Cedar Falls Mycology Podcast

About Cedar Falls Mycology Podcast

Explore the fascinating world of mycology through lectures, book reviews and interviews hosted by mycologist Tim Leavitt from the Cedar Falls Treehouse. The Treehouse is an educational mycology immersion facility located in North Bend, Washington. Recurring themes of these episodes will be mushrooms, mycozooism, ethnomycology, theoretical mycology, medicinal mycology and mycoremediation. Audience participation is strongly encouraged. You can contact us by email cedarfallsmycology@gmail.com or come visit us for a spectacular mushroom dinner and a magical evening immersed in the world of Fungi by booking the Cedar Falls Treehouse through AirBnB.

Publisher

cedarfallsmycology

Category

science

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

4 Nov 2024

Latest episode

11 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

22 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   11 Sept 2026

   Episode #22 "The World's Most Famous Mushroom" Featuring Eugenia Bone

   Alright good people  Welcome to episode number 22, “The World's Most Famous Mushroom”  ... Today’s guest and today’s mushroom really  don’t need an  introduction, but I’m gonna give them one anyway... Our guest is Eugenia Bone, Eugenia is an investigative journalist who focuses on mycology, she is a film star and more significantly,  she joined  us as a guest on the Cedar Falls Mycology Podcast Episode number 4 where we talked about her book “Have A Nice Trip”.  She also wrote the excellent book called Mycophilia and was the lead author on the “Fantastic Fungi” cookbook which was created to accompany the movie, in which she appears, Fantastic Fungi by Louie Schwartzberg.  If you enjoyed the Movie you will love the book.  It won the cookbook of the year award from Vanity Fair Magazine.  So that’s a bit about Eugenia if you missed episode #4 you might want to go back and check it out..  So , that is an introduction to our guest now, let’s introduce our mushroom. The mushroom we are talking about... “the world's most famous mushroom”  is the esteemed Amanita muscaria.      Amanita muscaria  an ecto mycorrhizal basidiomycete that is quite common in a variety of forests.   This mushroom has maintained a mycozooistic relationship with humans for thousands of years and is known by hundreds of common names spanning most of human history... The most common of the common names (at least in English)  is the fly amanita.  The genus name “Amanita” describes the shape of the mushroom and comes from the ancient Greek word Amanitai, (Ah mah neat tie )which likely refers to Mount Amanus.  The species name “Muscaria” Comes from the Latin word musca, meaning “fly”.  We will get into that more later. So what makes this the world’s most famous mushroom?  Well, the mushroom is  on stamps, it’s on postcards, it’s on ads, it’s on the emojis on your phone, it’s available as a plushy, on a pillow, on a shirt.... It is in video games, animals seek out its psychoactive properties, it is speculated that this mushroom laid the foundations of some of the world’s oldest religions... Religions that predate Christianity by 10,000 years... It is also possible that this mushroom is responsible for the story of Santa Claus... The mycorrhizal mycelial networks of Amanitas feed trees all over the planet. Forests are by definition a conglomerate of organisms from all Kingdoms of life. The mycelial networks of amanitas act as the circulatory system, immune system and even nervous system of the forest community itself, Amanita muscaria maintain mycozooistic relationships with many species of animals including humans who have been consuming this mushroom , for better or worse,  since our kind made the migration north from the fertile crescent into eastern Europe. This was many centuries before we made our way onto the North American continent. Humans have been interacting with this mushroom  since  a time when our species was just becoming what we now think of as “human” and by that I mean, apes with conscious thought, religion, mathematics,  farming and animal husbandry. As would be expected with any famous mushroom, rumors and scandals have followed the amanita muscaria throughout history to the point where it is often hard to tell fact from fiction or  ethnomycology from theoretical mycology.  However, it is the opinion of Cedar Falls Mycology that when we encounter these species of mushrooms that are widespread and  act as the lifeline of our forest, it is in mankind's best interest to  take special note as to how they conduct themselves. As an investigative mycology journalist Eugenia has recently set her sights on the massive and overwhelming subject of Amanita muscaria.  She is an expert on this subject and she is here so let’s ask her some questions. We will start with some urban myths  and ethnomycology then get into some more recent revelations.... so let’s get to some questions with Eugenia

2. 

   13 Jul 2026

   Episode #21 "What's Going On At The Telluride Mushroom Festival" Featuring Britt Bunyard

   Greetings everyone. This is Tim Leavitt from Cedar Falls Mycology,   Welcome to Episode #21 of the  podcast where we ask ourselves not what the fungi can do for us... But what we can do  for the fungi.  Join us as we explore the world of Fungi... a world not more complex than you think but more complex than you can think. On today’s episode we are going to talk with Britt Bunyard about the Telluride Mushroom Festival.  Britt Bunyard is a world esteemed mycologist.  He is the editor of Fungi Magazine, the author of several excellent books and the organizer of the telluride mushroom festival.  Hopefully you all remember him from episode 17.  If you are just joining us you have a little homework to do.  You might want to check out that episode.  It’s one of my favorites. We are podcasting from The Cedar Falls Tree house in beautiful North Bend Washington.  The Cedar Falls Treehouse is a mycology education facility available through Airbnb.  Come join us for a magical evening immersed in the fascinating world of Fungi.

3. 

   9 Jul 2026

   Episode #20 "There's A Mushroom For That" Book Review Featuring Dr. Rob Silver

   All right, good people. Welcome to episode #20 where we are going to talk with Dr. Rob Silver about his new book “There is a Mushroom for that” Learn How Mushrooms, Cannabis and Integrative Medicine Help Your Pets Live Long and Healthy lives.   This book is a guide to managing your pets' health. We love to talk about mycozooism on this show,  that is the interconnectedness of fungi and animals.  We have mentioned on this show several times that animals and Fungi share a common ancestor and that Animals and Fungi are much more closely related to Animals than plants.  Knowing this  it seems pretty reasonable to assume that many of the medicinal properties of  functional medicinal mushrooms would apply to animals, in a similar way that they apply to humans. When it comes to medicinal mushrooms the old saying “An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of Cure”  is definitely true,  historically mushrooms have been included in diets as a defense as much as a cure  but they are also used to boost one's immune system  therefore encouraging your body to fight off disease. Like most mushroom books this  book starts with a mandatory introduction to Mushrooms and Mushroom physiology.  I have obviously read a lot of these books and Dr. Rob's take on the subject is exceptional. Then the book moves into a discussion of Medicinal  mushrooms and Dr Silver's experience and expertise really shines through and grabs your attention as he makes this complex subject easy to understand.  Dr. Rob explains what the active compounds like Beta glucans, Ergosterol and Cholesterol Statins are actually doing.  He then describes the benefits of 11 commonly used medicinal mushrooms and tells you how to give them to your pets. In the second half of the book Dr. Silver  draws on his 40 years of experience in veterinary medicine to look at actual case studies of mushrooms and cannabinoids being used  treat his furry patients for ailments including Skin Allergies, behavior problems, cancer, arthritis, digestive disorders and Epilepsy.  Dr. Silver translates complicated studies into language that anyone can understand This book is  fascinating to say the least and is a must add to your mycological library but don’t just take that from me... Dr Silver is here so let’s ask him some questions... www.wellpetdispensary.com www.RealMushrooms.com

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

12 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 15 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

17

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

32

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