Encore: What happened when I tried MDMA therapy
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Who is Rebecca Huntley and what is her public background?
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Rebecca Huntley has had a big career as a public intellectual in Australia. She's a well-known writer and social researcher. She's lectured at the University of New South Wales and hosted Drive on ABC Radio National. She's on the boards of the Bell Shakespeare Company and various climate action groups. Over the years I've seen Rebecca talk at festivals and on TV. She's informed, forthright, articulate. One of those people who strikes you as driven and high achieving. And who can leave me feeling slightly intimidated, to be honest, because how does she have time to do all of that? And she's got kids and is apparently a fabulous dinner party host. Well, in Rebecca's new book, Sassafras, she shares a completely different side of herself.
The book describes Rebecca's experiences with the psychedelic MDMA. It also recounts the things in Rebecca's life that led to her seeking this very new and still controversial therapeutic treatment. But it's been an experience that Rebecca says helped save her life. Hi Rebecca. Hi, Sarah. This impression that I had of you as a kind of nonstop public policy wonder woman, is that fair? Was that something you cultivated intentionally?
Uh Look. Listening to you say that and l listening to people, you know say my C V when I'm at events. I have three feelings that when this happens. The first is I I'm so tired, like so exhaust no one, I feel so exhausted. Um, a little bit of thinking back what Rebecca at the age of seven or eight or eleven would be quite proud. But also an increasingly a sense of What am I trying to prove to the world by doing all these things all the time? You know? So it's a mixture.
Well let's find out about that, little Rebecca. You grew up in Adelaide. How did your mum and dad first meet one another?
At Adelaide University Um in a history lecture. And in some ways, you know, I I uh one of the boards I used to be on was the Whitlam Institute. And I think that their meeting and love was made possible by Gough Whitlam because
Cupid, it's true.
Well, because my my mother was the first person in her family that are poor Italian migrants to go to university. My father was from a very wealthy establishment, South Australian family, hugely intellectually already knew known as very, very bright. I don't know how they they never said how they first met, but I kind of thought maybe my father would have tried to be very clever about the Russian Revolution or something like that. Or tried to impress her intellectually. And as a woman where people didn't think she was bright because she was Italian, I think that would have been enormously attractive that he thought he that he tried to impress her.
Well, if if it was the Russian Revolution or w whatever it was, they got together, got married, had you and your younger sister. How big a part did your Italian grandparents, your mum's parents, play in your life when you were living in Adelaide?
A huge part. I mean I often wonder why I so uh associate my identity with my Italian side rather than my Australian Scottish side. I used to joke that it's because when you put Scottish food next to Italian food, like, you know, there's really no choice to go that way. But m particularly my grandmother, there was something you know, I think the only real feeling as a child of unconditional love came from her. It was just incredibly consistent. She was always so happy to see me. And she was always so warm. She wasn't probably the only person who I felt that I could eat freely in front of. And that's who I learnt to cook from and love food.
So your dad had this reputation from a young age as a brilliant man.
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