Welcome to Afterglow, a newsletter that will change your mind. My name is Charles Bliss and I'm a psychedelic journalist from Norwich, UK.
This week, I am excited to launch my YouTube channel, which will explore The Beatles mythology, psychedelic research and death studies. Watch the first video now!
When Radiohead's Thom Yorke was asked what he thought his greatest strength was, he said: “That I don’t know what I’m doing.”
With that in mind, I am psyched to release the first video from my new YouTube channel!
I recently starting writing a manuscript for my first book. The book is about three topics: The Beatles, psychedelics and death.
On my YouTube channel, I will document my writing progress as the book takes shape and provide entertaining, educational videos of historic and cultural interest about The Beatles mythology, psychedelic literature and death studies.
The first video discusses Albert Hofmann’s discovery of LSD, Dr Roland Griffith’s research at the Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Research Unit into how psilocybin can help people come to terms with their mortality, and why The Beatles are the perfect jumping off point for psychedelic journalism.
I decided to take the plunge and launch the channel as a method for keeping myself accountable by publishing regular content after reading Show Your Work (2014) by Austin Kleon.
Kleon writes:
The best way to get started on the path to sharing your work is to think about what you want to learn, and make a commitment to learning it in front of others.
I plan to publish videos about John, Paul, George and Ringo and their connection with the psychedelic revolution of the 1960s, including their most outrageous drug stories. I'll also talk about how songs by The Beatles are used in psychedelic-assisted therapy playlists today.
I want to run a series of obituaries exploring the lives and deaths of people connected with The Beatles. And I will review books of Beatles literature while telling the stories behind their music.
But the channel will also continue to explore psychedelic journalism and the same subjects that I write about in this newsletter and on my blog.
Another long-term goal of the channel is community-building. As Kleon says:
Make stuff you love and talk about stuff you love and you’ll attract people who love that kind of stuff. It’s that simple.
By making my book-writing process public, I hope to invite everyone interested not only in The Beatles but also those interested in the psychedelic field along for the trip.
I wanted to thank you again for subscribing to Afterglow and supporting my writing. If you're enjoying the ride so far, I invite you to subscribe to the new YouTube channel and share my first video with anyone who might be interested. Any comments or feedback would be warmly appreciated.
Peace.
🤯 Mind at Large
A breakdown of mind-blowing ideas I encountered this week:
📖 Book – The Love You Make: An Insider's Story of The Beatles (1983) by Peter Brown. This book, written by the personal assistant of The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein, is considered the essential backstage perspective on the Fab Four. My favourite story from the book is how John Lennon had a mortar and pestle at home in which he would grind up barbiturates, amphetamines and psychedelics. Lennon would dip his finger and lick it, randomly dosing himself on certain days when he wanted a kick.
"Psychedelic vision is reality to me and always was."
John Lennon
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