Field Notes on The FIVE Institute

The Ego Trip: Kimon de Greef on the Complicated History and Future of 5-MeO-DMT

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 00:00:00 -0700

In The FIVE Institute’s recent webinar, journalist and author Kimon de Greef joined us for a conversation about his new book, The Ego Trip, and the years of reporting that took him deep into the complicated world surrounding 5-MeO-DMT.

What began as an investigation into the poaching of Sonoran Desert toads eventually became a much larger story, one involving psychedelic tourism, contested Indigenous origin narratives, charismatic authority figures, ecological and human consequences, reports of harm, and an accelerating race to transform 5-MeO-DMT into a pharmaceutical treatment.

Federal Psychedelic Workforce & 5-MeO-DMT

Thu, 06 Aug 2026 00:00:00 -0700

In April 2026, President Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to accelerate research and expand patient access to psychedelic-assisted therapies. Within 90 days, that direction had moved toward concrete action.

On July 13, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Veterans Affairs signed a five-year agreement covering clinical research, workforce training, protocol development, and implementation planning, expressly aimed at preparing for the responsible deployment of future FDA-approved rapid-acting treatments for veterans.

What 5-MeO-DMT Actually Demands From Us

Fri, 10 Jul 2026 00:00:00 -0700

As 5-MeO-DMT continues to enter mainstream conversation, more people are asking the same questions: What is it? Why is it considered so powerful? What are the real risks? And how do you know whether a facilitator or container is truly prepared to hold this work?

What Bryan Johnson Did for This Field

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0700

A few days ago, Bryan Johnson, the biohacker who has spent millions quantifying every measurable function of his body, livestreamed himself taking 5-MeO-DMT in front of hundreds of thousands of people.

He called it the most profound experience of his life. He described ego dissolution, a childlike reset, and what felt like decades of psychological weight lifting in under 30 minutes. He backed it with brain scans. And then, unprompted, he turned to his audience and said: you should never do this without a professional facilitator.