The Hashish Club

<p>Theophile Gautier’s account of ‘green jam’ cannabis consumption at the drug-addled dinner parties of the ‘Club des Hachichins’ - alongside literary figures Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac - was first published in <em>Revue des Deux Mondes</em> on 1st February, 1846.</p><br><p>The Club, founded by psychiatrist Dr Jacques Joseph Moreau to establish the psychedelic effects of eating copious amounts of marijuana, met in Arab fancy dress; its members mashing their drugs up with with cinnamon cloves, nutmeg, pistachio, sugar, orange juice - and an aphrodisiac derived from Spanish Fly.</p><br><p>In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Napoleon inadvertently triggered the French trend for weed that endures to this day; consider the influence of Thomas de Quincey’s ‘Confessions of an English Opium Eater’ on this select group of Romantic literati; and review Charles Baudelaire’s claim that he was merely a spectator and DID NOT INHALE…</p><br><p><strong>Further Reading:</strong></p><p>• ‘Spoonfuls of paradise’ (extract from ‘Cannabis’ by Jonathon Green, 2002): <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/oct/12/featuresreviews.guardianreview34" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/oct/12/featuresreviews.guardianreview34</a></p><p>• ‘The Hashish Club: How the Poets of Paris Turned on Europe’ (High Times, 1979): <a href="https://hightimes.com/culture/the-hashish-club/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://hightimes.com/culture/the-hashish-club/</a></p><p>• ‘Jon Snow takes cannabis’ (Channel 4, 2015): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyn0fDFqG3I" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyn0fDFqG3I</a></p><br><p><strong>For bonus material and to support the show, visit</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/Patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong> </strong></a><a href="http://patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Patreon.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><p><strong>We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong> </strong></a><a href="http://podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>podfollow.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><br><p><em>The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.</em></p><p><em>Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.</em></p><p><em>Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.</em></p><br><p><em>#1800s #Food #Strange #France</em></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

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