MAPS, in Partnership with the Shulgin Foundation, Launches Music Is the Bridge Video Series; First Episode Features Reggie Watts and Hamilton Morris

• Premiere episode features Reggie Watts and Hamilton Morris in conversation at the historic Shulgin laboratory
• Filmed on-site, the episode documents the lab where Sasha Shulgin resynthesized MDMA and developed hundreds of novel compounds
• Reggie Watts’ performance at the lab and additional artist collaborations are planned for release in the coming months
  
  

LAFAYETTE, Calif., March 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit advancing research, education, and advocacy around psychedelics and cannabis, announced a collaborative video series with the Shulgin Foundation. The collaboration includes an intimate, immersive tour of the famed Shulgin lab, the historic home and laboratory of pioneering psychedelic researchers Alexander “Sasha” and Ann Shulgin. The premiere episode is hosted by eclectic musician and comedian Reggie Watts and journalist, documentarian, and chemist Hamilton Morris.

This project represents the next chapter of Music Is the Bridge, MAPS’ cultural initiative that explores how music and storytelling can expand public understanding of psychedelics, reduce stigma, and invite new audiences into evidence-based education and reflection. In this initial expansion of Music is the Bridge, Watts and Morris guide viewers through the Shulgin laboratory as both a living archive and a creative commons, a place where science, culture, and consciousness have long intersected. Additional collaborations, performance-based storytelling, and cultural documentation projects are planned for the coming months.

“This project honors the Shulgins not only as scientists but as cultural ancestors whose work shaped an entire movement. By bringing music and thoughtful inquiry into this space, we’re continuing MAPS’ commitment to meeting people where curiosity, creativity, and meaning already live.”
—Devon Phillips; Partnerships Manager, MAPS

Since its launch, Music Is the Bridge has used sound as an entry point into psychedelic education, pairing artist-curated playlists with accessible learning resources and community connection. The Reggie Watts and Hamilton Morris tour builds on this foundation with place-based storytelling and performances to come, anchoring music and dialogue within one of the most influential sites in modern psychedelic history.

Filmed on location, the project captures rarely seen elements of the Shulgin laboratory, offering audiences a glimpse into the environment where Sasha resynthesized MDMA in 1976 and studied, synthesized, and documented hundreds of other novel compounds. The result is a hybrid cultural artifact, part oral history and part meditation on legacy, ethics, and imagination.

“It’s amazing how much one dedicated person can change medical history and international drug history. The influence that radiates out of this lab is just enormous. The world is profoundly different as a result of it.”
—Hamilton Morris; journalist, documentarian, and chemist

In the coming chapter of Music Is the Bridge, Watts transforms the Shulgin lab into a dynamic stage for his improvisational, genre-defying performance of sound and art — repositioning the setting as an active collaborator rather than a static backdrop. The performance embodies MAPS’ belief that music can serve as both an integrative tool and bridge, translating complex histories into deeply felt experience.

“Music creates access points that language alone can’t. Being in this space, responding to it in real time, felt like a conversation across generations.”
—Reggie Watts; Comedian, Actor, and Musician

Music is the Bridge reflects MAPS as a steward of psychedelic culture, connecting the field's history to public education and awareness.

ABOUT MAPS
Founded in 1986, MAPS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research and educational organization that develops medical, legal, and cultural contexts for people to benefit from the careful uses of psychedelics and marijuana. MAPS previously sponsored the most advanced psychedelic-assisted therapy research in the world and continues to support psychedelic and marijuana research with a focus on the people and places most impacted by trauma. MAPS incubated Lykos Therapeutics, a drug-development public benefit company, and The Zendo Project, a leader in psychedelic harm reduction. Since MAPS was founded, philanthropic donors and grantors have given more than $150 million to advance psychedelic research, change drug policy, and shape culture.

Media Contact:
media@maps.org

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