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Episode 122 - ADHD and Mushrooms - Brains, Networks, and Zombie Ants 🍄🧠
56 Plays5 days ago
Welcome back to ADHDville. Population: Us, and the 1,600 football pitches of fungus we apparently live on top of.
This week, Ex-Mayors Martin and Paul finally answer the question you’ve all been asking: What do mushrooms have to do with ADHD?
Spoiler: It’s not just about pizza toppings.
We dive deep (and by deep, we mean we read some articles and then immediately got distracted) into the weird and wonderful world of fungi. Martin drops some knowledge on the gut-brain connection and how inflammation in your biome might be messing with your dopamine. Meanwhile, Paul reveals that he spent his time in Italy stalking mushroom hunters and laughing at them.
In this episode, we discuss:
- ADHD and the Gut: Is your second brain sabotaging your first one?
- The Humongous Fungus: The 2,400-year-old network in Oregon that thinks like an ADHD brain.
- Zombie Ants: The fungus that takes over ant brains (and why it’s strangely fascinating).
- Neurospicy Connections: Why we click with strangers so fast (and why it’s not always romantic).
- Microdosing Research: The Ivy League is studying this—but does it actually help us focus? (Spoiler: It’s complicated).
PLUS: Was Paul’s on the back page of The Sun with Telly Savalas? We need to talk about it.
If you’ve ever been told you think like a mycelium network, or you just really like mushrooms on your steak, this is the episode for you.
🔗 Subscribe so you don’t miss next week—we’re tackling ADHD and Love for Valentine’s Day.
Recommended
Transcript
Welcome to ADHDville
00:00:00
Speaker
Yeah, back in the room, mate. Back in the room. Back in the bleeding room. Back in the bleeding. and All right. So ah let's go to a place where the distractions, landmarks and the details are the main roads. Welcome to ADHDville.
00:00:16
Speaker
Come on. It's happening again. Talking about mush. Talking about mush.
Personal ADHD Journeys
00:00:35
Speaker
today well you're a fun guy aren't you got it in there and I was diagnosed with combined yes combined ADH and ADD two years ago jesus And I'm Martin Weston, I was diagnosed with the combined ADHD poo-poo platter in 2013. And we start off, as always, the ex-mayors of ADHD in the King's Agitated Head pub in ADHDville.
00:01:08
Speaker
And this week we're going to be talking about ADHD and fun guy, mushrooms. Mushrooms. And we will have a quiz at the end. Yes. And you know who's – so Seth, who's our who who's our minister of of head things, yeah if I remember rightly, doesn't like mushrooms.
00:01:32
Speaker
Come on. It's the same guy that's from Wisconsin type thing and yeah likes beer and cheese soup. Yep. Yep.
00:01:43
Speaker
Yep, yep. That same Seth. Yep, doesn't like mushrooms. Okay, I think we need to get him We to get him back on. He needs to defend himself.
00:01:55
Speaker
I don't think he has to because... because i think he needs to defend himself. I'm going to... I won half of the jury on this podcast. Oh, my God.
00:02:10
Speaker
ah All right, well, I will attempt to di de diff defend sensory issues, but ah we should... we should ah Where are we going to talk about mushrooms, Mr... I think, hang on, we're going to the library, Martin. Yeah, cu
Mushroom Preferences and Experiences
00:02:31
Speaker
that's good, because because we might learn something.
00:02:34
Speaker
might learn something. Well, um ah like go to the library, look up, go to the biology section or the nature section, or both, and read about mushrooms. Why not?
00:02:48
Speaker
Find a quiet corner. Yeah. All right.
00:02:55
Speaker
Let's do
00:03:00
Speaker
this. We haven't been here for a while. No. Is that because you've got some overdue books, Martin? you know what? I mean, i'm pretty sure that I never returned to all the books that I ever borrowed from my library when I was a kid.
00:03:18
Speaker
Yeah. yeah I'm sure that library overdue books and ADHD are a thing. Oh, absolutely.
00:03:29
Speaker
In fact, I'm so um i'm surprised now that that if you do have ADHD, that you aren't ah allowed to actually physically take a book out of the store because it's never coming back.
00:03:41
Speaker
Get out of my pub. Get out of my pub. We could almost do an now we can almost do an episode, ADHD and overdue books at the library.
00:03:53
Speaker
Oh, Jesus. I think I'd just be like, yeah, I had a lot. All right, that's done. but Anyway, all right, mushrooms. I think i've got I've got three main little topics, but I kind of feel like that the the the obvious one is like eating them.
00:04:10
Speaker
and Yeah. they you know ah I mean, I have mushrooms. I like mushrooms. I like all kinds of mushrooms. That's a good place to start. That's a great place to start.
00:04:22
Speaker
I have mushrooms on pizza. I love mushrooms now, and I used to hate them. Oh, yes, that's right. So how did that happen? to Talk us through it, Paul. Talk us through it.
00:04:36
Speaker
I just slap myself in the face and like them some somehow. You will like... Yeah. I tell you, it's very specific. We didn't have a lot of mushroomage in our house, in our household. There wasn't a lot of...
00:04:52
Speaker
mushroom presents fungi presents in our household well my mom used to make a very good spaghetti bolognese they included mushrooms and she had to make a separate spaghetti bolognese without the mushrooms for me right she had to pick them out until i was seen in my late teens well pick them out yeah she just picked them out mate um ah Wow.
00:05:19
Speaker
that's ah That's all right. and then and then And then what happened on that glorious day, Paul? I don't know. When you ate one? I think it's not it wasn't about the texture. It wasn't about anything.
00:05:34
Speaker
that anything flavor-wise, is when I started to pay for my own food, Martin. Okay. All right. And and i it somehow gave everything a totally different spectrum in my mind in terms of, you know, gastronomically.
00:05:54
Speaker
i opened up my my eyes
Gut Health and ADHD
00:05:56
Speaker
and my and i my tongue to new experiences. Oh, that's interesting. I appreciated food better. Would I pay st pay for it out of my pocket?
00:06:08
Speaker
Right. So you would actually assess it like, i'm I'm going to pay for this thing. Is it worth it? Am I going to enjoy it? Otherwise, I'm not going to spend money. Am missing out? Well, I like that. I like that. That is that is ah that's ah very in interesting. Yeah, because I know that, ah I mean, Seth is not the only one who you who has an as a mushroom.
00:06:32
Speaker
as it lucky Maybe Seth hasn't started paying for his own food yet. um He's still. He has a job. He has a job.
00:06:44
Speaker
I'm sure how he can afford to buy mushrooms if he wants when When he came on our podcast, he did look quite adulty. He looked like an adult to me. Yes, he was very much grown up and at that point.
00:06:58
Speaker
And therefore paying for his own food. Okay. Yeah. All right. Oh, Jesus. We'll call that some kind of measurement. Mm-hmm.
00:07:09
Speaker
Well, mean, so, okay. So, you know, let us know in the comments if you like mushrooms or you hate mushrooms, but they do have that kind of like spongy. Yeah.
00:07:20
Speaker
I'm going to say slimy texture when they cook. It's slimy. It's a bit like if you don't like mushrooms, it's highly unlikely that you're going to eat snails.
00:07:33
Speaker
Oh, yeah, I imagine. Highly. Similar level of sliminess. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I do actually quite like snails. Anyway, um ah yeah, and they also have that kind of, they have a just distinct flavor as well. They've got this umami. Oh, yeah. um Yeah. An earthy, earthy flavor. Totally. Yeah.
00:08:01
Speaker
There is, but then but then in you know the world of mushrooms, in Italy, for example, and I think in most countries, the porcini mushrooms, I think, are massively overrated.
00:08:15
Speaker
They have like they've like got godlike status in in Italy. To the extent when I lived, I had a ah kind of um a chestnut grove in Umbria in Italy. And it was that it happened to be in the middle of like a famous mushroom hunting area as well.
00:08:35
Speaker
oh You know, chestnuts, you know, mushrooms,
Mushroom Microdosing Research
00:08:41
Speaker
porcini, and tartufo. What's it called?
00:08:46
Speaker
A truffle? Truffles, yeah. It was all that kind of thing. And the Italians, they could they would go mad for the porcini mushrooms, right? And they would hand it down, secrets through family, through generations, hand it down, the secrets of where to find the mushroom. People would park up, they'd drive into the mountains, the locals would.
00:09:07
Speaker
drive up into mountains park, and you could tell by their body language that it was a habitual thing that they did, you know, every two or three weeks. And they would go to where they knew the family Porcini were.
00:09:24
Speaker
Oh, wow. and And it was a closely and they would go there and they would check behind them. They weren't being followed. Right. Spied on. Except by you. like They would make a visit by me, clearly. And they'd make a beeline.
00:09:40
Speaker
for that place, right? Right. And then come back again. But they missed out. oh I would look at them and laugh, laugh. I would laugh at them because they were walking past, I think, what the the best mushrooms were, the less well-known ones, Martin. Okay.
00:10:02
Speaker
I love that. Lesser-known mushrooms like... um There's one, there's mushrooms that are like black and they're forming clusters. And they're called um ah they called ah black trumpets.
00:10:15
Speaker
Okay. Oh, I know them, yes. They were black trumpets. Oh, and then things like... Yeah, in butter. Or like a mixed wild mushroom risotto.
00:10:30
Speaker
Oh, there you go. Oh, see, there you go. Yeah. Mushroom risotto. Come on. Mushroom risotto. Oh, man. But the porcino with risotto, I don't think works. doesn't work.
00:10:43
Speaker
It doesn't work for me. All right. There we go. It's not the same kind of earthy, woody taste you get from the other lesser known types everywhere. Right.
00:10:56
Speaker
So, mean, like, I just want to say, so there's the sensory issue of them, which is one thing. And then another thing is, don't know if you've got this in your notes, about ADHD and your gut brain.
00:11:11
Speaker
And your gut biome.
00:11:16
Speaker
don't have that. I have many things about mushrooms, but don't have the gut biome. Gut biome. So basically your gut is like your second second brain.
00:11:30
Speaker
Yes. and And it's like, and it's like i it it it feels like as the years go on, it, everyone's becoming much more kind of aware of how important it is and what stuff you've got down there.
00:11:46
Speaker
Isn't it because the gut, the reason they say that is because the gut has its own, almost almost its own um nervous system, something like that?
00:11:58
Speaker
expect it. It does. It has all these different, don't know what you call them, little tiny animal-y, plant-y things in them. And one of them is the... Bacteria.
00:12:17
Speaker
Yeah. yeah I guess so. I mean, you i am I am feeling kind of slightly out of my depth here, but I i do know slightly out of my depth I am wee out of my depth.
00:12:31
Speaker
this Let's do a podcast about it. Yeah, so let's talk about the things we don't know about. Yes. I honestly think that that is what this whole podcast is, is you and me talking about shit we don't know much about.
00:12:47
Speaker
Let's titter around on the superficial reality of our knowledge on another subject. Right. But then we'll just talk about some random anti anecdote that we do know something about. Yeah. Like like Paul following groups of people as they go to their family mushrooms and laughing at them. It's like stalking on a mushroom kind of vibe.
00:13:16
Speaker
Anyway, so back to the back to the yeah to see your your your gut health. So um it turns out that ah one of the um that your gut contains a community of fungi, primarily the candida species, which are normal in balance but can over overgrow.
00:13:41
Speaker
and this And if they do overgrow, that that that um can damage the gut lining, triggering chronic low-grade system since the systematic in in ah systematically in in inflamm inflammation. so So if your if your gut biome does get inflamed, it can actually kind of go up and then reach your your head. Okay, great.
00:14:06
Speaker
i mean and and and thats And that systematic in inflammation can lead to neuroinflammation, which disrupts dopamine signaling, neural connectivity and executive function directly making the ADHD symptoms worse.
00:14:24
Speaker
so so that's kind of like how it kind of connects so if you get inflammation um you know if you're if if you're if your gut biome is not in balance um yeah that that inflammation can affect the dopamine production okay so there you go yeah but this is there's a there's a lot i've got quite a lot about there's a lot of um mushroom microdosing kind of research going going on at the moment.
00:14:56
Speaker
Oh, tell me more. Oh, that's... Dr. Thornton. And um um this is up to date. This is up to date as well. There's like... Research many different levels. Okay. In terms of... On the theme of ADHD and autism, right? Okay. On the aspect of focus for ADHDers...
00:15:18
Speaker
Okay. No significant progress has been made up to now, Martin. Oh, that's the news we were looking for. Nothing's happening. if Other than there was no difference from the placebo effect.
00:15:33
Speaker
Okay. But, all right well, let's start with the other ones. terms of safety, right, in terms of, you know, we're talking about, I don't know, general safety, like driving in a car and things like that.
00:15:46
Speaker
Yes. Things like that. um Actually improves proves our kind of decision-making. Oh, no. But increases incidence of headaches and nausea.
00:15:59
Speaker
Ooh, don't want that. So, okay. Neuroplasticity. So in terms of neuroplasticity, what does that mean? Rewiring the ADHD brain yeah observed in labs but lead to AD relief is unproven up to now. Okay. But here's the good news.
00:16:20
Speaker
It does improve our mood. Microdosing, proven results of mood. Okay. All right. So next thing you're thinking is I bet everyone is shouting at us, saying, yes, Paul and Martin.
00:16:36
Speaker
What? Okay, but, you know, who's doing that research? Is it like, you know, so some two kids in a, like, home home, some kind of home lab, you know? Right.
00:16:48
Speaker
Is it like big? Fisher Price. It's massive amounts. Big fungi. It's massive. It's like... 30 to 50 major organizations, including elite university, um non-profit institutes, and multi-billion biotech firms, right?
00:17:11
Speaker
It's massive. They can sell money. Because they've understood there's tons of money in it. Even like the what they call here, the Ivy League of psychedelic research,
00:17:25
Speaker
are doing trials and research, including John Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, in Imperial College London, King's College London and Maastricht University. So the Ivy League are all going to look into this. What does that tell us, Martin? What does it tell us?
00:17:45
Speaker
It tells us that they know there's money to be made, which is great. Yes. Right? Good for them. Potentially bucket loads. a that right Barrow
Metaphorical Networks: Fungi and ADHD
00:17:56
Speaker
loads.
00:17:57
Speaker
But it's also saying something positive could come out of it.
00:18:04
Speaker
okay time and energy and money into it so it could be good news in a not too long distant future it could help out it could help our our adhd brains is what you're saying here exactly exactly that the the funny thing is because i'm in italy And I did this research. is hilarious.
00:18:27
Speaker
Yeah? Yeah, that is hilarious. Because I did this research, okay, using AI, you know, gathering the latest info about this stuff, it thinks it knows that I'm in Italy and it gave me a warning
00:18:46
Speaker
that in Italy there are specific laws that
00:18:52
Speaker
that could put me in danger of, you know, ah criminal activity. and just saying I'll give you you this information. just just But we notice you live in Italy. So just be careful yeah about how far you take your research.
00:19:09
Speaker
We'll just put you down on a list over here. Exactly. so That's it. So, yeah. Watch out for the hymn. um So ah bit of a kind of you know top level like um idea of where research is going at the moment.
00:19:26
Speaker
Like it. Could be interesting in a not too distant future. Right. Because obviously ah I'm going to talk about networks now.
00:19:37
Speaker
Yes. Because that that feels like a thing because, you know, because um i yeah I think I have, where was it? There was like a little in interesting fungus fact somewhere that I did have. Is it, I've got something on this.
00:19:55
Speaker
Is it that it's the largest largest living organism on earth? Yeah. Yeah. It says here, forget the blue whale, the ho who humongous fungus, which is in Latin is the Ameliana Osteiae, in Oregon, ah Oregon is in the States, right? Yep.
00:20:19
Speaker
Yeah. Covers nearly 10 square kilometers, with the equivalent of 1,600 football pitches. is thousands of years old and lives mostly underground as a massive network of mycelium.
00:20:37
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's estimated to be between and years currently Wow.
00:20:50
Speaker
And that's amazing. Right. And it's just a single interconnected organism um yeah which makes up this underground network, which is kind of interesting because it's kind of like how our brains are oh wired in that, you know, is is that, you know,
00:21:14
Speaker
is that you know we we kind of think, and I mean, if if if if if I start thinking about it abs abstractly, it is kind of like you know we think in this kind of decentralized way, right? So that we are we are creative. Our thinking is not step A, B, or C, or D. we we We make these leaps around...
00:21:41
Speaker
different things and connect different things in ah and our network is ah is actually kind of, um it's quite interesting. So we're not scatterbrained, but a network-based intelligence suited for for creative problem solving and making novel connections.
00:22:04
Speaker
So I kind of quite liked... you know like how ceased on our brains and and fungi and this network was kind of like felt like oh wo we're kind of like we're kind of like each eat each other and then there was this thing about you know if you see a mushroom you know like those those trumpet mushrooms or the porcini or whatever po porcini is that right that sounds like uh sounds like a comp composer
00:22:36
Speaker
ye Paul's gone. He's disappeared. He's gone away. um just going to have to wait here until he comes. Hey. Paul.
00:22:47
Speaker
Hey. Yeah, weird. Connection went down. I think the general wasn't me. was just like... It was on my phone and everywhere. Oh.
00:23:00
Speaker
Well, that's no fun. No. and So what happened to what we recorded? No, i just i know it's it's fine. i just left it I just left it to rick rick record. So you just came out and come back and I'll just cut an entire chunk out of this whole thing. So we'll just carry on.
00:23:22
Speaker
i come I was talking about and fungus and networks and yeah and i was like thinking slightly ab ab abstractly about it and I was just going on to say that you know the the the mushrooms that we eat right?
00:23:38
Speaker
You know, like the things on the pizza, that's the kind of, that's the fruit of the, of the fungus network, right? that's That's just one small part of it that just pops up and it becomes sort of, it becomes visible. Yeah.
00:23:56
Speaker
visible part of this soundla of this network which kind of makes me feel like you know like when we you know when we are like you know little ah creative hyper focused people that we kind of run around and then we we make stuff happen like we might do a you know you might do a painting and I might I might write some music or but whatever it is that you do you might cook a meal or
00:24:29
Speaker
I might need a jumper. You might. You might knit one, Paul, one day. Or gilet, like a vest. All right, nice. and And those things are almost like the the fruit. They are the mushroom of the of the whole ADHD um that of ah the whole adad network. you know like A collective network of of what of like creative
00:25:00
Speaker
Well, no, no. I mean, like, we have we have and an a network, perhaps a brain that is a network, but but but you don't see it. You only see the fruit of it. So if you just sculpture, that is the fruit. I've got you,
00:25:17
Speaker
Or I create some music, and that's the that's the that's the mushroom of the whole fungi system. It's the bit that you see.
00:25:28
Speaker
Yeah. It's the fruit of our kind of connectivity. Mm-hmm. I totally get that. Yeah. I mean, it has yeah no real... No real... I mean, that's only like...
00:25:44
Speaker
but No, it totally makes sense to me. It's like, you know, when maybe the ADHD or autistic community is like one massive fungus in the end. We're all interconnected, not by like physical roots, but by electronic signals.
00:26:00
Speaker
Yeah, by TikTok and and yeah Facebook and network and social networks and people networks. We're all just kind of like, you know what, that's that's really interesting. or just maybe we're we're kind fundamentally connected by inappropriate jokes and comments.
00:26:20
Speaker
That is a corner of, yes. Cornerstone of of the ADHD community. It's like bad jokes and inappropriate comments. Right. You know what? if you If you want to be part of this ADHD slash LDHD community, you you have to you know you have you have to come up to the bouncer on the front door and then tell you in tell tell him a really bad joke.
00:26:46
Speaker
Yeah. or something really sort of inappropriate. And it'd be like, and and if he deems it to be, to be stupid enough. Yeah. again Right. That's one thing up to two and a bit years. Well, it's almost two and a half years now, two and a half years of diet being diagnosed is for me, it's a total joy of um those kind of making those kinds of connections. Sometimes we total strangers and, And I liken it to, let you know, when dogs sniff each other's arses.
00:27:21
Speaker
Very well. They decide whether they're going to like each other or not. Yeah. we I like to think we do the same. We like throw in, you know, we throw, and like going fishing, we throw in a hook. Right.
00:27:35
Speaker
and you make some inappropriate comment, inappropriate comment, and you see what they you hear or feel what they come back with, it's like, oh, yes, they there can they come from my planet.
00:27:48
Speaker
Right. Yeah, yeah. No, I mean, like that whole dog sniffing thing, when you said, you know, we do the same thing, was thinking, I don't,
00:28:01
Speaker
I think it would be in it in inapp inappropriate if I started to sniff another dog's butt. You know, like if you're out walking your your dog and yeah and and the other and the dog you you meet another dog and the dog sniffs each other's butt, it would be weird if if I went, I don't know this dog. Let me sniff that dog's butt.
00:28:24
Speaker
like them yeah you know Let me just get in there. Yeah. it It'd be weird. Right. and Yeah. And and inappropriate, i I would suspect. Yeah.
00:28:36
Speaker
I mean, there's unmasking and there's unmasking, isn't there? There is going too far. There's going too far. And
Intellectual Intimacy in Neurodivergence
00:28:44
Speaker
and i thought I may have crossed the line there.
00:28:47
Speaker
But have you had people like I, well, ah one of our first guests on the podcast was ah um um Alice. Okay. Alicia. Okay. Oh, yeah.
00:28:58
Speaker
um have her um online name is shitty kitty right hello by the way if you're watching we we met up and we were complete strangers she was sitting on a stall and she was having to be part of it she was out she had a gig on that night but I didn't know that and we just looked at each other from a different know from one side of the room to other we were chatting for like endlessly right like instant instant connection that's really really cool she was like hang on is it is it that guy from that podcast yeah yeah but that was before the podcast this is 12 years ago is it the guy that's going to be in a podcast in about 12 years time right yeah there you go go and go and say that happened to you
00:29:54
Speaker
Yeah, no that there are there are certain people that you, you know, and you feel this on TikTok. and I mean, it's absolutely undeniable. You'll just come across people and you will just click.
00:30:11
Speaker
Yeah, totally. So Alexandra's one. so a alexandra's won yeah Yeah. yeah I've got, you know, there's Carol and Lee and I mean, that yeah you kind of find these people and and you just like, eights it's, it's,
00:30:31
Speaker
You know, like how um I think this is probably a fairly common experience with ah or ADHD, LDHD and autistic people is that you will meet someone and as you say, you someone will say something and it will like you go and you click into it.
00:30:48
Speaker
and then you And then you say something and you click further into it and you just kind of keep talking and and you just kind of get... You just kind of get closer and closer and closer and closer really kind of quickly. it's Yeah.
00:31:00
Speaker
It's an insect. I don't think neurotypical people have that. Oh, that's interesting. Well, now you say it, I completely agree, 100% agree now you say that.
00:31:15
Speaker
Yeah, that's interesting. And then... At some point, you'll go, oh are you you know are yeah are you, you know, do you have ADHD or do you know wo but but whatever it is that you kind of think, or you say, I am. you kind think, you know what? I think i've fair um I'm in fairly solid ground here, and I will say, yeah, you know, I i have ADHD or whatever. it and then And then they say what they have, and you go, oh, yeah, no, that makes vi And if if that connection happens between happens to be between a man and a woman, it could be, could be, I'm saying, could be, um misunderstood as a sexual attraction, but it's not necessarily at all.
00:32:00
Speaker
No. It's just as a strong connection. This is something that comes up once in a while. You kind of like, you you kind of,
00:32:12
Speaker
connect on such a deep level quite quickly. Yes. And be and intimately. Yes. that it It feels like that. But actually, I mean, I but i was talking to someone else about it, Carol, ah a while back, and I'll say, yeah, it's not a romantic thing. It's like it actually goes way deeper than,
00:32:38
Speaker
Totally agree. Totally. It's this really intense, intimate um you know openness, which which ah which is, i mean, on the you know it it is quite dis disorientating at first.
00:32:56
Speaker
but once you wrap your head around it also liberating yeah that's it you just like open up and it's like oh god this is amazing yeah because i think that's you talked before you spoke before about how um neurotypicals um don't have something i don't think neurotypicals have that level of freedom where they or awareness that they can have you know, their
00:33:30
Speaker
imagination can go that far. Right. You know, to think, oh, I can be deeply intimate with someone, even someone of the opposite sex, but that doesn't mean to say that it's sexual. It could mean that it's just intimately um intellectually
00:33:52
Speaker
Right, or even so ah sort of in emotionally yeah in intimate, but but but not in a sexual way. Freud, if you read his letters, he once one time Freud and Nietzsche, they were best of friends. If you read their communications, the letters they would write to each other, you would think that they were lovers, right? Freud and Nietzsche.
00:34:22
Speaker
um But actually, i mean, literally sound literally sounds like love those like love letters. Actually, it was a deep and intimate intellectual relationship.
00:34:33
Speaker
Yeah.
Fungi Characteristics and ADHD
00:34:35
Speaker
i know. it's It is fucking nuts. It's got nothing to do with mushrooms, except maybe we just say that this is how... Interconnectivity. i'm not yeah where you I like the way you went with that, and you know and we spent the last 40 minutes discussing it. I like that. So do I. No, it it's... Oh, God. It is a... Oh, yeah. no I mean, yeah.
00:35:00
Speaker
I mean... On that thing, yeah. Yes. i also say On on that theme, um do you know that um mushrooms are more related to humans than they are plants? I did know that, Paul.
00:35:17
Speaker
Okay. In my research. Let's on. did know that. Well, that was fucking Jesus Christ. Did you know that they breathe like us?
00:35:28
Speaker
No. Plants taking ah help carbon diox dioxide and release oxygen. Okay. i right Fungi do the opposite. They inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide just like we do. Isn't that
00:35:49
Speaker
that is you know the this the scariest thing that and you've probably come come across this because because you you like a good documentary as well as the next man the whole zombie ant Yes, I've got that as well. You have the zombie ant thing. So that is where, I mean, I'm i'm sure most people know this, but an ant can be in in in in infected and the and the and the fungus goes into the little ant brain.
00:36:29
Speaker
Yeah. um And it compels the ant to climb to a specific height, Very specific, optimal for fungal growth, bite down on a leaf vein with a death grip caused by fungus-induced muscle atrophy.
00:36:49
Speaker
Which is like paralysis. like parassis And then erupts a stalk from the ant's head to rain spores down on more ants.
00:37:03
Speaker
Amazing. It's like the most horrific thing ever. Yeah. Isn't that amazing? and my And it reminds me that it's like, oh, look, guys, why did you do a podcast episode about ADHD and ADHD?
00:37:24
Speaker
And mushrooms, well apart from the like the detail that we've just spoken about, right? Yes. It's also mushrooms are ah infinite ah in terms of um um stimulation and what you call it, in
00:37:43
Speaker
in terms of ADHD and stimuli and dopamine. Dopamine. Yes. Mushrooms are a bit like the... um the space and, you know, astronomy and all this kind infinite source of of wonder.
00:38:01
Speaker
That's point I'm getting to. in Infinite. I mean, this is what we're talking about with of mushrooms. It's just like, that's just what we know about them up to now.
00:38:13
Speaker
Right. They've got a whole secret life. Maybe they're gambling secretly. Maybe they've got lots of another mushroom on the side. There's also, you spoke of a particular type of fungus called the Ophiocordiaceps, right?
00:38:33
Speaker
I did. There's another mushroom called the Phallus impidicus. Oh, hang on. Phallus. Probably known as the stinkhorn. Oh, yeah. Smells like rotting meat to attract flies.
00:38:49
Speaker
Right? Smells like... The flies land on the mushroom, get covered in its spores, fly away, and act as if like a free delivery service for the mushroom's offspring.
00:39:04
Speaker
Jesus Christ. See? Nature. Nature. Nature. nature nature um there's another mushroom that can create its own a lot of well a lot of mushrooms can create their own weather systems oh yeah i think i saw that in passing yeah amazing amazing amazing mind officially right yeah right
00:39:34
Speaker
yeah Love it. But yeah, for me, it's like such a ah rich source of of wonder. A rich mushroom source. Yes. Yeah.
00:39:46
Speaker
For me, it's like drugs. I love this kind of, you know, developing this kind of knowledge for me. It's like a drug for me. It's like a drug. You like your little so yeah that yeah also dopamine hits from doing some research. Totally.
00:40:05
Speaker
All right. Have we got any else that you want to add? Well, I could. I mean, we'd probably, you know, in a couple of years' told time, we'll episode number two of mushrooms.
00:40:17
Speaker
You know, we'll find out more information. I could see There's so much potential. But... We don't have four hours for an episode, so probably we could move on.
00:40:28
Speaker
Okay. All right. Well, there there's there's there's not mushroom left in this in this podcast episode. Oh, God. mushroom stuff.
00:40:40
Speaker
Shame. Oh, fucking hell. ah shame if You're shameless. are you You're shameless, Martin. Shame. um love you
Mushroom Rating System
00:40:51
Speaker
what shame i have no shame um okay then that just means that let me just scroll down it's time to rate it's time for the for the rating system that's easy so are you ready yeah here we go here we go
00:41:15
Speaker
Mushrooms. Is it a dopamine hit or is it a burnout thing? What say you, Mr. T, on the mushrooms? I'm going to give it a solid nine and a half.
00:41:29
Speaker
Oh, all-time high. I will also give give it a nice high eight out of ten closed because they are good. I love them in soups. I love them met everywhere, fried in butter. I mean, i've met I've never met a mushroom I didn't like.
00:41:48
Speaker
You know what mean? Even the kind of weird, even the weird ones that you get in in in China, which are kind of like, although I think that's, yeah, they're they're a little bit kind spongier.
00:42:01
Speaker
Yeah. So what about a burnout score? I mean, obviously, if you're Seth, you're, you're, you know, because you've got, you know, because you don't like them, that's going to like a 10. But for you and me, probably be very low, right? I mean, what's the hate? going to one.
00:42:16
Speaker
What's the hate? The only reason why it's not a zero is because there's probably, it's probably because if I just ate mushrooms all day and all night, it would be ridiculous and probably make me ill.
00:42:34
Speaker
Yep. Right? And there's some badass mushrooms out there. Oh, yeah, you could pick the wrong one. you could pick the wrong one.
00:42:47
Speaker
It's like going to the disco in the 1970s and getting off with a girl and don't realise that she's a psychopath. Oh, Jesus Christ. You know.
00:43:00
Speaker
but What? It's funny. You just weren't discerning enough. but ah soly enough So like you go to a club and you and you meet a nice girl. mean, what do you do? You give do you give her luck as a so as like a psychiatric e evaluation like oh it just wearing a Red hat, you know, like a death cat mushroom.
00:43:26
Speaker
see if She looked like a mushroom. Beware! A death cap. She was wearing anything red. Beware. ah oh Oh, Jesus Christ.
00:43:39
Speaker
Oh, there you go. So, you know, be careful what you pick. I think that's we're saying here. that's That's the advice from us. Be careful what what you pick.
00:43:50
Speaker
Yeah. Just saying, could you imagine me? This is me without drugs.
00:43:57
Speaker
I have seen you on drugs. Have you? Yeah, well, you know. We've had a few moments in lives. We've had a few. There's some coming on.
00:44:10
Speaker
All right. So I've got a burnout. I mean, I one would say, yeah one. So, you know, there you go. perfect well done mushrooms good score well done well done mushrooms all right but we're just gonna jump in in the tractor because now we're going to go to alexandra's haunted in see what's going on over there
00:44:37
Speaker
Man, that's spooky. um
Interactive Ideas and Games
00:44:39
Speaker
All right. Well, she's left a note for us. and um ah And ah last week we were talking about board games, which I did like that episode. I i did did enjoy that.
00:44:54
Speaker
I'm chairman of the board. oh lovely. um and she's adopt I have pulled out a few things. She says, love board games, love card games. I love board games so much that as an autistic only child, I was playing board games alone. Wow.
00:45:19
Speaker
Playing the a board game alone. ah She also says, i'm ah I'm terrible at poker. I can't hide my enthusiasm or disappointment. I wonder if that's quite common with ADHD.
00:45:34
Speaker
It is kind of like a bit of a, you know, like, because we're good at masking but actually sometimes we're not because we're look at in ah in ah in a fun yeah group with with friends usually and and ah and you aren't masking so much maybe you know and that you kind of like yeah that you're that you just ah yeah you you can't hide it ah you can't hide a full house or i think from quite an open book but am I Martin
00:46:08
Speaker
You're a good person too to respond to that. We've known each other for 40 years. An open or a closed book? I went to the Paul Thompson Library.
00:46:21
Speaker
Right. um Was it fast? Find your... Yeah, yeah, huge, mate. Huge, mate. Many flaws. Many flaws. And I did find your your book, and when I kind of looked at it, it was...
00:46:38
Speaker
only very slightly open. so Really? Okay. So you want exactly... But, you know, like, as i you know but as you spend... you know But if you take the book out, it does open up.
00:46:52
Speaker
it Right. it It opens up. sos it So um so okay you have to kind of like, you know... It sounds to me like a good excuse for creating a quiz.
00:47:04
Speaker
On that, roughly that theme. Of what? Books? About knowing each other. All right. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. But ah before we get on to the quiz, um she the the last thing Alexandra said, which I thought was interesting, she said, we can do haunted in game nights.
00:47:30
Speaker
ah so Okay, right. so um I'm not sure how that works yet, but I kind of thought we'd just put it out there that maybe once in a while there is a sort of a game night that we somehow do that is not a quiz.
00:47:48
Speaker
What, like him a TikTok live thing? Well, no, I'm just thinking just on the podcast. and I'm not i' not entirely sure how that works, but I'm just throwing it out there as a thing to think about.
00:48:07
Speaker
it like a pub quiz Well, no, because we we we already have haunted the quiz. You know what? i I was thinking, i mean, that's the thing that came off the top of my head was was was, you know, the game, and we talked about it, we talked about Battleships.
00:48:27
Speaker
battleships Right? Battleship is a turn-based game, right? so So in theory, Alexandra and could be could have one battleship-like thing and then we could have the other.
00:48:40
Speaker
And then each week she could go a four and then we get that and then we go, oh, that's a hit. You know what i mean? we could we could We could play a variation of that.
00:48:55
Speaker
Right. Where it's it' it it's like a little term-based thing. and and and and And if I could condense it down into a very, you know, so it isn't like a thing that that goes on for six months, but it goes on for like, yeah you know, two weeks or something. Or, yeah oh because we spoke we spoke about this in the last podcast about board games, that we should invent an ADHD board game.
00:49:22
Speaker
Yeah. And that's, I mean, just instinctively, that's like, oh, wow, that could be very cool. So maybe be this live version could be a a kind of um first step to something like that.
00:49:44
Speaker
right it could turn into a board game right i like i like it i like it all right well we'll we'll let that fall we shall ruminate on on that yeah All right.
00:49:57
Speaker
um
Co-host Quiz Challenge
00:49:58
Speaker
So if you've got any any thoughts or ideas of of how that could all work, get in the comments and let us know. um And then that just leaves to say about feedback, that part of the whole thing.
00:50:14
Speaker
We've got the quiz first. ah to Oh, but okay. That is cool. I think. um and that That's fine. All right. Let's do the quiz, and I'll just cue up the music because ah it's it's the... We've known each other for 40 years, but how well do you know me quiz?
00:50:34
Speaker
Come on. It's the quiz. It's the quiz. It's the quiz. Yes. now, what have we done?
00:50:48
Speaker
So we've done two of these before. Bit of a hit um lot Very entertaining. Based on if if if the title of the quiz wasn't enough for you. we might know Martin and i have known each other for 40 years, but how well do we really know each other, right?
00:51:10
Speaker
I've got a list of questions. it's three questions of which there are three answers. Yes. One of which is false.
00:51:21
Speaker
Okay. Are you ready, Martin? i was I'm three, two down, aren't I, on the quiz this year? you we here Oh, here we go. I was like i was like hunting for the for this for the for the score sheet because I bored i cleared my desk yesterday.
00:51:39
Speaker
All right, yeah, you ah yeah, um yeah, this currently it stands at three for me and two for you. So this is a chance for you to pull, pull, pull in.
00:51:50
Speaker
All right. Okay, all right. So this one is on a bit of a journalism theme, okay, this one, the first one. Okay. Okay, here it goes.
00:52:01
Speaker
Are you ready? I'm ready. My father was once on the back page of The Sun, which is the sporting section, right? Yeah. Back page, okay, of The Sun newspaper.
00:52:16
Speaker
Okay. Okay. It was a photograph with Telys Savalas. All right. ah Him and my father together. Now, my father, as you know, Martin, has a bald head.
00:52:30
Speaker
he does has a bald bald head right big headline on the back page of the sports section of the sun said what a nice pair because the sun thought they looked like a pair of breasts oh wow okay okay yeah two I was once quoted in the New York Times next to Tony Blair when a journalist for the newspaper was looking for a scoop about English hooliganism.
00:53:12
Speaker
Okay. Roughly, just to give you an idea, roughly the same column inches as Tony Blair on that so on that subject. Okay? English hooliganism. Okay? Right. Yeah. Three.
00:53:29
Speaker
I was once the most quoted student in my school's newsletter in 1983 and received a badge for it.
00:53:41
Speaker
Most quoted student in 1983. Yeah, my school newsletter. All right, so I'm going to say, because I mean, like, so so we've got you and your dad, i' sorry, your your dad and Telly Savalas from Kojak on the back page page of The Sun, you getting a quote in The Times about hooliganism In the New York Times, yeah. Right. Or you're the you were awarded the most quoted student in 1983. Now,
00:54:15
Speaker
i i remember I remember, I seem to remember the times that you've been quoted in the Times. I think we've had that this discussion. Right. And I think that your dad has been on the back page of Times.
00:54:31
Speaker
sad So I think that the it's the most quoted student of 1993. It's wrong. False. It never happened. You were never the most quoted student in 1993. Damn. That's correct, Martin. Well done.
00:54:46
Speaker
Well done. A trap between well done and damn you. But I'm going to go towards well done, Martin. I'm feeling generous. you're so sportsmanly.
00:54:57
Speaker
I know. Okay. Are you ready for the next one? Yep.
00:55:03
Speaker
I've been asked on many occasions for my autograph, Martin. Okay. Interesting. By strangers. Uh-huh. They walked up to me, okay?
00:55:15
Speaker
Yeah. One, I was once asked for Julian Lennon's. autograph as they mistook me for Julian Lennon.
00:55:28
Speaker
Oh, wow. Okay. ah can see that. Two. More recently, i was asked for my autograph having been mistaken for Elvis Costello.
00:55:43
Speaker
Oh, my God. You know what? the the the The funny thing is, is that as you talk about these things, it reminds me of other things that I need to put down for ah next week's quiz. Right, yes.
00:55:57
Speaker
Exactly. Exactly. Number three. Yeah. I was, again, quite recently, asked for my autograph by people thinking that I was Tom York from Radiohead.
00:56:14
Speaker
Wow. Okay. Look. Julian Lennon, I can see that. like you yeah Years ago, you kind of look, there there is some, you know, that little fresh face of yours back in the day.
00:56:29
Speaker
i can i can see that being true. yeah um I was quite fresh in the facial department. Yeah, yeah, it was it was box fresh, mate. um Box fresh.
00:56:41
Speaker
Now, i can I can imagine you getting, i mean, Elvis cost Costello, just just just, yeah, I mean, okay.
00:56:52
Speaker
I mean, thousands wouldn't agree, but I'm going to say, yeah, that happened. See, the thing is is that Tom York is quite fucking ugly. You know what i mean? Thanks, mate.
00:57:03
Speaker
And I don't think... I mean, he's got... There's a compliment. Maybe that's a compliment. I feel it coming. Yeah, exactly. So I don't think you you have a squonky face like Tom York from Radiohead does.
00:57:20
Speaker
So I'm going to say that tom that Tom, that you were never asked for your autograph looking like Tom York. Correct.
00:57:34
Speaker
Yes. I was asked for Julian Lennon's autograph at Glastonbury. kind of But someone offered their tits on drugs, I suppose. But and anyway, they thought I was... And they insisted, even if I told them. I told them wasn't John Lennon.
00:57:51
Speaker
And they insisted. They come on. We know you're Julian. Please just sign it. I'm like, oh, Elvis Costello was about 10 years ago.
00:58:04
Speaker
Anyway... So you're two up, Martin. You're doing well. am. I'm just playing for pride now. At the London Marathon in 1999.
00:58:16
Speaker
Oh, yes. I was overtaken by many a soul, many a person. Uh-huh. Okay. Yes. Overtaken, Martin.
00:58:28
Speaker
Yes. Pride hurt. Legs hurting even more. I'm not sure what was hurting more. My pride or my legs.
00:58:39
Speaker
Oh, wow. Okay, so who passed you for? One, paratroopers with 40 kilo backpacks. Okay. There's like four or five of them, I think. 40 kilo backpacks went past me.
00:58:53
Speaker
my Right? Right. Yes. Two, a massive giant caterpillar. A hungry, hungry caterpillar. Yes. Three.
00:59:06
Speaker
Yes. Rick Mayall of the Young Ones. Wow. wow Rick Mayall of the Young Ones. Jesus Christ. right. I think it sounds like the the paratroopers did...
00:59:22
Speaker
go past you so i'm saying that that's but the other two that's a bit insulting that you cross that off straight away so easily so so easily right so it really it's it's down to like caterpillar or male comedy tv comedy um is uh legend Okay, i'm just going to have to plump with one, and I'll say that you did not get passed by Rick Mayle, because why would he be doing a marathon?
01:00:01
Speaker
you'd be like i asked I asked him that, in fact, ah just before I was overtaken by the joe the giant caterpillar. So you're right, Martin. oh I was not...
01:00:17
Speaker
overtaken by Rick Mayer at the 1999 London Marathon. Wow. Can you imagine the shame being overtaken by paratroopers with 40k backbones?
01:00:28
Speaker
And I think if that wasn't bad enough, like 10 minutes later, it was giant caterpillar. I mean, like those paratroopers are like, I mean, you know, they're they're yeah fucking fit, man. With paratuoper boot paratrooper boots on as well, not running shoes. Yeah.
01:00:46
Speaker
Yeah, no. Honestly, there's there's no shame there. i I'm going to have to, next time, the next quiz that's down to me, I'm going to have ramp it up.
01:00:58
Speaker
going to have to make it way more difficult. I just got that feeling. I remembered some of those which helped. yeah You know what I mean? Oh, yeah.
01:01:10
Speaker
I remembered. Anyway, um all right. Well, that's good. So that puts me like a four to two. Four to two. Four to two. um Right.
01:01:22
Speaker
The gloves are off now. I love it. um
Episode Wrap-up and Preview
01:01:26
Speaker
All right. So shall we move on to like next week? What is going to be next week's episode? Next week's episode.
01:01:33
Speaker
What is it, Martin? um Oh, shit. Is it me? Yeah. Okay. you You know what? off the Off the spur of my whatever,
01:01:46
Speaker
holy okay i'm um' ah I'm going to Jesus Christ, I thought it was you, so I didn't actually pick one.
01:01:57
Speaker
I think that's because i knew I knew you were a fungus fan. I'm your fan. You know what? You know what? It's it's all clicking in into my brain. um We were talking about intimacy and we were talking about like ah that kind of thing earlier. And and that was quite a, um I felt like that there was a lot of excitement around that. And ah we would have, when next week's episode comes out, we would have just passed Valentine's Day.
01:02:26
Speaker
Romanticism. Yeah, well, let's talk about about romanticism love. Romanticism and love. I don't know about romanticism. We'll just do love. ADHD and love.
01:02:38
Speaker
that that That seems to like cover off. Okay. So we can cover off sort of know friendship, love and... And we cover off brotherly, brotherly, brotherly love. And we can cover off like, you know, like. like that.
01:02:56
Speaker
romantic okay i think that's a great subject martin well chosen that was that was a fucking day saint valentine's fucking i um all right well that in that case that just leaves uh yeah we look forward to um seeing you on next week's episode and that just leaves me To say ADHDville is delivered fresh every Tuesday to all providers of fine podcasts. Please subscribe to the pod and rate us most...
01:03:28
Speaker
assume The two most fun guys in ADHD podcasting. There we go. And please subscribe to the pod. I've done that. And feel free to correspond out well in the comments. But wait, there's more if you wish to see our beautiful, beautiful faces. And follow YouTube to the TikToks. And you can also pick up a quill and email us at ADHDville at gmail.com. But in the meantime, be fucking kind to yourself.
01:03:51
Speaker
And I proceed to your fellow ADHDers. Fare thee well with gladness of heart.
01:03:58
Speaker
There we go. Clean the camera. Oh, have it I have to hit the button that says... There, says the mayor. There, says the mayor.
01:04:10
Speaker
That's that. That is definitely that. Gloves are off now the quiz. going to have to get a little bit more sneaky. Right.
01:04:21
Speaker
Well, I've got a few extra things to add to my version. I've already got the next one. Oh, nice. of Well, half written.