Shroomies : How Mushrooms Cracked My Heart Open—and What They Can Teach Us About Healing

An in-depth exploration of psilocybin and its resurgence, use, impact, and potential. Once upon a time, John Biggs thought mushrooms were for hippies and ravers. Now he calls them medicine. In Shroomies tech journalist and unapologetic skeptic John Biggs trades Silicon Valley for psilocybin. What begins as a personal experiment to escape depression becomes a sweeping exploration of the psychedelic renaissance—how mushrooms are transforming minds, mending trauma, and redefining what it means to be human. From underground retreats in Brooklyn to cutting-edge neuroscience labs and legal mushroom clinics, Biggs chronicles a cultural revolution in real time. Along the way, he meets grieving widows, veterans with PTSD, and burnt-out tech founders—all drawn to a strange little fungus promising something antidepressants can’t deliver: meaning. Smart, funny, and unexpectedly moving, Shroomies bridges memoir and reportage with a cynic’s wit and a seeker’s heart. Biggs offers a grounded, clear-eyed look at how psilocybin works, why it’s capturing the world’s imagination, and what happens when an exhausted generation decides to look inward instead of logging on. For readers of Michael Pollan, Merlin Sheldrake, and Rachel Nuwer, Shroomies is both a guide and a trip—a story of transformation, connection, and the ancient intelligence hiding in plain sight.