March 2025

Norman Ohler is a Berlin-based novelist and filmmaker known for his research-driven storytelling. His 2017 nonfiction book Blitzed – Drugs in Nazi Germany became a New York Times bestseller and has been translated into 32 languages. One of his latest books, Tripped (2024), explores the history of LSD and serves as the basis for the upcoming documentary series LSD for Mom. Ohler’s work uncovers hidden histories, blending investigative research with compelling narratives. His most recent release, Der Zauberberg (2024), published by Diogenes, is inspired by Thomas Mann’s classic novel and explores profound questions about life, society, and the nature of human existence.

Charles S. Grob, M.D. is a Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at UCLA School of Medicine and a leading researcher in psychedelic studies. Since the early 1990s, he has conducted clinical research on psychedelics, including the first modern study on psilocybin for advanced-cancer anxiety. His work also explores the effects of MDMA and ayahuasca. Over the last 30 years, he has published extensively on psychedelics and co-edited multiple books on the subject. Dr. Grob is a founding board member of the Heffter Research Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing research on classic psychedelics for mental health treatment.

Kate Wolf is a writer and editor based in Los Angeles. She is a founding editor of The Los Angeles Review of Books, where she currently serves as editor-at-large and co-hosts and produces its weekly podcast, The LARB Radio Hour. Her writing has appeared in exhibition catalogues, anthologies, and a range of publications, including Bidoun, Bookforum, Art in America, The Nation, n+1, East of Borneo, and Frieze. From 2011 to 2016, she created and edited Night Papers, an artists’ newspaper in collaboration with Night Gallery. Her work has also been featured on KCRW and McSweeney’s program, The Organist.

Margaryta Surzhenko is a writer. She graduated from the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management (IAPM) in Kyiv in 2012 with a degree in political science and published her first book about the war in Luhansk in 2014. In 2015, she founded a website featuring innovative fairy tales, which brings together more than 300 texts. Margaryta Surzhenko has published five novels. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, she has been living in Germany and teaching creative writing. She is a 2025 Thomas Mann Fellow.

Iryna Ellis was born and raised in Kharkiv, a city near the Russian border. Before moving to the US, she spent eight years as a morning show TV host, earned a PhD and taught Public Speaking at one of Ukraine’s oldest universities. Since relocating to the US in 2014, Ellis has worked as an activist and volunteer, supporting the army and civilians of Donbas through fundraisers, protests, and large-scale events, such as stage hosting Independence Day of Ukraine celebration by the Capitol in Sacramento, which drew 10,000 attendees. She also manages a brand-new property in Redondo Beach as part of a property management company.

Roxie Sarhangi is a certified, award-winning sound healer practitioner, an artist, and a radiant and skilled creator of elevated experiences. Roxie connects the transcendental power of meditation to sound healing and spiritual practice, yet keeps everything approachable and relatable. Guiding from a heart-centered approach, she takes participants on a journey where they can raise their vibration and embrace a sense of wellbeing.

Hila Amit studied creative writing at Tel Aviv University and holds a PhD in Gender Studies from SOAS, University of London. As an author and essayist, she writes about queerness, gender, sexuality and the complex relationships between Israeli Jews and Palestinians. Her short story collection Moving On From Bliss was awarded the Israeli Ministry of Culture Prize for Debut Writers. Her non-fiction book A Queer Way Out: The Politics of Queer Emigration from Israel won the 2019 AMEWS Book Award. 2020 saw the publication of Hebrew for All, which aims to provide access to the Hebrew language using queer and feminist methods. In 2022, her novel The Lower City was published in Hebrew.