Stoned sapiens
a new history
Welcome to Stoned Sapiens
I’m Norman Ohler, author of “Blitzed” – a book about drugs in Nazi Germany, and of “Tripped”, which explores the crazy early history of LSD, and how it helped my mother in her fight against Alzheimer’s. I also wrote “The Bohemians” about the largest resistance group in Berlin under the swastika.
Now I’m working on something even bigger: a drug-oriented retelling of human history: “Stoned Sapiens”. On this substack I’ll share what I find along the way.
The book will be published in late 2026 world-wide, and right here on substack you can peak over my shoulder and witness how it evolves. You will travel with me to the archives, to ancient sites, and into the labs of the future. I will first relate my ideas to you - before they go in the book. You will be actively watching, and possibly participating, in the making of a text that hopefully will change the world. Because in understanding better who we actually are, we get a better grip on how we want to develop, and where we want to go.
From Neanderthals to the drug-fueled wars of the 20th century, from the ancient ritual of Eleusis (which was also an ancient way of mind-control) to Iboga-research in America, I believe that drugs shaped our consciousness, and played pivotal roles in the development of our civilizations.
Most history is written from a sober point of view. That’s fine – but it’s incomplete.
What happens when we take intoxication seriously? When we treat altered states not as accidents or escapism, but as forces that shaped our history - and our species?
That’s the question I’m exploring here – through stories, essays, deep research, and strange facts that often get cut from the official version.
This substack will feature:
> – fragments from my upcoming book
> – things too wild (or too fragile) for print
> – notes from the field: ancient temples, modern labs, neurochemical edge zones
If you’re curious about the real story of humanity – the trippy one – you’re in the right place.
So hit subscribe if you are ready to get high on information, and welcome aboard. Let’s rewrite the past – and see what it does to the future.