Shroomies: How Mushrooms Cracked My Heart Open—and What They Can Teach Us About Healing

by John Biggs

An in-depth exploration of psilocybin and its resurgence, use, impact, and potential.

Once upon a time, John Biggs thought mushrooms were for hippies and ravers. Now he calls them medicine.

In Our Search for Happiness Through Modern Mycology, tech journalist and unapologetic skeptic John Biggs trades Silicon Valley for psilocybin. What begins as a personal experiment to escape depression becomes a sweeping exploration of the psychedelic renaissance—how mushrooms are transforming minds, mending trauma, and redefining what it means to be human.

From underground retreats in Brooklyn to cutting-edge neuroscience labs and legal mushroom clinics, Biggs chronicles a cultural revolution in real time. Along the way, he meets grieving widows, veterans with PTSD, and burnt-out tech founders—all drawn to a strange little fungus promising something antidepressants can’t meaning.

Smart, funny, and unexpectedly moving, Shroomies bridges memoir and reportage with a cynic’s wit and a seeker’s heart. Biggs offers a grounded, clear-eyed look at how psilocybin works, why it’s capturing the world’s imagination, and what happens when an exhausted generation decides to look inward instead of logging on.

For readers of Michael Pollan, Merlin Sheldrake, and Rachel Nuwer, Shroomies is both a guide and a trip—a story of transformation, connection, and the ancient intelligence hiding in plain sight.

281 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 8, 2026

About the author

I live in Brooklyn, NY and write about technology, security, gadgets, gear, wristwatches, and the Internet. After spending four years as an IT programmer, I switched gears and became a full-time journalist. My work has appeared in the New York Times, Laptop, PC Upgrade, Surge, Gizmodo, Men’s Health, InSync, Linux Journal, Popular Science, Sync, The Stir and I’ve written Black Hat: Misfits, Criminals, and Scammers in the Internet Age and Bloggers Boot Camp. I also speak and consult. I have forthcoming books about Marie Antoinette’s watch as well as a YA fiction book, Mytro.

Reviews

[Niki Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know what I was expecting from this book, but it was quite interesting. It started off with a personal story about where the author was in his life, physically, mentally, and emotionally. I found myself nodding my head, agreeing with some of his negative thoughts because I've had times where I felt the same way.
His story explains how he ended up trying shrooms, and then he launches into the educational side of the book. Shroom types, the benefits of each one, the effects, and more. I definitely closed the book with more knowledge than I ever thought I'd have about the topic, and not in a bad way. Consider me curious now.