Podcast Summary: Kennedy Saves the World – "Honoring our VETS"

Host: Kennedy (A)
Guests: Marcus Capone (C), Amber Capone (B)
Date: November 11, 2025

Episode Overview

This powerful Veterans Day episode of Kennedy Saves the World centers on the post-service mental health challenges of veterans—and, more specifically, on the frontier of psychedelic-assisted therapy for healing psychological wounds. Kennedy revisits her favorite interview with Marcus Capone, a retired Navy SEAL, and his wife Amber, co-founders of Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS). Through candid storytelling, the Capones detail the limitations of traditional treatments for PTSD and traumatic brain injury, their journey to plant medicine therapy abroad, and the mission that resulted: helping countless fellow veterans access transformative treatments denied at home.

Key Discussion Points

The Challenge: Traditional Treatment Failures

• Veteran Struggles after Service

  • Marcus describes ongoing difficulties adjusting to civilian life: isolation, anger, self-medication with alcohol, and growing distance from his family.
  • Traditional treatments via the VA—psychologists, antidepressants, brain clinics, and other therapies—offered little relief.
  • “Five [brain clinics] in total. I think they did a good job of diagnosing, but I don't think they did a great job of telling me, you know, this is what you need to do to heal.” (Marcus, 04:06)

• Amber’s Perspective: Survival Mode

  • Amber reflects on feeling trapped by dysfunction, forced into survival mode as she watched her husband spiral.
  • The emotional toll felt catastrophic—she knew something drastic had to change:
    • “Losing Marcus felt imminent, and I wanted to start forgiving myself if the worst happened.” (Amber, 07:16)
    • “I really—it felt like I was putting all the chips on the table... but I knew that we had to try it because if the worst did happen, I could at least know that I had tried everything.” (Amber, 07:06)

The Turning Point: Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy

• Why Seek Radical Treatment Abroad?

  • U.S. laws forced them, and many veterans, to seek psychedelic therapy in places like Mexico.
  • Marcus had cycles of depression marked by hopelessness and a lack of purpose, exacerbated by the failure of every conventional option he'd tried:
    • “Now you're telling me this thing that I personally think is crazy…psychedelic medicine is going to help you? At the time I thought it was nuts.” (Marcus, 09:53)

• Discovery and Impact of Ibogaine

  • Marcus describes traveling to a clinic in Mexico where he tried ibogaine, a plant-derived psychedelic alkaloid:
    • “Ibogaine is a molecule that comes from a plant…tribes have been using it forever…for mental health issues.” (Marcus, 11:49)
  • The ibogaine journey entailed revisiting formative traumas—akin to watching the “movie of your life”—in an intense six- to eight-hour internal experience:
    • “I actually watched them refile in pictures and play in front of me like a movie…when you're done…it felt like I had all this weight lifted off my shoulders.” (Marcus, 14:43/15:29)
  • The immediate aftermath:
    • “I wanted to live again. I had purpose. And I just couldn't wait to see Amber…This is exactly what the guys need.” (Marcus, 15:47)

Rebuilding and Advocacy

• Visible Change, Renewed Connection

  • Amber recalls seeing Marcus after treatment:
    • “His entire look, his demeanor, his posture, his presence, his being, his energy—everything changed. I was instantly transported back to when I met him in 1997.” (Amber, 18:31)
  • The transformation rekindled their relationship and inspired their shared mission.

• Founding Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS)

  • Motivated to help peers, the Capones began raising money to send veterans for similar treatment.
  • Marcus recounts affirmations from the veteran community:
    • “I've had like, 50 friends who've retired or gotten out of the military basically call me and say...you need to look into this because it's helped all of us.” (Marcus, 20:20)

• Stigma and Hope for the Future

  • The Capones acknowledge ongoing skepticism and stigma around psychedelics but remain committed to broadening access and changing legislation:
    • “Our mission one day is VETS goes away and we have access to these medicines right here in the US…not only veterans, but people who need it.” (Marcus, 25:29)

Discussion of Additional Treatments and Integration

• Other Psychedelics

  • Marcus notes success with other treatments like ketamine, and the use of 5-MeO-DMT (the “toad” protocol) post-ibogaine to foster integration and spiritual healing:
    • “The five MEO is a very spiritual experience. It's very anti-inflammatory...that was what really, as Amber spoke about, bringing you closer to yourself and closer to potentially a higher power. 100%.” (Marcus, 24:11)

• Importance of Integration

  • Emphasizes therapy and coaching post-treatment to sustain healing gains, highlighting that psychedelics are not a shortcut but one part of ongoing work.

• Amber’s Experience

  • Amber hasn't used psychedelic therapy herself, choosing instead to focus on advocacy from her present perspective:
    • “I don't think everyone necessarily needs psychedelics, but everyone certainly needs to be connected to a higher power and connected to themselves internally.” (Amber, 19:17)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Failing Treatments (Marcus, 04:06):
  “The more that I was hurting inside, the more help we were trying to find, the more frustrated I was getting because…the brain clinics weren't helping.”

• On the Darkness of Depression (Marcus, 08:54):
  “I never wish depression upon anyone…you have no hope…all the things you love doing, that was gone. You're in a really dark place.”

• First Glimpse after Healing (Amber, 18:31):
  “His entire look, his demeanor, his posture, his presence, his being, his energy—everything changed… I knew instantly that I had him back.”

• On Societal Paradigm Shift (Kennedy, 17:28):
  “This is such a massive paradigm shift that this is one of the things that could heal society in ways that nothing else has been able to... that's why I want to keep talking about it.”

• On Their Mission (Marcus, 25:29):
  “Our mission one day is VETS goes away and we have access to these medicines right here in the US…for not only veterans, but people who need it.”

Important Timestamps

• Veteran Treatment Journey & Failures: 02:03–06:02
• Amber’s Perspective on Survival Mode: 06:02–08:20
• The Psychedelic Therapy Decision & Ibogaine Primer: 08:38–12:11
• The Ibogaine Experience (first-person): 14:43–16:11
• Immediate After-effects & Founding VETS: 16:11–18:31
• Amber’s Reaction to Marcus post-treatment: 18:31–19:10
• Wider Veteran Community Impact: 20:20–21:16
• Approach to Broader Advocacy (Final mission): 25:29

Conclusion

This intimate, moving conversation draws a bold line between the shortfalls of current veteran care and the promise of psychedelic-assisted therapy. The Capones’ journey from personal crisis to purposeful advocacy suggests a radical rethinking of mental health for combat veterans, echoing Kennedy’s belief that such paradigm shifts could reshape not just individuals, but society itself. The Capones call for continued curiosity, compassion, policy change, and honest discourse.

For more information or to support their mission, visit Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS).