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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Chapter 2: What warning does the episode give about its content?
Just a warning, this episode features drugs and lots of strong language.
And regrettably, hilarious content that will probably make you want to see us live in Sheffield on Sunday the 5th of July. CrossedWires.live for tickets. More info in the show notes if you're affected by this issue.
All right, Alice?
Yeah, good. How are you?
Yeah, good. I've got some of those new pills everyone's raving about.
Oh, God. I don't know how I feel about that. Like, what are they?
They're the best. Do you want to try them on?
No, I'm not... It's not really my bag. Like, what will it do to me?
It just changes things, man. All the cool kids are doing them.
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Chapter 3: How did Richard Kemp become involved with LSD?
Then he sees it. A flash of orange. An indicator. He stares in the mirror, heart in his mouth, as the car behind slows and turns off down a dirt track. Relief slams into him. His shoulders sag. But then his eyes snap back to the road. Dazzling white light fills his vision. Another car headed straight for him. He's drifted lanes. He slams on his brakes, the wheels locking beneath him.
But his car keeps gliding along the rain-slicked road.
I am psychic. I've got a chill running down my spine.
I don't want to undermine you or bring you down, but the scene did start with him driving at night in the rain. The chances that he was going to aquaplane were quite high.
Jealousy does not suit you.
It eats away at me like an itch. His body is thrown forward, towards the crunching metal, then yanked back by his seatbelt, his head smacking into his headrest. Richard comes to with a groan, his neck in agony. Through the acrid smoke pouring from his bonnet, he sees two people in the car opposite, slumped over their dashboard, unmoving. He rips off his belt.
The cold rain bites at his face as he bangs on the passenger's window. Hello, are you OK? He gets no answer, sees no movement, then spots a line of blood trickling from the woman's hairline. Terror fills his head. He has to do something. Get these people some help. But as he turns back to his own car, he realizes he can't stay here. He has to move now.
Because Richard Kemp isn't just a regular drug runner. He's the head of an international acid empire, the chemist responsible for 90% of the UK's LSD supply and almost half the world's. And if anyone finds him here with this much product, he's as good as dead.
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Chapter 4: What significant events shaped the 1970s drug scene in the UK?
So we're journeying back to ask who's to blame for what happened.
And when the dust settled, did anything really change?
MUSIC
Alice, what do the letters LSD mean to you?
Lead student dodgeball team. And yes, they did reject me. And yes, I do think about it every night before I go to bed.
Oh, was that a bad trip?
A trip? No, no, I never went on a trip because I never made the team.
I was joking, you know, like a bad trip.
Yeah, I didn't go because actually you only got to go on the trip if you were on the first team. And sadly, they wouldn't have me.
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Chapter 5: Who is David Solomon and what role does he play in the story?
I didn't realize the revolution required sitting around in a dim room listening to jazz either. He glances at his watch. He could still make his train. Solomon takes a languorous drag. I agree we need more systemic solutions, but I happen to think the answer lies in your chosen field. Richard looks up, surprised. Biochemistry. We're in a fight for hearts and minds, Richard. The world is burning.
But what are hearts and minds if not chemical reactions in living organisms? Richard's face crumples, perplexed. You think biochemistry is our way to world peace? Solomon chuckles. Richard studies Solomon as he inhales again. He's never met anyone quite like this man. I simply believe nature has already given us our answers. If only we know where to look. Richard glances at the joint.
Solomon hands it over. Richard puffs gently, letting a warm fuzziness fill his head as Solomon leans in and puts his arm around him. Tell me, Richard, what do you know about LSD.
He relaxes as the grateful dead fill his living room, takes in the array of guests he's invited, Cambridge academics, neuroscientists, activists and writers, all united in a belief that LSD has the capacity to unlock the mind and change society. But his star guest is yet to arrive. He glances at the door anxiously.
Solomon's been convinced, ever since he met his former mentor, Timothy Leary, that his mission is to bring the psychedelic revolution to Britain. But finding a chemist with the exact skill set and shared sensibilities has proven near impossible.
Talk to me about Timothy Leary.
So Timothy Leary was a Harvard professor turned psychedelic evangelist who came up with the phrase turn on, tune in, drop out. Very famous phrase. And he believed that taking psychedelics would dissolve the ego that led to things like war, racism and even capitalism. He finally hears the knock he's been waiting for.
Relief floods him as he sees the familiar shaggy-haired young man dressed in a thick woolen jumper and brown cords, an intense analytical gaze on his face, a petite pretty blonde at his side. Richard, I'm glad you could make it. He reaches out his hand. This is Christine, Chris, my partner. He ushers the couple into the living room, sees Christine's eyes scanning the room.
Oh my God, is that Alan Ginsberg? I edited a piece of his work for an anthology. He's just come up from Apple Studios with Paul McCartney. Keen to get Richard alone, he ushers Christine over to Ginsberg before returning to Richard. What was the anthology? He pulls a title from his heaving bookshelves. Richard turns the book over to reveal the title, LSD, The Consciousness Expanding Drug.
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Chapter 6: What challenges does Richard face in the drug trade?
Solomon is sure that Richard is his man, and he isn't gonna rest until he's tried acid himself. Richard will see its true potential, and once he does, this really could turbocharge the LSD revolution in Britain. Two days later, Christine's bedroom. Richard lies on Christine's bed, staring up at her ceiling. LSD is supposed to induce immersive hallucinations, but so far, he's not sensing anything.
Since his last meeting with Solomon, Richard's done his research, discovered the compound is completely non-addictive. Taken in a safe environment, he should experience nothing but euphoria. But he's starting to wonder if the pills Solomon gave him are duds. Chris, if you're feeling anything. His voice sounds strangely distant, as if he'd left his mouth downstairs. Chrissie? Chrissie?
He rolls over and sees Christine's frozen face staring back at him, horror in her eyes. His heart lurches forward in his chest. Chrissie, what's the matter? Her features start to quiver. He grabs her shoulders, tries to shake a response from her, then lets go, springing back as she bursts into tears. A sickening trickle of guilt washes over him. He's done this.
She jerks upright, scrambles off the bed, flees the room, vanishing in a glittering trail of pink-orange vapor. Confusion swarms him, his pulse quickening. He stumbles down the stairs after her, runs out through her open front door. The pavement dazzles him, glaring silver, lit by a kaleidoscopic lamplight. Christine! Christine! As his eyes adjust, he spots something at the end of her road.
A body, lying down, face first in a grassy bank.
Christine! Christine! Christine!
He runs, the tarmac bouncing and billowing beneath his bare feet. He collapses at her side, falling deep into the grass. It feels like cat fur against his cheek, thick, snuggly. Serenity descends as he sees Christine is smiling, stroking a small patch of ground over and over. Shh, now. There. Richard takes her hand. Chris, what? She turns to him. It's Mother Earth, Rich. She's crying.
She's sick. But we can help. She presses his hand to the grass, driving his fingers deep into the soil until he feels them connect with the roots. Tendrils of pure energy rush along his arm, pulses of bright light shooting straight to the center of his skull. He scrunches his eyelids shut, tries to stem the intensity of it, but it doesn't help.
The light gets whiter, hotter, until it's searing the very core of his brain. Then his eyes burst open and he sees it all. In a slow, tranquil dance, symbols and letters swim before him, the infinite chemical complexity of the universe unlocking in front of his eyes.
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Chapter 7: How does Richard's relationship with Christine evolve throughout the episode?
It's another contaminated batch. But as he brings it closer to the flame, tilts it slightly, he sees it's glistening. Holding it right up to his nose, he gasps in amazement. It's a tiny cluster of crystals. A giddy rush of exhilaration ricochets around him, crystals of pure LSD. The next morning, he sat in Solomon's kitchen.
Across from him, Solomon uses tweezers to pick up a crystal and inspect it. Richard can't contain his grin. 99% pure. Solomon splutters. And that's from refrigeration alone. I could purify it even more with... Solomon's splutter becomes a chuckle. More? Rich, you should have seen the sludge they served up at Woodstock. Browner than hobo piss.
Richard beams with pride as Solomon turns the crystal in the light. And you can do this again? Richard's smile falters. If my advisor finds out what I've been doing... Solomon's head snaps up. Fuck your advisor. Do you have any idea what you're set on here? This is the fucking caviar of psychedelics, and we're going to turn the world on with it. Richard shakes his head. I can't.
If they catch me, they'll kick me off my course. So quit. Come work with me. Richard's focus switches from the crystal to the face behind it. He gulps, his throat suddenly dry. He can't really just quit, can he? Everything he's built. Academia's all he's ever known. It guarantees him stability, respectability, prestige. Radical change requires radical action, Richard.
Richard takes the crystal from Solomon's grip. If he truly wants to make a difference to society, Perhaps this is his opportunity. He takes in the white shimmering light. This single crystal holds enough power to alter the consciousness of a thousand people. Perhaps ten thousand. It isn't just chemistry. It's alchemy. He feels himself start to grin as he looks up at Solomon, eyes wide. Well then.
Let's bring on the revolution. Richard isn't just going to change minds. He's going to change societies. He's going to change the world.
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Chapter 8: What is the significance of the Microdot in the LSD revolution?
With a grunt, he yanks out a small parcel. Orange capsules barely visible in the dim light. Ron, good to see you. This is my associate, Richard Kemp. Rich, this is Ronald Stark. Richard holds out his hand, but Stark ignores it, wiping his palm on his shirt instead. So what do you two gents got in mind? Solomon holds out a small baggie.
Stark takes it, crunching the tiny crystals between finger and thumb. 99.7% purity. Made by a goddamn artist. Speaking as a connoisseur, I've never known a trip like it. Richard, feeling emboldened, leans in. A 200-microgram dose of my acid is calibrated perfectly to unlock whole new planes of... But Stark cuts across him. What are you charging? Richard falters, blinking. Charging? Green. Gravy.
Money.
I understood it, so conceptually I was a bit thrown because... Dosh, wonga, loot, dough.
Yeah, I know, cheese, cheddar. Wang, wad. Solomon interjects. Our priority is getting the product out there into the hands of the people. Stark cackles. Ha! Fuck me, boys. I'm in the fucking money business. Richard bristles. He wants to ignite a revolution, not line the pockets of some false prophet. He watches Stark toss the bag down carelessly onto his desk. Put me down for 500.
500 hits is barely worth the trouble of making up a batch. Richard could distribute that himself, but Stark leans in close. 500,000, you fucking amateur. Richard's jaw falls slack. Half a million hits. His brain begins to spin. But Solomon steps forward. We'll be ready in a week. Richard feels a flush rise up his neck. He leans into Solomon, whispers.
Solomon, I can't make... But Solomon raises his hand. Richard doesn't want to turn down the opportunity to turn on half a million new recruits. But if he's going to have any hope of working to that scale, he's going to need an entire production overhaul. And he's going to need a new lab partner. Two days later, Solomon's house.
David Solomon snaps on a pair of latex gloves, looks down at the makeshift lab on his dining room table and wipes his brow.
This has all gone very Breaking Bad very quickly. If you thought a local schoolteacher and the town's druggie was an odd couple, then try an academic prodigy and a Californian hippie.
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