Shelby Hartman & Madison Margolin — Co-Founders of DoubleBlind Magazine on Journalism, Design, and the Psychedelic Moment
Season 2 | Episode 13 | 11 Jun 2026 | 42 min 44 sec
Shelby Hartman and Madison Margolin, co-founders of DoubleBlind Magazine, join us to discuss building the field's most design-forward publication from scratch — and what it actually takes to maintain journalistic integrity in a space you care deeply about.
We trace the origin of DoubleBlind from a meditation-born idea in New Orleans to a print magazine, online platform, and now the first coffee table book on psychedelics. Shelby and Madison share the hard editorial decisions that come with covering a movement you're embedded in, the "no fractals" design philosophy behind their aesthetic, and what it felt like to lose half their web traffic overnight to a Google algorithm that couldn't tell psychedelic journalism from anti-mask content.
The conversation asks a question this field keeps circling: how do you tell the full story — including the uncomfortable parts — without becoming a mouthpiece for it?
I’m Alexandra Plesner, and this is Psychedelics Design. Thanks so much for listening and being part of this exploration. If you enjoyed this episode, please share, rate the podcast and leave a review. Got ideas, guests, or questions you’d like in the mix? Send an email to podcast@psychedelics.design.
Intro music: Nutritious — in partnership with Liquid Culture
