The spectacle of Bryan Johnson and his livestreamed shrooms trip

When I was 18, I bought a cheap ticket from my college class Facebook group to see Grimes perform at a nearby music festival. Amid the crowd on that sunny afternoon, a drug-addled man continuously tried to climb a young, flimsy tree for a better view. He failed again and again — it was simply impossible for such a dainty plant to hold his weight — yet I watched in fascination and horror as this stranger fixated on a task that would only succeed if he could defy the very laws of physics.

Over a decade later, I found myself in a disturbingly…