#15: Brandon Deroche: How Social Movements Form and Grow

Welcome back to The Trip Report Podcast, a production of Beckley Waves, a Psychedelic Venture Studio.Today, I am speaking with Brandon Deroche, founder of the PORTAL—the Partnership of Responsible Trippers Advocating Legalization. PORTAL is a project from Propeller, the social impact and advocacy organization Brandon started more than 15 years ago to drive awareness and action for social movements. I was intrigued when I first learned about Propeller–and their methodology for advocacy and advancing causes.Propeller collaborates with big-name artists and musicians to leverage their platforms to raise awareness and inspire action.With PORTAL, Brandon and his team are taking this approach to advancing the psychedelic cause.I wanted to speak with Brandon because I love a good acronym, and PORTAL may be the best I’ve ever heard—and because I wanted to learn more about how social movements form and grow.In this episode, we discuss:* Brandon’s experience working with some of the biggest celebrities in the world, like Justin Bieber, Lizzo, and Brian Cranston* His experience working with the spiritual teacher Ram Dass* The cultural adoption and destigmatization of psychedelics through artists with massive audiences—like Dua Lipa, Post Malone, and Zach Bryan* Leveraging these voices for psychedelic education, harm reduction, and best practices* The eventual political polarization of social movements* And much moreAnd now, I bring you my conversation with Brand Deroche.Listen to the episode on Substack, Spotify, Google or Apple.Credits:* Hosted by Zach Haigney * Produced by Zach Haigney, Erin Greenhouse, and Katelin Jabbari* Find us at thetripreport.com* Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube* Theme music by MANCHO Sounds, Mixed and Mastered by Rollin Weary This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thetripreport.com