May 8, 2001: The Brain - Neil Slade

Art Bell welcomes brain researcher Neil Slade for a wide-ranging discussion on the untapped potential of the human brain. The conversation centers on an extraordinary video of a Taoist physician in Indonesia known as "Dynamo Jack," who generates electricity from his own body, delivers shocks to a film crew, and sets a newspaper ablaze using only the energy from his hands.

Slade explains how the amygdala and focused mental training allow individuals to harness incredible abilities, drawing parallels to Carlos Castaneda's teachings about projecting will from the belly. He introduces a new scientific discovery suggesting humans possess a second brain in the intestinal tract, an independent network of 100 billion nerve cells called the enteric nervous system, which may function as a biological transformer capable of stepping up the body's low-level electrical signals.

The discussion also touches on brain pleasure centers, the concept of a one-hour "braingasm," and the remarkable power that lies between our ears. Art attempts to replicate the fire experiment with his lighter, burning Neil's bio and his own hand in the process.