becomes, these elements offset things in a welcome way while steadily building the emotional stakes. I never thought I'd connect so much to a shlubby mushroom nerd, but here we are. Joseph Lee Anderson and Martha Kelly play DEA agents Copano and Harrington in Adult Swim's conspiracy thriller Common Side Effects. Adult Swim With shows on Adult Swim, I have seen a whole slew of big creative swings that, to me, haven't fully stuck the landing. Common Side Effects is a breath of fresh air for the studio. It's original, enthralling and delightfully unpredictable. A surprisingly hopeful vibe permeates the story through all the drama and kept me glued to the screen. Simply put: This is one of the best sci-fi shows of the year. I'm not sure I'd have the same opinion if it were live action. I truly hope season 2 will continue pushing the story envelope and expand the miraculous canon of Marshall's mushroom mission. Until then, you can find me recommending the brilliance of Common Side Effects to anyone who'll listen. This is the hill I shall die on. It's that good, trust me.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Weird, rare mushrooms in Ecuador reveal secrets about life and loss of biodiversity
Danny Newman is an independent mycologist and parataxonomist — fancy words for a fungi expert specializing in biodiversity — whose career in some ways mirrors that of the animated series "Common Side Effects," which launched on Adult Swim in February, given his own decade-long participation in attempts to study and preserve the staggering and endangered biodiversity of cloud forests in the Ecuadorean Andes. Much like in the show, where ruthless, polluting Reutical Pharmaceutical is the corporate antagonist, unscrupulous companies are the problem: in this case, the cloud forest is under threat by Canadian and Ecuadorian mining companies as well as by deforestation and climate change. After starting a bachelor of science in interdisciplinary studies, with concentrations in mycology and digital archivism, at the State University of New York, Newman immediately threw himself into the study of the weird and marvelous world of fungi, never finishing the degree but working with university institutions and research groups in the field in Bolivia, Argentina, Madagascar and other places; guest-lecturing; and co-publishing academic work, sometimes crowdfunding to get himself in the field, where the mushrooms are. Working with a National Geographic-funded team of biologists in the roughly 5,256 hectare Los Cedros Biological Reserve, among the last unlogged watersheds on the western slopes of this part of the Andes, he contributed to the work described in 'Richer than Gold,' a 2023 scientific paper in which they document the fungal biodiversity they found at Los Cedros: at least 727 unique fungal species, representing 4 phyla, 17 classes, 40 orders, 101 families, and 229 genera of life. The parallels run all the way down to the discovery — following a court case that went all the way to Ecuador's Constitutional Court, ultimately saving the rare ecosystem and all its species from mining — of a magic mushroom unknown to science: in the series, it's called the Blue Angel, and has awe-inspiring pharmaceutical properties. In Newman's real life, it was a psychoactive psilocybin mushroom that, like all of them, stains blue when bruised. And while Common Side Effects creators Joseph Bennett and Steve Hely were inspired in part by mycology popularizer and mushroom entrepreneur Paul Stamets, the Los Cedros mushroom is merely named after him: Psilocybe stametsii. As Newman wrote on Reddit, much like in the TV show, 'this all takes place against the backdrop of a decade or so of accelerated psychedelic research and the mainstreaming and funding of same, to where there are currently some very powerful players waiting to get in on the multi-billion dollar ground floor for the unique but overlapping markets of psychedelic medicalization and decriminalization, if not legalization. Some other, better known, even more powerful players (i.e. drug manufacturers) are looking at putative psychedelic therapies as a threat to their bottom line. These groups are not necessarily mutually exclusive.' Newman spoke with Salon about his visits to Los Cedros in 2014 and 2018 to 2019, as well as an earlier bio-remediation project he took part in elsewhere in Ecuador, in two leisurely Zoom conversations from outside his New Orleans home, the second a few days after Mardi Gras. His long hair and beard, and even the hat he wore the second day, were strikingly, if not deliberately, reminiscent of the Common Side Effects' mycology expert protagonist, Marshall Cuso (voiced in the series by Dave King), though unlike Cuso, Newman wore dark, Dr. Oc-ish Vallon Heron mountaineering sunglasses throughout our conversation. Whether speaking about the exquisite wonders of fungal life or about science funding woes, his tone was sober, frank, and scientific. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. So your work shares a lot of parallels with "Common Side Effects." Yeah, this is the latest in a long line of multimedia objects that I've spent a foolish amount of time and energy curating that have something to do with fungi or mycology. I think I might be the only person alive or dead to curate such a collection or such a large collection. From the very moment I saw the trailer, it met all the important criteria for a show that I would pay attention to. Having had a lot of other mycological media to judge it by, there were some tropes that I was kind of expecting. What kind of tropes? I'd say first and foremost, that mushrooms are reducible to poisons, pizza toppings and party drugs. And a kind of characterization of mushrooms, mycology, people associated with either as being wacky, wild, weird ... not occupying, or perhaps [not] deserving to occupy the mainstream. Like an inherent eccentricity, I guess. And, I mean, there's some ways in which the show kind of invokes some of that, but so far, I think it's doing a really excellent job… And I'm interested to see where it goes. You spent 10 years in Ecuador, what did you learn there? My first involvement in Ecuador [was in 2013] with a group that called itself the Amazon Mycorenewal project. That was a group of mostly Californian volunteers with several Ecuadorian counterparts seeking to find and develop low-tech, easily replicable, inexpensive ways of achieving mycoremediation of the abundant oil contamination in the northeastern corner of the country and what's been called the Chernobyl of the Amazon. And specifically using oyster mushrooms and techniques that were not created by, but were sort of popularized by, Paul Stamets, and a study of his that was really super popularized by his TED Talk, "Six ways mushrooms can save the world." And we most definitely found fungi growing in amongst that contamination. Is that the only thing you would see in these pits, the only life? No, there was other life there. The aggressiveness of life in the Amazon is hard to put down, even when something as catastrophic as oil [is involved]. Oil and toxic formation waters are everywhere. Like it's unequivocal that damage has been done by that contamination. But we did find fungi, we found plants, we found [animals.] We did have some documented successes, including having piles of soil and substrate that had once been, as Paul Stamets would say, dead, dark and stinky, then having plants and seeds and sprouts and worms and bugs and eggs, and having no detectable odor, or consistency between the fingers, of petroleum. Replicating that at scale for the 800+ Olympic swimming pool sized unlined pits was another matter. That fungi growing in proximity to, if not being directly reliant upon, contaminated environments in the Andes, you know that was definitely a very close parallel [with Common Side Effects.] And then you went up to the cloud forest? It would be a couple few years later that I met Dr. Roo Vandergrift, who was doing his PhD work in the cloud forest, a place called Reserva los Cedros. The way that I could be useful to Roo then and now was photography and taxonomy. Those are sort of my areas of interest and of ability. In my time I'd spent, oh seven or so years, you know, mycologizing, both in the US, but also taking every opportunity I had to return to Latin America. People on the expedition had experiences being around nature that I think had not become evolutionarily accustomed to the threat that is our species. Our collecting really didn't happen very much outside of about a 100 meter radius of our base camp. We've 100% found new species. Before "Richer than Gold," there had never been a paper to summarize, or a project to summarize, all of those fungi. [Psilocybe stametsii, which was found by a different group, is] one of surely thousands, if not tens of thousands, of new species that are waiting to be described from Los Cedros. It's part of the Chaco bioregion, which is a forest type that only exists in remnant plots. We're down to 2 or 3% left of the total cover that the Chaco would have had historically. It has been beset on all sides by threats of one kind or another, since, really colonial times, but most recently, that threat has come in the form of mining. Can you tell me about the court case in Ecuador, which was a challenge based on the constitutional rights guaranteed in the country's 2008 Constitution? Specifically, it included "the right of nature to have its existence respected holistically, and to the maintenance and regeneration of its vital cycles, structure, functions, and evolutionary processes," and provides broad legal standing for the launching of judicial claims by "all individuals, communities, peoples and nations" to enforce the rights of nature. It was three, four years ago, because the man who founded [the Los Cedros reserve], a piss-and-vinegar draft dodger and conservation hero named Joseph DeCoux, who recently passed away, and a consortium of Los Cedros supporters, community organizers, and board members brought a case against this Canadian mining company and the Ecuadorian national mining company, and I think by extension, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Mining, claiming the unconstitutionality of this mining concession that covered two-thirds of Los Cedros being given to these companies or this ministry. This court case went from municipal to provincial to constitutional with the Ecuador Supreme Court. And we won, which was a David and Goliath upset, but one that I still can't wrap my head around. I think most of us can't. Not only was that tremendously lucky, also the result of a lot of hard work, but in the initial analyzes that were done illegally by the mining companies, they did not find enough indication of what they were looking for. Perhaps they would have been even more aggressive about turning Los Cedros into a pit mine, if they had found stronger indication [of the copper and gold for which they were prospecting]. [Note: The case was launched as a protective action to stop the initial exploration phase of the Río Magdalena mining project in the Los Cedros protected area. It was ultimately selected by the Constitutional Court to help determine binding jurisprudence on how the Rights of Nature should be applied to endangered ecosystems and species. The court ruled that mining in the protected forest would be a violation of the constitutional rights of nature, but also that the application of these rights applies not just to protected areas, but, because it's a constitutional right, to the entire territory of Ecuador.] I don't want to say they found nothing. In 2019, we went to the exact spot where these technicians from the mining company had illegally entered the property to set up a sort of makeshift base camp to do this soil and water analysis to test for trace amounts and minerals. And that was when the project took on the sort of moniker, "richer than gold." That's how we titled our National Geographic Foundation Explorer grant application. We applied in the area of the category of urgent concern and conservation, citing that this was very likely headed in the direction of becoming a mine very soon, and we wanted to go to exactly that base camp where they had set up shop. And just so if we collect in 100 meter radius from right here, nowhere else, this is all of the biodiversity that will be impacted, and hopefully be able to use that information to argue against the opening of the mine, if it came to that. It was a far, far more remote location prior to these mining company employees coming in during the dry season, being able to drive along a road that would normally be sort of mudded out and then hiking in a relatively short distance. We were coming in the wet season, and had to hike around nine, nine and a half hours in, sometimes thigh-high mud in sometimes 45 degree incline, the hardest hike of everyone's life who participated in that. But our group and this mining company that came in to set up the base camp very likely could have been the first human beings to set foot in this area. The terrain is difficult enough and inaccessible enough that it likely would not have been utilized even by pre-Columbian peoples, certainly not in a permanent way. And the resulting research? Our paper from 2023 is a big, big summary of the fungi found through these opportunistic sampling events over an 11 year period. But [Los Cedros] is just one sort of piece of the larger puzzle. Because these mining activities are replete throughout the country. This kind of rises to the top on account of being the sort of poster child for putting constitutional ideas [about the Rights of Nature] to the test in a way that would ultimately affect the rest of the country. Your , so beautiful. And to someone who hasn't spent that much time looking at fungi they're mind-blowing. I mean, you hear about the diversity of it, but to actually see such gorgeous things is just amazing. Why do you take these wonderful photos? So I hope it doesn't come across as smug to say that's kind of the point. In my first trips to the neotropics, I was seeing these extraordinarily beautiful things that many of which had only ever been written about in a very cryptic, inaccessible Latin or science-speak in 100-year-old tombs collecting dust in the basements of university libraries that, like, you would have to paint a picture in your mind to be able to get an idea of what it looks like. If you can take good pictures of something, you can convey a lot of these characteristics that formerly would have just been illustrated or more often described using taxonomic terminology. There's a section of our paper called "simulated access", where we kind of make this case. The work that we did in Los Cedros, and the work that I try to do everywhere I go, is intended to be a kind of taxonomic brochure. So to not just have the data in a neat package tied with a bow to hand to the specialist, but to also have really captivating and feature-rich images so that they can see the thing. Instead of saying, 'Well, I think we may have found this species that was first described 125 years ago by a German botanist who came on a mission to a remote part of Brazil,' here's a picture of the thing so you can see it. And also have that picture be aesthetically pleasing enough that it appeals to all kinds of people, from a conservational standpoint, trying to galvanize public interest and capital W wonder to really see how extraordinary these things are. Because if we're after public funding or even private funding, the public and the private, I suppose, has to be compelled, has to see that there's something really, really captivating and beautiful there. So that's a big part of why. I just wanted to ask, what is a parataxonomist? I think if that were a Jeopardy question posed to the total world population, you might get 500 people who could answer it correctly. In 1991 an entomologist named Daniel Janzen wrote a paper called 'How to save tropical biodiversity,' and he correctly pointed out that there was this extraordinary amount of tropical biodiversity that at the current or historical rates of species description would take several thousands of years to fully describe. Given the obstacles faced by taxonomic research and researchers and to the planet, we didn't have that long left. And so he devised a division of labor system, which he called parataxonomy. He envisioned local people being trained up in doing essentially the first 90 yards of 100 yard sprint in order to maximize the time of the specialists, the PhD biodiversity researchers, who, up until this point, had been tasked with doing the entire 100 yards themselves, but really their expertise and time and resources were best applied to answering the questions that only they could answer. And you know, he also correctly pointed out that most of these specialists, historically, contemporarily, were coming from somewhere else. They were coming largely from the West to the Global South to do this work, and they could be there for maybe a few days to a few weeks, to, if you were lucky, a month or more. But that from a phenological perspective of what occurs at what times of year, that also is posing a limit that doesn't need to be there. Why not partner with people who are there all the time? Okay, could you tell me about the particular psychedelic mushroom you mentioned, ? So that one was one that had been found during expeditions prior to my involvement. The people who had collected it knew that it was a new species of psilocybin and had expressed an interest in publishing it then going out and collecting fresh material to serve as the type collection for that species that would happen later. They mounted their own separate expedition trip to Los Cedros and got new material to serve as the type for that, describing it and naming it after Paul Stamets. I talked about it a little bit, when I lectured on our work, that I think it was a curious choice to pick the white male straight CEO of a Fortune 500 company in North America to name the first new species of fungus described from Los Cedros after when there were a lot of other, maybe 'better alternatives' lying around. But I am much happier that we live in a mycological world with Paul Stamets in it, as opposed to one without him in it. If it ends up bringing more conservational attention to the reserve, that's positive. What's happened with descriptions of other fungi that you've found that were also never previously described? So those wheels have always moved extraordinarily slowly, and I wish that revelations like Dan Janzen's back in the early '90s would have really changed that in a permanent way, in a global way, but they haven't. We've got very, very few people who are still carrying out the very important and dramatically underfunded work of biodiversity and now, equally, conservation research at a time when every day it's needed more than the day before, and that is, I think, largely a funding problem. You could put the starting point of that as far back as the 1970s, the starting point that I pick in that article is the National Science Foundation coming out and declaring that they were essentially henceforth and forthwith [only] in the business of funding what they call transformative research, which is a little bit oxymoronic. It's like rewarding hips for being taller than feet. The only way you get transformative research is by having something to transform in the first place. So they want cake without having to pay for the flour, eggs and sugar. And this is like these are the vegetables that organismal biological science has to eat that may not have immediate, honestly, won't have immediate, sexy results. It's in the pure or unapplied kind of realm of the sciences that is just exploratory. Then the applied side comes later, people looking at what compounds exist in these things, what applications they might have. We're just in the interest of finding out who else is here on the spinning ball of juice in the sky, you know, whizzing through the galaxy at millions of miles an hour. And I think that that's beautiful and interesting enough in its own right. We don't have to be looking at nature in the form that I think far too many people do, that what can they do for us? I think there's a reverential approach that is just as, if not more, valuable.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Common Side Effects has been renewed for a second season by Adult Swim
Mushroom fans rejoice. Adult Swim has ordered a second season of its animated hit Common Side Effects. This is happening just ahead of the finale of the first season, which airs this weekend. For the uninitiated, Common Side Effects is something of an odd duck. It's a cartoon, but it's more of a thriller than a comedy. Mike Judge (Silicon Valley, King of the Hill) and Greg Daniels (The Office, Parks and Recreation) are onboard as executive producers, so there are some jokes. I guess it could be called a dramedy, but comedic thriller seems more apt. The plot follows two former high school lab partners who discover a mystical mushroom that can cure just about every disease. This forces them to go on the run from the DEA, big pharma and shadowy business entities. The animation style is certainly unique, and may not be for everyone, but the show really comes into its own after a few episodes. The voice cast includes Mike Judge, who played both Beavis and Butt-Head, and Martha Kelly, who starred in the animated Carol & the End of the World. She's also fantastic in Baskets and absolutely terrifying in the second season of Euphoria. The remaining cast includes Joseph Lee Anderson, Dave King and Emily Pendergast. Along with the renewal announcement, Adult Swim president Michael Ouweleen called the show a 'boundary-pushing and genre-defining piece of television.' He also praised fans for 'lighting up socials to spread the word.' Common Side Effects was created by Steve Hely, who wrote for American Dad and 30 Rock, and Joe Bennett, who made the criminally underrated (and now cancelled) Scavenger's Reign. The pair said their goal for the show is 'to transform planet Earth and restore the human spirit' but that they'll 'settle for a second season.'
