I’m a writer and cognitive anthropologist — I care about human minds, and I want to help expand the range of capacities and experiences available to them. Currently, I’m a PhD student at UC Davis, where I’m advised by Manvir Singh. I do fieldwork on the indigenous use of psychedelics in Lesotho, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and (soon) Botswana and Colombia.

I also write essays on Substack and various public outlets about black holes, Ernest Shackleton, psychedelics, prodigies, children, music, and other things. My work has previously been supported by Emergent Ventures, Astral Codex Ten, the AAAS Mass Media Fellowship, and the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelics and Consciousness Research.

Email me at eselster@ucdavis.edu if you think our multitudes would get along. You can also text me on WhatsApp at Plus one, nine-two-five-three-two-four-eight-two-nine-one, and follow me on X or Bluesky.