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Conspirituality podcast

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Conspirituality

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  Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, Julian Walker  

Dismantling New Age cults, wellness grifters, and conspiracy-mad yogis. At best, the conspirituality movement attacks public health efforts in times of crisis. At worst, it fronts and recruits for the fever-dream of QAnon. As the alt-right and New Age horseshoe toward each other in a blur of disinformation, clear discourse, and good intentions get smothered. Charismatic influencers exploit their followers by co-opting conspiracy theories on a spectrum of intensity ranging from vaccines to child trafficking. In the process, spiritual beliefs that have nurtured creativity and meaning are transforming into memes of a quickly-globalizing paranoia. Conspirituality Podcast attempts to bring understanding to this landscape. A journalist, a cult researcher, and a philosophical skeptic discuss the stories, cognitive dissonances, and cultic dynamics tearing through the yoga, wellness, and new spirituality worlds. Mainstream outlets have noticed the problem. We crowd-source, research, analyze, and dream answers to it.

Dismantling New Age cults, wellness grifters, and conspiracy-mad yogis. At best, the conspirituality movement attacks public health efforts in times of crisis. At worst, it fronts and recruits for the fever-dream of QAnon. As the alt-right and New Age horseshoe toward each other in a blur of disinformation, clear discourse, and good intentions get smothered. Charismatic influencers exploit their followers by co-opting conspiracy theories on a spectrum of intensity ranging from vaccines to child trafficking. In the process, spiritual beliefs that have nurtured creativity and meaning are transforming into memes of a quickly-globalizing paranoia. Conspirituality Podcast attempts to bring understanding to this landscape. A journalist, a cult researcher, and a philosophical skeptic discuss the stories, cognitive dissonances, and cultic dynamics tearing through the yoga, wellness, and new spirituality worlds. Mainstream outlets have noticed the problem. We crowd-source, research, analyze, and dream answers to it.

 

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Progress

Duration

Release Date

#553

Bonus Sample: Thinking About "Holism"

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] (https://megaphone.fm/adchoices) ... Read more

18 Nov 2024

05 MINS

05:56

18 Nov 2024

#552

Brief: Post-Election Online Survivor Group Dynamics

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] (https://www.mutualaidhub.org/) [MORAL OUTRAGE PORN C. Thi Nguyen and Bekka Williams] (https://philarchive.org/archive/NGUMOP) [The Second Arrow — Sutta Central] (https://suttacentral.net/sn36.6/en/sujato?lang=en&layout=plain&reference=none&notes=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin)    [Log the Fuck Off with Amber Frost, Matt Christman, & Ben Fong] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcuj7SWlgg4) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit [megaphone.fm/adchoices] (https://megaphone.fm/adchoices) ... Read more

16 Nov 2024

17 MINS

17:38

16 Nov 2024

#551

232: Gaslighting The Election

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] (https://theconversation.com/the-evolution-of-frances-left-and-right-politics-from-the-1789-french-revolution-to-this-years-election-76226)   [What to Know About the Origins of ‘Left’ and ‘Right’ in Politics, From the French Revolution to the 2020 Presidential Race] (https://time.com/5673239/left-right-politics-origins/)   [Our American Zion] (https://jacobin.com/2020/02/bari-weiss-how-to-fight-anti-semitism-review)   [When a Terrorist Comes to Your Hometown] (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/02/opinion/sunday/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-bari-weiss.html) [Columbia's Own Middle East War] (https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/columbia-own-middle-east-war) [Bari Weiss’s Unasked Questions] (https://jewishcurrents.org/bari-weisss-unasked-questions) [TFP latest round of fundin] (https://www.ft.com/content/de999cfe-1604-41e4-9ba4-c2ad42cefb9c) g [Thiel/Lonsdale and UATX funding] (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-01/joe-lonsdale-like-peter-thiel-plows-his-tech-fortune-into-conservative-causes) [UATX huge cash injection after pro-palestine protests] (https://nypost.com/2024/10/14/business/deep-pocketed-donors-fund-anti-woke-university/) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit [megaphone.fm/adchoices] (https://megaphone.fm/adchoices) ... Read more

14 Nov 2024

1 HR 11 MINS

1:11:16

14 Nov 2024

#550

Bonus Sample: “What will happen?” (asks a 12 year-old)

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] (https://megaphone.fm/adchoices) ... Read more

11 Nov 2024

05 MINS

05:36

11 Nov 2024

#549

Brief: Tucker Carlson's Daddy Issues

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] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjzA2cPvr5E) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit [megaphone.fm/adchoices] (https://megaphone.fm/adchoices) ... Read more

09 Nov 2024

28 MINS

28:31

09 Nov 2024

#548

231: New Age Bible, Postmodern Novel (w/ Sheila Heti)

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] (https://harpers.org/archive/2024/09/the-new-age-bible-sheila-heti-a-course-in-miracles/)   [Sheila Heti] (https://www.sheilaheti.com/) — website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit [megaphone.fm/adchoices] (https://megaphone.fm/adchoices) ... Read more

07 Nov 2024

1 HR 09 MINS

1:09:32

07 Nov 2024

#547

Bonus Sample: Elections on 3 Continents

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] (https://megaphone.fm/adchoices) ... Read more

04 Nov 2024

06 MINS

06:00

04 Nov 2024

#546

Brief: No Really, They’re Coming For Your Pets

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] (https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/04/vet-private-equity-industry/678180/) [Private Equity Is Killing Your Pets] (https://www.thenation.com/article/economy/private-equity-pets-veterinarian/) [Nearly 70% of veterinarians have lost a colleague or peer to suicide, study finds] (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jun/11/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'] (https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20231010-the-acute-suicide-crisis-among-veterinarians-youre-always-going-to-be-failing-somebody) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit [megaphone.fm/adchoices] (https://megaphone.fm/adchoices) ... Read more

02 Nov 2024

25 MINS

25:30

02 Nov 2024

#545

230: How Did We Get Here?

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] (https://megaphone.fm/adchoices) ... Read more

31 Oct 2024

1 HR 32 MINS

1:32:07

31 Oct 2024

#544

Relief Project #3: Michelle Cassandra Johnson

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] (https://www.aspaceforusbook.com/) , 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] (https://www.michellecjohnson.com/) [Conspirituality 40: White Supremacy: Grift and Gravity (w/Michelle Cassandra Johnson & Daniel Lombroso)] (https://www.conspirituality.net/episodes/40-white-supremacy-grift-and-gravity-michelle-cassandra-johnson-daniel-lombroso)   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit [megaphone.fm/adchoices] (https://megaphone.fm/adchoices) ... Read more

29 Oct 2024

31 MINS

31:33

29 Oct 2024

#543

Bonus Sample: Tucker Carlson's Daddy Issues

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] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjzA2cPvr5E) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit [megaphone.fm/adchoices] (https://megaphone.fm/adchoices) ... Read more

28 Oct 2024

06 MINS

06:07

28 Oct 2024

#542

Brief: Leonard Leo’s Plan to “Crush” Democracy

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] (https://www.patreon.com/posts/swamp-creatures-96485431) [Inside Leonard Leo’s Plan For Conservatives To ‘Crush Liberal Dominance’] (https://www.dailywire.com/news/inside-leonard-leos-plan-for-conservatives-to-crush-liberal-dominance) [We Don’t Talk About Leonard: The Man Behind the Right’s Supreme Court Supermajority] (https://www.propublica.org/article/we-dont-talk-about-leonard-leo-supreme-court-supermajority) [Leonard Leo’s Extremely Revealing Letter to a Dark-Money Group] (https://newrepublic.com/article/186013/leonard-leo-85-fund-revealing-letter-dark-money-group) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit [megaphone.fm/adchoices] (https://megaphone.fm/adchoices) ... Read more

26 Oct 2024

37 MINS

37:36

26 Oct 2024

#541

229: Stanford Has Fallen

On Oct 4, Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of medicine, economics, and health research policy at Stanford, held a symposium at his university. Titled “Pandemic Policy: Planning the Future, Assessing the Past,” it was marketed as an open-minded series of panel discussions involving a range of experts to debate and discuss the efficacy of Covid mitigation techniques. In reality, it was a collection of mostly anti-vax and definitely anti-lockdown contrarians that tried in vain to bait people like Dr Peter Hotez to attend in order to give the event an air of legitimacy. Held on the anniversary of the “Covid is bad for business” doctrine, The Great Barrington Declaration, the day presented an opportunity to air supposed “censorship” grievances and demands that the public should have a say in the science of future pandemics. The rub: most everyone involved is invested in the economics of public health, not the science, though those lines were freely and falsely blurred throughout the day. Considering Stanford’s new president, economist Jonathan Levin, gave the opening remarks, the Covid contrarians took one more step into the mainstream with their business-first, science-whatever attitudes. Show Notes [Pro-COVID UK Charity With Anti-Vax Ties Behind Controversial Stanford Health Policy Conference] (https://www.importantcontext.news/p/pro-covid-uk-charity-with-anti-vax) [Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says a failing economy is worse than coronavirus] (https://www.texastribune.org/2020/03/23/texas-lt-gov-dan-patrick-says-bad-economy-worse-coronavirus/)   [Dr. Vinay Prasad: “Public Health’s (Mis)Truth Problem”] (https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/vinay-prasad-public-healths-mistruth-problem/) [Can Stanford Tell Fact from Fiction?] (https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2024/10/19/opinion-stanford-fact-fiction-pandemic-conference/amp/) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit [megaphone.fm/adchoices] (https://megaphone.fm/adchoices) ... Read more

24 Oct 2024

1 HR 14 MINS

1:14:32

24 Oct 2024