Conspirituality

Part 2 of Matthew’s sit down with sex-work veteran and social justice advocate Esme Providence Brown to discuss New Age / wellness antifeminist, Kelly Brogan, and how her craven politics bolster the permission structure for Trumpian misogyny. They track her political and aesthetic journey from labcoat wearer to wellness pole dancer to BDSM cosplayer—a spiral through deepening layers of appropriation, disavowal of responsibility, and cringe-tastic ideas. Esme concludes with some deep insights on what it means for artisanal BDSM to be stripped of its political and consent-culture context, and who Brogan’s “feminism is a psy-op” argument really serves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 3 February 2025

When asked if he thought Mark Zuckerberg’s effective ending of fact checking was in response to threats that he would “put him in jail for a very long time,” Trump replied, “Probably. Yeah, probably.” A week later, TikTok voluntarily disabled their app for users, then put up an announcement saying that Trump was going to bring them back.  Julian talks to digital disinformation expert Renee Diresta about the massive Big Tech realignment with MAGA, which now means Meta, X, and TikTok may become more like TruthSocial. If fact checking is biased, content moderation is censorship, and combating foreign propaganda is anti-free speech, where does that leave us now? Show Notes If you Give A Mouse a Cookie: Renee Diresta Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 1 February 2025

What the ever loving fuck. That’s our intro today. But we do have a structure. Julian’s going to review the Executive Order chaos, including the pardoning and deputizing of fascist street gangs. Derek’s going to explain what the ever loving fuck it means for health agencies to turn off access to health data. And I’ll look at two Xtian responses to fascism: one hypocritical and one poetic… but maybe toothless. Show Notes Freed Capitol riot ringleaders regroup - and vow 'retribution' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 30 January 2025

Full episode available here. The alien from Venus in George King’s head said: “Prepare yourself. You are to be the voice of interplanetary parliament.” It’s 1952 and the Englishman has been meditating deeply. Eight days later, a famous yogi from India materializes to explain what’s going on. These experiences became the basis for the Aetherius Society—an organization that still has 35 chapters around the planet today. They claim the world’s governments are covering up their communication with a spiritually enlightened galactic federation, so as to maintain control over humanity. If that sounds like 2020 red-pilled Instagram grift, you’re right! Everything old is new again. Julian’s series, The Roots of Conspirituality, a history of new age conspiracism, is now conveniently organized under the “Collections” tab at the top of our Patreon page. Each episode is self-contained—but listen from the start if you want to trace the journey from the 1840’s “burned over region” of the American North East to today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 27 January 2025

On Jan 10, the Oregon Nurses Association launched the largest healthcare strike in Oregon state history. Some 5k frontline caregivers from 8 Providence hospitals and 6 clinics have been holding the line in freezing temperatures as they fight for basic rights that their employer—a Catholic nonprofit healthcare system whose C Suite members make millions of dollars every year—refuses to give them. Derek discusses why such strikes, and unions in general, are so important as the new administration takes office. He breaks down some of Providence’s past legal problems, discusses his own experience as a Providence patient, and talks to some of the nurses on the strike line. Show Notes Dr Jennifer Lincoln Oregon Nurses Association Resources for striking healthcare professionals It's Time for Providence to Put Patients Before Profits  Providence, striking Oregon health workers remain apart on key issues They Were Entitled to Free Care. Hospitals Hounded Them to Pay. Hospital System to Refund Poor Patients Who Were Entitled to Free Care Wealthiest Hospitals Got Billions in Bailout for Struggling Health Providers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 25 January 2025

One of the top podcasts in the world—even beating out Rogan for a few hours—is popularizing a well-meaning intervention for non-speaking autistic people. Unfortunately, that intervention happens to be a proven failure, and may set autistic and disability rights discourse back by decades.  Filmmaker Ky Dicken’s The Telepathy Tapes podcast delves into the world of Facilitated Communication, in which non-speaking people are believed to miraculously gain access to complex written language after lives of silence. According to Dickson, non-speaking people can also gather in transdimensional spaces and channel spiritual knowledge. But there’s a problem. Every controlled test shows that the messages produced through letterboards and iPads are coming from the facilitators—not the non-speaking persons. In this episode, Matthew interviews experts in pseudoscience and autism, including Janyce Boynton, a former (now dissident) practitioner of Facilitated Communication who explains how seductive and promising it was to practice, but how it ultimately steals agency and dignity from the autistic client. And... this is also a story about parents dealing with crushing levels of unpaid and invisible labour. They are already doing miraculous work. A fantasy is no replacement for true support and recognition. Show Notes Podcast About 'Telepathic' Autistic Children Briefly Knocks Joe Rogan Out Of No. 1 Spot   Ky Dickens Director | Filmmaker  Facilitated Communication—what harm it can do: Confessions of a former facilitator MD25438 - Powell, Diane Hennacy, MD - OR License Verification - 01/12/2025 11:07:47 AM  The Telepathy Tapes: Separating Science From Pseudoscience In Autism Communication  Stolen Voices: Facilitated Communication Devalues Autism | Psychology Today Canada Multiple method validation study of facilitated communication: II. Individual differences and subgroup results - PubMed   The Telepathy Tapes Prove We All Want to Believe "The Telepathy Tapes" is Taking America by Storm. But it Has its Roots in Old Autism Controversies.  Mixed Messages: Validity and Ethics of Facilitated Communication | Disability Studies Quarterly  Is There Science Behind That? Facilitated Communication  Controlled Studies — Facilitated Communication Served people with severe communication impairments — Obit for Rosemary Crossley More Doubts over Disability ‘Miracle’  Katharine Beals Jonathan Jarry MSc - Science Communicator   FCisNotScience - YouTube — Janyce Boynton’s awesome YouTube channel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 23 January 2025

The seventh installment of Matthew’s Five Big Questions Posed to an Extremely Thoughtful Person.  Sam Adler-Bell is a journalist, political theorist, and co-host of one of Matthew’s favourite podcasts, Know Your Enemy—a show about the American right. They discuss the normalization of genocide, the stark comforts of Freud and Janet Malcolm, the relief of DW Winnicott, how we can’t avoid playing the role of our own mothers, and also good advice from his dad, a labour lawyer who knows something about long, uncertain, but always worthwhile battles for the common good.  Show Notes Sam Adler-Bell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 21 January 2025

Twitter Files journalist Alex Berenson recently published two articles claiming that Moderna covered up a child's death from a Moderna Covid booster trial—and the FDA is complicit. Children’s Health Defense then hosted him on their TV program to learn more about this outrageous scandal. Do Berenson's claims hold up? All Derek did was click on the links in his own article to discover the "truth." He looks at this phenomenon through the lens of the 2020 book, Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World. Show Notes Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World Alex Berenson’s article Children’s Health Defense interview The Lancet study on Covid vaccination in children Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 20 January 2025

We know Bryan Johnson gobbles 100 pills a day. He pumps his son’s plasma through his veins. He does light therapy on his junk and wants to live forever. But do we understand how Johnson’s fascinations reflect his Mormon heritage? No. No we don’t.  That’s why we called our very own Salt Lake City expert, Blair Hodges, host of the Relationscapes podcast.  Blair joins Matthew to discuss Johnson’s transhumanism, which has roots in the LDS but has also led him away from it. They cover the spirituality of his money, whether he’s trying to become a living god, and how his home gym has some distinctive Mormon temple elements. Also: is Bryan really as polite as he seems, or is he hiding Blair has degrees in journalism, religious studies, and disability studies from the University of Utah and Georgetown University. He directed communications for the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Studies at Brigham Young University before moving to the nonprofit sector. He has served as communications director for Volunteers of America, Utah and RMHC of the Intermountain Area. He’s currently working on a research project on the history of intellectual disabilities in Mormon thought. Show Notes Relationscapes—Blair Hodges Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 18 January 2025

In January, 2023, Bloomberg published an article about how tech entrepreneur turned longevity stan, Bryan Johnson, spends $2 million a year in an attempt to live forever—or at least until age 200, as the goalposts shift. Then a Netflix documentary, Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever, dropped on January 1, taking a deep dive into Johnson’s quest and complex personal life. A strange thing happened along the way: Johnson felt much more personable and relatable than ever before to many viewers. Given the Bloomberg journalist is one of the producers, is this the latest propaganda piece by a supplements-pushing huckster, or is Johnson tapping into something much older and deeper about the human condition? Show Notes How to Be 18 Years Old Again for Only $2 Million a Year Politico piece on Mayor Karen Bass and LA Fires Anna Merlan on LA Fire conspiracies Ally Carter Diddy-List Fire Conspiracy Theory Shared by Former Bush Official Nutritionist Reviews The Blueprint Supplements Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 16 January 2025

A one-time drop of Derek's new podcast, Clarity Lab, the official podcast of Siris Health, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit building a free educational platform and curating social media channels that feature experts presenting health and science in a clear, compelling manner. Celery juice. Coffee enemas. Ozone therapy. The list of pseudoscientific cancer "treatments" is endless. Yet they all risk pushing people in vulnerable positions toward untenable "cures." Dr Andrea Love joins Derek Beres to discuss the dangers of cancer misinformation, as well as why the field of cancer research is so complex—and rewarding. Dr Andrea Love is an immunologist and microbiologist, as well as subject-matter expert in infectious disease immunology, cancer immunology, and autoimmunity. She writes the Immunologic newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 14 January 2025

Matthew sits down with sex-work veteran and social justice advocate Esme Providence Brown for the first of two chinwags about our famous New Age / wellness antifeminist, Kelly Brogan, and how her craven politics bolster the permission structure for Trumpian misogyny. They track her political and aesthetic journey from labcoat-wearer to wellness pole dancer to BDSM cosplayer—a spiral through deepening layers of appropriation, disavowal of responsibility, and cringe-tastic ideas. This is only Part One! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 13 January 2025

UCSF epidemiology and biostatistics professor Vinay Prasad's star rose when he compared the US response to Covid-19 to the beginnings of the Third Reich in October, 2021. Though a less famous contrarian than others in the MAHA sphere, the hematologist-oncologist has honed his social media trolling over the past few years, always ready for a fight, evidence be damned. Derek and Julian look at two recent videos that signal Prasad might be angling for a position in a potential RFK Jr-run HHS—and all the misinformation he continues to spread. Show Notes BMJ's Systematic Review on Quarantine Measures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 11 January 2025

Like it or not, 2025 is here. What happens in post-truth America when formerly fringe conspiracy theorists, religious extremists, pseudoscience-peddlers, and wannabe authoritarians become a government—now weaponized against their personal enemies, both foreign and domestic? Should political analysis take a page from academics who study professional wrestling? We each offer our views on what's ahead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 9 January 2025

George van Tassel was the original UFO contactee. He claimed to have been visited by aliens from Venus in 1953, which led to him hosting thousands of people at the annual Interplanetary Spacecraft Convention for almost 20 years. He channeled “Ashtar, ”a figure still popular in “Galactic Federation” conspiritualist circles today, and spent 25 years building a time machine based on telepathic communications with aliens.  Julian unpacks the wild story of van Tassel’s airstrip, the Mojave Desert’s Giant Rock, and how the FBI may have been involved in his mysterious death and subsequent disappearance of his cellular rejuvenation equipment. This is part of a series of free-standing episodes that excavates the history of pseudoscience and conspiracism beneath contemporary New Age spirituality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 6 January 2025

Journalist and author Josie Reisman says we can’t understand the Trump era without understanding his life-long pro-wrestling fandom, and his bonds with one of his closest friends, WWE tycoon Vince McMahon.  Reisman argues that McMahon’s invention of “neokayfabe,” in which storylines and real life are purposefully and artfully confused, blurs the distinction between fact and fiction. It makes consumers, followers, and voters complicit in creating a spectacle of cruelty.  It’s the kind of argument that once seen, can’t be unseen. It helps explain the contradictory and performative politics of Trump—and how, under his leadership, the administrative state may not be destroyed by fascism directly, but by a theatre of cynicism and catharsis that will allow the latent fascism of the American Empire to explode.  Show Notes Welcome to Neokayfabe  Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America — Abraham Josephine Riesman // Writer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 4 January 2025

British entrepreneur and investor Steven Bartlett launched his podcast, Diary of a CEO, in 2017. He quickly found an audience in the tech world, which gave him access to a wide range of celebrities and businesspeople from various domains. By 2024, the podcast became one of the top 5 in the world, netting Bartlett and his team a reported $25M this year alone. Yet as Bartlett’s star rose, his guest list began becoming more and more suspect. Pertinent to our beat, contrarian wellness influencers and philosophers appeared, spreading Covid conspiracies and health misinformation. In his role as curious everyman, Bartlett rarely challenged their narratives, sometimes playing along with their conspiratorial hot takes to an audience in the millions. We look at a few conspiritualist crossovers this week, and discuss what it really takes to become a top 5 podcaster—and the information and integrity that’s sacrificed along the way. Show Notes The Canonization of St. Luigi Sacred Heart of Luigi hanging up at Vito's Pizza  Extremist “Saints Culture” Catholic ethicists condemn ‘indifference to suffering’ shown by those celebrating Luigi Mangione 41% of young voters say UnitedHealthcare CEO killing "acceptable"  69% Blame CEO Murder on US Healthcare System  Mainstreaming of Violent Accelerationism December Wave 2 2024 AmeriSpeak Omnibus | NORC at the University of Chicago   Steven Bartlett sharing harmful health misinformation in Diary of CEO podcast What the Most Famous Book About Trauma Gets Wrong Teal Swan Collection—Patreon Bessel van der Kolk: Role in the Satanic Panic He Built a Wellness Empire While Adventuring With Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Only 7% of American Adults Have Good Cardiometabolic Health Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 2 January 2025

Happy New Year’s Eve! The sixth installment of Matthew’s Five Big Questions Posed to an Extremely Thoughtful Person.  Writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit is the author of more than 20 books on feminism, western and indigenous history, popular power, social change and insurrection, wandering  and walking, hope and disaster. Show Notes Rebecca Solnit Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 31 December 2024

Ozempic might be all the rage among people who want to lose weight, but wellness influencers and MAHA acolytes are raging against the antidiabetic medication. Derek investigates recent statements by RFK Jr and Calley Means and holds up their claims to the data we can all see online. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 30 December 2024

We've been highly critical of The Free Press in the past, but a recent memoir-article about grappling with a familial history of polio by Jana Kozlowski stood out. Derek and Julian take no issue with the piece, which was an emotional plea to understand the ravages of polio and the efficacy of vaccines. The comment section is another thing. Show Notes Polio Ravaged My Family. Forget Its Horror at Your Peril. The First Five Errors in the Moth in the Iron Lung Book The First Five Errors in Dissolving Illusions by Suzanne Humphries Amazon Won’t Take a Stand in War Over Anti-Vaxxer Book Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 28 December 2024

A special Patreon bonus unlocked episode as we enjoy the holidays with our families and friends. Matthew got The Question on the morning after the election. At that moment, he came up with nothing but a hug. But then he chewed on it for days, and came up with eleven things to consider.  So here are some notes for possible conversations with tweens about anxiety, bullies, fascism, friends, mutual aid, and love. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 26 December 2024

“If you grow up with it, religion is real until you realize it is also imagined. And after a period of disenchantment or even depression that associates imagination with lies, you might then sense that the imagined part was also real, but because it’s imagined, you know you can change it.” Matthew reflects on how Santa becomes more real in the home after the kids know he’s just a story, but a story of unbridled love and causeless generosity they can now participate in telling. Happy holidays, everyone! Show Notes A Christmas Carol: Dedicated to Scrooge, And His Art Collection—McKenzie Wark Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America — Abraham Josephine Riesman Welcome to Neokayfabe—Jodie Reisman  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 23 December 2024

Jeffery Tucker is the founder of the MAGA thinktank Brownstone Institute. In 2020, Brownstone published The Great Barrington Declaration, with lead author Jay Bhattacharya—now the nominee for head of the NIH.  Jeffrey’s daughter, Julia, joins Matthew to discuss her dad’s rise through the punditocracy, through decades of fringe libertarian publishing, working for Ron Paul, boosting anarcho-capitalism and crypto, writing for the Epoch Times, and asking such daring questions as: “What’s so wrong about child labour?” Show Notes Patreon: Post-Catholic Music (w/Julia Tucker) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 21 December 2024

The murder of United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson has set off shockwaves across America. This week we look at the story’s online impact, people mythologizing the alleged killer, its intersection with conspirituality, and the healthcare system in America writ large. Show Notes Jen Gunter on insurance denial for her premature babies' oxygen needs  Exclusive: Luigi's Manifesto - Ken Klippenstein  Savings: Quarter of Americans Have Few, One in 10 Have None | Statista  The Burden of Medical Debt in the United States View of U.S. Healthcare Quality Declines to 24-Year Low MDVIP/Ipsos poll shows Americans are struggling with the healthcare system UnitedHealthcare CEO gunned down in Manhattan sold company stocks just before DOJ probe made public | The Independent  Conservatives Face Backlash From Followers Over UnitedHealthcare Murder - Newsweek  Before fatal subway chokehold, Jordan Neely was on NYC’s list of homeless individuals with dire needs | CNN  Kaiser Study on Health Insurance Satisfaction NIH Debunks Myth that 60% of Bankruptcies are Medical in Nature Luigi Mangione’s Anger Wasn’t Neatly Ideological  Gallup Poll on Health Care Satisfaction Ipsos Poll on Health Care Satisfaction Mental Illness is 13.5 times More Likely In Lone Wolf Shooters  Narcissism, Fame Seeking and Mass Shootings Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 19 December 2024

The fifth installment of Matthew's Five Big Questions Posed to an Extremely Thoughtful Person.  Dr. Annie Kelly joined us in Episode 61 to lay out her research on the manosphere-to-conspirituality pipeline. Today she joins me to discuss the trouble and joy of balancing extremism research with stories of hope and solidarity. Show Notes Annie Kelly   Vaccine: The Human Story - YouTube Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 17 December 2024

Extremely online, bearded, Millennial pastors in tailored suits want to repeal women’s suffrage, criminalize gays, and Make America Christian Again. These “TheoBros” even have a guy on the inside: JD Vance. Trump’s Dept of Defense nominee, Pete Hegseth, attends an affiliated church.  Julian tracks their genealogy and ugly ideas, as well as their parallel reactionary theocratic visions wreaking havoc elsewhere in the world today. Stay tuned for conversational reflections and wholesome holiday wishes at the end! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 16 December 2024

Journalist Talia Lavin joins Derek to discuss her recent book, Wild Faith: How the Christian Right is Taking Over America.  Show Notes Wild Faith: How the Christian Right is Taking Over America Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 14 December 2024

As we ride out the aftershocks of the election and prepare for Trump 2.0, it’s as if nothing is bolted down. Trump’s cabinet appointments signal a disregard for competence or temperament as he seems to prioritize fervent deep state conspiracism and anti-woke aggression in his choices. The chattering classes (both legacy and new media) are on the front lines of having to adapt in real time.  What to do? Double down on anti-fascist resistance, turn the disinformation detection devices up to 11, chart a course for sanguine neutrality, normalize the chaos as the world burns, or maybe give this rag-tag group of billionaire outsiders a chance to move fast and break things—in the hope that some of it was not working anyway?  We look at three different modes of damage control currently ripping through American discourse. Show Notes There’s a conspiracy theory that the CIA invented the term ‘conspiracy theory’ – here’s why 87: The Aubrey Marcus Spectacle 107: An Open Letter to Aubrey Marcus 214: Aubrey Marcus is Totally Not a Cult Leader Winning the Fight for Reproductive Rights in Mexico - Open Society Foundations   Madres de Plaza de Mayo | Learning for Justice  Adweek article on Rogan and MeidasTouch Kash Patel QAnon Appearances Kash Patel Seal Team 6 Endangerment So Marianne Williamson Really is the Peace Candidate—Patreon  “You Feel Like You Are Subhuman”: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza | Amnesty International USA  NLG and Other Legal Groups Send Letter to ICC Urging an Investigation into Potential War Crimes Committed by Israel and US in Gaza under “Operation Protective Edge” Russell Tribunal on Palestine, 2014   Friday 17 November: Twenty thousand Palestinians believed to be killed in Israel’s genocide of Gaza  Campus Protests Led to More Than 3,100 Arrests, but Many Charges Have Been Dropped  Harris campaign rejects claim vice president thinks there is a genocide in Gaza  A Study Reveals CNN and MSNBC’s Glaring Gaza Double Standard | The Nation  Morning Joe: Dems’ Favorite Show, Blatant Pro-Israel Propaganda  The Intercept: Israel-Palestine Coverage  US MSM downplays Amnesty report  TIME on Iranian Foreign Influence Methods Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 12 December 2024

Researchers in California recently warned that just one mutation in H5N1, the bird flu virus, could make the disease transmissible between humans. While the virus was first identified in 1959 (and became globally significant in 1996), they’re also concerned that increasingly damaging effects of climate change could make us more susceptible to such viruses. The same week, California-based raw milk manufacturer, Raw Farm, was forced to recall its products due to third-party testers discovering it contained H5N1. Derek looks at these converging trends—the wellness-driven fervor over the safety and health benefits of raw milk and the chances of another pandemic—with an investigation into why this matters from a public health perspective. Along the way, he’ll define the three often-confused forms of health in public discourse—individual, population, and public health—and why influencers often confuse them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 9 December 2024

Exvangelical author Tia Levings joins Matthew to discuss her harrowing memoir of indoctrination, abuse, recovery, and advocacy, The Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy. It’s a wild GenX journey that tells us a lot about the logic of evangelical support for Trumpism, and how those caught within it can see their way clear the gender terror, rape culture, and fantasies of retribution.  Show Notes Tia Levings  This season, Patreon is checking some big things off your wish list Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 7 December 2024

If you’ve spent one minute on social media in the last few months, you’ve probably heard that seed oils are extremely toxic, food dyes are the reason for rising obesity rates—oh wait, that’s glyphosate—and vaccines are still causing autism. Nevermind the fact that the supposedly criminal preservative, thimerosal, was removed from almost all vaccinations in 2001. Clinical research is irrelevant in MAHA, RFK Jr’s Make America Healthy Again MAGA ripoff. Wellness acolytes have found a champion in Kennedy, who’s going to immediately end chronic diseases and reduce obesity rates by…checks notes…making sure every American has a gym membership. We’ve covered Bobby a lot on this podcast, so today our fearless correspondent, Mallory DeMille, returns to investigate one very vocal and very relieved cohort, the MAHA Mamas. They just know Kennedy is going to truly save the children, science be damned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 5 December 2024

An essay from Matthew on how MAGA religiosity obscures the religious nature of liberalism, and how both obscure the underlying religion of capitalism.  Inspired by Walter Benjamin, who in 1921 wrote: One can behold in capitalism a religion, that is to say, capitalism essentially serves to satisfy the same worries, anguish, and disquiet formerly answered by so-called religion. Capitalism is a pure religious cult, perhaps the most extreme there ever was. Within it everything only has meaning in direct relation to the cult: it knows no special dogma, no theology. Show Notes Mutual Aid Hub  Martin Luther King Jr: Dialectics, Materialism, and the Black Radical Critique of Racial Capitalism with Andrew J. Douglas and Jared A. Loggins  230: How Did We Get Here? Walter Benjamin, "Capitalism as Religion [Fragment 74],"  Max Weber and Walter Benjamin Without Dream or Mercy  Has Capitalism Become Our Religion? On the Concept of History - Walter Benjamin  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 2 December 2024

The Free Press founder, Bari Weiss, recently hosted Peter Thiel on her podcast. While The FP markets itself as as a return to independent and non-partisan real journalism, Julian and Derek point out that's not the case at all—especially when the organization's $15M in funding comes from rightwing and libertarian VCs. Will Weiss factcheck Thiel's misinformation in real-time, as a "non-partisan" outlet should? Show Notes Lapdogs Of The "Counter-Elite" Authoritarians Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 30 November 2024

Since the election, Democratic voter disbelief and despair has alternated between grief and rage. We watched some erstwhile vociferous critics of Trump in the legacy media, like Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, kiss the ring and bend the knee, while others adopted a contorted posture of seeming legitimization, like NPR hosting Leonard Leo for a nice long sit-down interview.  Meanwhile, the big egos of MAGA 2.0 seem to rise like Soviet propaganda banners over the American landscape. Trump has named his cabinet picks at lightning speed. His list includes a pro-wrestling executive, a Hare Krishna cult member, a tech billionaire, an anti-vax conspiracy peddler, a FOX News host with far-right tattoos, an alt-med snake oil salesman, two sex offenders, a COVID-contrarian doctor—and, contrary to his claiming to know nothing about it during the election, prominent Project 2025 authors.  What most high profile nominations all have in common is being completely unqualified for the job. Maybe that’s the point. We look at the cabinet picks that intersect with our beat, as pseudoscience conspiracism now completes its journey from the social fringes to deciding White House policies—and all the consequences that entails. Show Notes Conspirituality’s Project 2025 coverage Everything You Need to Know About Donald Trump’s FDA Pick No, Medical Errors Are Not the Third Leading Cause of Death Dr. Oz Shilled for an Alternative to Medicare Trump picks former Florida Rep. Weldon to lead CDC 13 things everyone should know about Pete Hegseth  Trump reportedly plans to kick trans troops out of the military within days of inauguration Transgender Military Service in the United States Did RFK Jr. eat McDonald’s in that viral pic aboard Trump’s plane? Here’s the answer  Part One: Vince McMahon, History's Greatest Monster - Behind the Bastards C-03-CV-24-004019 — John Does suit against WWE, trigger warning.  Case 3:24-cv-00090 Document 1 Filed 01/25/24 — Janel Grant suit, trigger warning.  152: Tulsi Gabbard’s Krishna Consciousness (w/Nitai Joseph) Tulsi Gabbard's ties to the Science of Identity Foundation, a controversial religious sect that some call an abusive 'cult' Tulsi Gabbard Had a Very Strange Childhood What Does Tulsi Gabbard Believe? Tulsi Gabbard’s ties to secretive cult may explain her perplexing political journey Islamophobic World View of Tulsi Gabbard's Guru Revealed in Unearthed Recordings – Can she Still Run for President? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 28 November 2024

Matthew here with the fourth installment of Five Big Questions Posed to an Extremely Thoughtful Person.  Rob Schenck joined me in Episode 199 to discuss his deradicalization from the Evangelical anti-abortion movement. Today he joins me to discuss some things he’s learned about hope, faith, resilience and building community in hard times. Show Notes Costly Grace - Rob Schenck  199: Inside Anti-Abortion Christian Nationalism (w/Rob Schenck) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 26 November 2024

The climate denialist who exposed the so-called “censorship industrial complex” returns, this time at another congressional hearing. Michael Shellenberger has come to blow the whistle on Big Government’s UFO cover-up.  Nancy Mace, Lauren Boebert, and Anna Paulina Luna alternate between showing off their knowledge of fantastical History Channel “documentaries” and playing bad cop interrogators. Reverse-engineered UFO’s! Recovered alien “biologics!” Interdimensional beings! Organic machines that defy the laws of physics!  Shellenberger and his fellow “witnesses” provide precisely zero evidence for any of these earth-shattering claims. Welcome to the Government Oversight and Accountability Committee circus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 25 November 2024

AG1 built a billion-dollar brand in large part by tapping into the fitness and wellness podcast and YouTube markets. Recently, AG1’s founder, Chris Ashenden, resigned after a decades-old real estate scam in his native New Zealand came to light. While Chris has mentioned it in passing, he’s always claimed to have paid full reparations for his crime—and it was a crime. Turns out that he hasn’t paid it all, as uncovered by New Zealand journalists Jonathan Milne and Mike Wesley-Smith. They join Derek to discuss their year-and-a-half long investigation that resulted in a billionaire founder leaving one of the most well-known supplements brands in the world. They also talk about why journalism still matters in a world seemingly run by billionaires.  Show Notes AG1 founder Chris Ashenden resigns amid scrutiny of NZ criminal history DELVE: Powder Keg podcast on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeart Trump sues for billions from media he says is biased against him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 23 November 2024

Josemaria Escriva founded Opus Dei, an ultra-conservative, high-demand, secretive Catholic organization in Madrid, Spain, after receiving a supposed vision from God in 1928. His small inner circle initially initiated university students into strict obedience, celibacy, medieval practices of self-flagellation, and deceptive recruitment techniques to convert their friends.  Operating outside of the mainstream church, Opus Dei rose to prominence under Spain's authoritarian dictator, Francisco Franco. Escriva was eventually canonized as a saint while the group amassed enormous wealth and influence around the world.  Today, their reactionary religious and political mission has established a foothold in Washington DC through the Catholic Information Center—the tabernacle closest to the White House.Bill Barr, Leonard Leo, and Project 2025 mastermind, Kevin Roberts, all visit for spiritual guidance. Meanwhile, scandals and lawsuits involving child sex abuse, money laundering, and human trafficking plague Opus Dei's reputation. Gareth Gore joins us to discuss his controversial new book on the past and present of this secretive organization, Opus. Show Notes Pew Research Center: America’s News Influencers How Opus Dei Converted DC Gareth Gore Author page for his book, Opus Opus Dei Paid $900K to Settle Sexual Misconduct Claim Argentine Prosecutors Accuse Opus Dei of Human Trafficking Maria del Carmen Tapia Book Summary on Opus Dei Financial Times on Opus  Biblical omen uncovered in aftermath of Hurricane Helene | Daily Mail Online Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 21 November 2024

A personal journey through health describing what led Derek to focus on health, science, and healthcare as a career and, eventually, this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 18 November 2024

The post-election online chaos has a lot in common with what can go wrong in online survivor groups. Matthew tracks how opportunities for connection and solidarity can crater into gravity wells of recrimination, trauma-dumping, moral outrage porn, and the rise of new influence hierarchies. Not just because of differences in politics and values and temperament—but because of inequality and privilege.  A meditation on the difference between building a boat to sail in vs. a boat in a bottle, on considering the second arrow, and on when to log the fuck off.  Show Notes Mutual Aid Hub MORAL OUTRAGE PORN C. Thi Nguyen and Bekka Williams The Second Arrow — Sutta Central   Log the Fuck Off with Amber Frost, Matt Christman, & Ben Fong Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 16 November 2024

Once upon a time, there was a golden age. A time when the news media was fair and balanced, unbiased and honest. But we've lost all that to the corrupting influence of big money, political correctness, and woke censorship. Blame the radical left. Not to worry: the online charisma of heterodox new media figures like Bari Weiss and her plucky, centrist, truth-telling little start-up, The Free Press, has come to Make Journalism Great Again. Yet their supposed heterodoxy is neither neutral nor journalistically rigorous. It's pure culture war contrarian sensationalism that wastes little ink critiquing the rise of right-wing authoritarianism. We trace these tangled threads by listening in to the supposedly non-partisan The Free Press election night livestream, which giddily praised Trump for being the consummate bullshitter that will take an ax to Democratic institutions. Show Notes The evolution of France’s left and right politics, from the 1789 French Revolution to this year's election  What to Know About the Origins of ‘Left’ and ‘Right’ in Politics, From the French Revolution to the 2020 Presidential Race  Our American Zion  When a Terrorist Comes to Your Hometown Columbia's Own Middle East War Bari Weiss’s Unasked Questions TFP latest round of funding Thiel/Lonsdale and UATX funding UATX huge cash injection after pro-palestine protests Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 14 November 2024

Matthew got The Question on the morning after the election. At that moment, he came up with nothing but a hug. But then he chewed on it for days, and came up with eleven things to consider.  So here are some notes for possible conversations with tweens about anxiety, bullies, fascism, friends, mutual aid, and love. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 11 November 2024

Derek discusses Tucker Carlson advocating for corporal punishment as a way to discipline children in his appearance at the Turning Points USA MAGA rally. This is an unlock from a recent Patreon bonus, with a new intro from Matthew. Show Notes Stephen Colbert: Tucker Carlson’s Weird Daddy Issues Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 9 November 2024

Rapid-response electoral punditry is not our lane. So, while we gather our feelings and thoughts, Matthew hosts novelist Sheila Heti for a discussion of her encounter with A Course in Miracles, and what she discovered when she investigated its origin story for Harper’s Magazine. Was Helen Schucman, the book’s “scribe”, mentally ill? Was she unduly influenced by her boss at Columbia Medical School, William Thetford, who once worked for the CIA’s MKUltra programme, and with whom she was clearly in love, even though he was gay? Were they dropping acid on assignment from Langley? Why was the initial dictation of the book so radically altered by its first editors? Why did Helen Schucman curse A Course in Miracles so soon after publication? Why did she keep writing trite poems to Jesus before dying in bitterness? Heti was the ideal gumshoe for this project, because as a novelist all-too-familiar with internal voices and the feeling of “channeling,” she was able to feel her way into Helen’s life. Matthew asks her what she found. Show Notes The New Age Bible — Sheila Heti  Sheila Heti — website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 7 November 2024

Having lived under Apartheid in South Africa, voted in the UK, and now staring down this terrifying US election, Julian reflects on the political differences between the three countries. Stay tuned for some hopeful poetry at the end. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 4 November 2024

Recently, “holistic veterinarian” Marcie Fallek, whose latest book, “Little Miracles Everywhere: My Unorthodox Path to Holistic Veterinary Medicine," is the #1 bestseller on Amazon in the Alternative Holistic Medicine category, appeared on Children's Health Defense's daily morning show. During “Pet Vaccines and Holistic Vet Care" she spreads the same sort of vaccine misinformation and fear-mongering that RFK Jr's nonprofit has become infamous for. All of which made Derek realize that yes, they're actually coming for our pets. Show Notes Why Your Vet Bill Is So High Private Equity Is Killing Your Pets Nearly 70% of veterinarians have lost a colleague or peer to suicide, study finds The acute suicide crisis among veterinarians: 'You're always going to be failing somebody' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 2 November 2024

With days left before the most consequential US election in our lifetime, we reflect on the last 4.5 years of this podcast while expressing our hopes–and our own reporting goals—for the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 31 October 2024

Matthew here with the third installment of Five Big Questions Posed to an Extremely Thoughtful Person.  Michelle Cassandra Johnson was an early guest on our show and helped us lay the groundwork for understanding the reality and impacts of racism in the worlds of wellness and new spirituality. She’s an author, activist, and racial equity trainer. Her latest book, A Space For Us: A Guide For Leading Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Affinity Groups, was published by Beacon Press in August 2023. She lives in North Carolina with her sweet dog, Jasper, and her honeybees. Show Notes Michelle Cassandra Johnson Conspirituality 40: White Supremacy: Grift and Gravity (w/Michelle Cassandra Johnson & Daniel Lombroso)  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 29 October 2024

Derek discusses Tucker Carlson advocating for corporal punishment as a way to discipline children in his appearance at the Turning Points USA MAGA rally. Show Notes Stephen Colbert: Tucker Carlson’s Weird Daddy Issues Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 28 October 2024

Billionaire legal activist Leonard Leo has had a role in placing all six conservative justices on the SCOTUS, and so therefore is in large part responsible for the overturning of Roe V Wade. But his right-wing activism isn’t even close to over, as he recently stated during a rare interview with The Daily Wire. Derek and Julian discuss Leo’s dark vision for the future. Show Notes Swamp Creatures 6: Leonard Leo, Judicial Kingmaker Inside Leonard Leo’s Plan For Conservatives To ‘Crush Liberal Dominance’ We Don’t Talk About Leonard: The Man Behind the Right’s Supreme Court Supermajority Leonard Leo’s Extremely Revealing Letter to a Dark-Money Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 26 October 2024