Ep. 240: William Padilla-Brown

<p><a href="https://plantcunningconference.com/">Plant Cunning Conference – In-Person in New York – July 24-26, 2026</a></p><p><a href="https://www.mycofest.net/">MycoSymbiotics Mushroom &amp; Art Festival July 29- August 2d, 2026</a>Today on the podcast, AC &amp; Isaac Hill interview mushroom citizen scientist and community builder William Padilla-Brown about his path into mycology, from early curiosity about consciousness and “plant medicine” to diet-driven health struggles that pushed him into growing his own food, foraging, and functional mushrooms. He credits discovering online superfood and medicinal-mushroom content (including David Avocado Wolfe) as a turning point, then explains how mushroom videos took off on YouTube and led him to start MycoSymbiotics and launch MycoFest in 2015 to create a lasting community and legacy for his family. Will recounts cultivating cordyceps after finding a specimen at the first festival, rejecting the idea that it was “impossible,” and learning through observation—treating life as a readable language. He describes MycoSymbiotics’ cutting edge work: wild strain selection, DNA barcoding, cultivation, extraction, third‑party analytics, and making potent products affordable. The conversation also covers ecological literacy through mushrooms, conservation concerns like Pine Barrens development and matsutake habitat loss, the importance and diversity of native truffles (including training a dog to find tuber canaliculatum), aroma as a form of “medicine,” modern distraction and nervous-system hijacking, and adapting to AI by leaning into uniquely human creativity. He closes with MycoFest details (first weekend of August; July 31–Aug 2; MycoFest.net; Artemis, PA; code MYCOMMUNITY), plus MycoSymbiotics sites, classes, a farmer co‑op, and local projects.</p><p>00:00 Meet William Padilla-Brown</p><p>01:55 Origins in Plant Medicine</p><p>06:03 Health Wake Up Call</p><p>09:09 David Wolfe and Medicinals</p><p>11:28 Myco Symbiote to MycoFest</p><p>13:12 Nothing Is Impossible</p><p>15:30 Learning From Living Signs</p><p>21:05 Mycology Cutting Edge Today</p><p>23:44 Matsutake and Habitat Threats</p><p>25:29 Truffles as Ecological Gateway</p><p>27:16 Native Truffles in Pennsylvania</p><p>30:14 Truffles and Sensory Depth</p><p>30:41 Overstimulation and Numbness</p><p>31:54 Aroma as Medicine</p><p>33:58 Capitalism and Responsibility</p><p>36:16 Distraction Casino Reality</p><p>38:53 Using the System for Good</p><p>40:53 Social Media and Rage Bait</p><p>44:27 AI Music and Human Spark</p><p>48:55 MycoFest and Community Wrap</p>