‘People pay to be told lies’: the rise and fall of the world’s first ayahuasca multinational

from The Audio Long Read · host The Guardian

Alberto Varela claimed he wanted to use sacred plant medicine to free people’s minds. But as the organisation grew, his followers discovered a darker reality. By Sam Edwards. Read by Sid Sagar. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Sep 12, 2025

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‘People pay to be told lies’: the rise and fall of the world’s first ayahuasca multinational

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