Lorien tells Katharine about mystery mushrooms, magic mushrooms, and mushroom foraging (and reveals that the hunter/gatherer gene skipped her).

Sources

• https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a70698051/mushroom-bizarre-hallucination/
• https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260121-the-mysterious-mushroom-that-makes-you-see-tiny-people
• https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-06/Psilocybin-2020.pdf
• https://calpoison.org/about-magic-mushrooms-psilocybin-safety
• https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/308850#summary
• https://attheu.utah.edu/facultystaff/psychoactive-psilocybins-evolution-in-magic-mushrooms/
• https://www.beckleyretreats.com/blog/types-of-psychedelic-mushrooms
• https://food52.com/story/6306-eugenia-bone-on-mushrooms-myths-and-foraging
• https://food52.com/story/20860-an-illustrated-guide-to-mushroom-foraging-10-earthy-savory-recipes
• https://food52.com/story/20860-an-illustrated-guide-to-mushroom-foraging-10-earthy-savory-recipes
• https://barebonesliving.com/blogs/gardening-foraging/foraging-for-mushrooms-a-complete-guide?srsltid=AfmBOoojEexVoJOsvnKbJRLZO04G53F-0SldhYROYYivS88zdLBz3qVQ
• https://melissaknorris.com/podcast/5rulesforforagingwildedibles/?srsltid=AfmBOood16NZQUcHRepd1lL60a10Pk1P8mc3Cm2j0wkz7qpHMTW6x4Mk
• https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/how-to-hunt-mushrooms/
• https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/02/deadly-mushroom-arrives-canada/581602/
• https://www.npr.org/2025/12/10/nx-s1-5639775/death-cap-mushrooms-california
• https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/four-dead-and-three-receive-liver-transplants-after-eating-death-cap-mushrooms-in-california
• https://www.npr.org/2025/07/07/nx-s1-5451735/erin-patterson-mushroom-murder-sentence

Like much of the country of late, Katharine has space on the brain.

Sources:

• https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/how-an-asteroid-caused-extinction-of-dinosaurs.html
• https://today.ucsd.edu/story/an-asteroid-doesnt-have-to-hit-earth-to-cause-catastrophe
• https://www.space.com/astronomy/asteroids/the-powerful-new-rubin-observatory-just-found-11-000-new-asteroids-and-measured-tens-of-thousands-more
• https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/asteroids/
• https://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/asteroid-hits-earth.htm
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelyabinsk_meteor
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event
• https://www.esa.int/About_Us/50_years_of_ESA/Asteroids_The_discovery_of_asteroids
• https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/meteors-meteorites/facts/
• https://www2.tulane.edu/~sanelson/Natural_Disasters/impacts.htm
• https://www.planetary.org/articles/how-astronomers-rank-dangerous-asteroids-and-what-that-means-for-you

Lorien has discovered another reason not to go hiking. Also, Lorien says she's not going to give away the ending to a 130-year-old short story and then immediately does, so spoiler alert, we guess.