Contributor:
Katie MacBride
Profile edited by Katie MacBride and Lydia Laurenson
Photo courtesy of Katie MacBride
Last update: October 17, 2019
Katie MacBride has helped out with a number of editorial tasks for The New Modality. Here's a bit more about her.
Hi Katie! What's your official bio?
I'm a writer and editor living in the Bay Area. I typically cover drug policy, health, politics, gender, and the arts. I'm also a co-founder and the associate editor of Anxy Magazine. I've done a lot of cannabis reporting and in 2018, I was a story and field producer for a documentary about the pediatric use of medical cannabis (which is currently in post-production). My work has appeared in Playboy, Rolling Stone, The Daily Beast, and Longreads, among other publications.
What are some of your favorite past projects? Why do you feel great about them?
I will always be exceptionally proud of Anxy Magazine. It started as an idea among a small group of creatives who care about mental health and became a bi-annual print magazine with 20,000 copies sold internationally. It was really wonderful seeing something go from an idea to a physical thing that people could hold in their hands. The fact that people felt passionately about it and were moved by it was a dream come true. I'm so excited for that to happen with The New Modality!
What’s a cultural phenomenon you are excited about?
I'm really excited about some of the harm reduction efforts happening in Canada and a few European countries. Canada has been establishing Safe Concumption Sites (SCSs), locations where drug users can obtain clean needles and safely use pre-purchased drugs. The staff at these facilities usually have and know how to administer Naloxone, a life-saving drug administered during an opioid overdose. SCSs reduce transmission of HIV and Hepatitis C, and generally save lives. Canada is even creating safe consumption sites in prisons, which is fantastic.
I'm also really excited about the use of psilocybin, MDMA, and other psychedelics to treat depression and other mental illness. We desperately need new and innovative approches to mental illness, including medication, and I'm happy that the research indicates that these substances can be incredibly beneficial to people who are suffering.
Where can we go to learn more about you?
Transparency Notes
This profile was a joint effort between Lydia Laurenson, editor in chief of The New Modality, and Katie herself, so it is a bit recursive. Nobody fact-checked it, but we're pretty sure it's all true. (In all seriousness, you can learn more about The New Modality's fact-checking and epistemological ideas by reading the page about our process for truth and transparency.)