Chris Adams of Sporelust! Mushrooms are People Too | L.A. Mushrooms Podcast

Ryan Williams

07 Oct 2025 — 4 min read

Chris Adams created and runs Sporelust! an art and apparel company, inspired by Chris’s incredible mushroom artwork. He also runs Corvidopolis, created The Mushroom Tarot deck, and designs t-shirts for the legendary Telluride Mushroom Festival, all of which are influenced by a pop-skate-punk 80’s and 90’s aesthetic. Sporelust! brings mycology to the mainstream with funny phrases like “Mushrooms are People Too” and “Eat Mushrooms, Don’t Kill People. Sporelust! is a mission-based, community-driven, and fun organization.

Is learning about mushrooms enjoyable? Yes, it is, when talking to Chris about the fungal kingdom. His passion for art, nature, and designing apparel can make anyone myco-curious as to why the fungi have directed Chris into the business of creating art around mushrooms. It’s a remarkable story for how Chris got his start in drawing 1980’s and 1990’s skate decks and punk rock imagery that lead him down the path of fungal artistry.

We have live shows in Los Angeles, come check us out at The Elysian November 23 and 29, it’s The Mushroom King Comedy Night, and tickets are $10!

In this episode Chris tells his story of how he found fungi, and how fungi found him. It’s hard to say who discovered who. From an initial experience discovering wild mushrooms in the Pacific Northwest, to experiencing the Telluride Mushroom Festival as a first-timer, Chris shares how the community around fungi has become a major part of his life.

We discuss how the kingdom of fungi are critical for the health of established ecosystems, and that less than 5% of a fungal species have been identified. Fungi are important players in soil health, alongside animals, bacteria, algae, and other microbes. While the fungi live in geological time (or mushroom time), the human systems of control and domination do not exist in the natural world.

We get deep into conversation about humans living within ecosystems and networks, yet humans see ourselves as controllers of the natural world,. Yet, we have to help the planet, fundamentally changing a lot around our society. We have a choice whether or not we change, or not.

Chris talks about the altruism of mushrooms, working to help all ecological systems, and not always doing it for direct benefit. We discuss topics like embracing citizen science, soil science, foraying in the woods, researching mushrooms, or creating surveys for mushrooms. We can embrace the altruism of the fungal kingdom because fungi are decentralized without hierarchical structures. We don’t fully understand the structure of mushrooms, which means we have lots to learn about Mother Earth.

Are you myco-curious? Want to learn more about mushrooms? This is a mycology discussion for anyone interested in learning more about the wonderful world of mushrooms. This episode is a beginner’s guide to how to get connected with fungi groups in your community.

We chat about all things mycelium with Chris.

Sporelust: https://www.sporelust.com/

Telluride Mushroom Festival: https://www.tellurideinstitute.org/telluride-mushroom-festival/

Links from the episode:

RadMyco: https://radmyco.com/

Telluride Mushroom Festival: https://www.tellurideinstitute.org/telluride-mushroom-festival/

Corvidopolis: https://corvidopolis.com

Mushroom Tarot: https://corvidopolis.com/collections/the-mushroom-tarot

What a Mushroom Lives For: https://www.michaeljhathaway.net/what-a-mushroom-lives-for

All That the Rain Promises and More: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/197528/all-that-the-rain-promises-and-more-by-david-arora/

Kuruvungna Village Springs: https://gabrielinosprings.com/

Los Angeles Mycological Society: https://www.lamushrooms.org/