Matthew sits down with Sam Binkley, Professor of Sociology at Emerson College in Boston to discuss his 2007 book Getting Loose: Lifestyle Consumption in the 1970s. We cited this very helpful work as we dug into the sociology of conspirituality for our own upcoming book. Here’s a thumbnail of Binkley’s argument: The 1970s ushered in a period of “getting loose” in relation to the body, work expectations, family relations, and political allegiances. This happened as the great moral and political qu...
Mar 21, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast There are a number of philosophies presented in yoga spaces as "universal truths" that turn out to be little more than directives in an echo chamber. And there are protocols presented as therapeutic in wellness spaces that blur the line between spiritual rhetoric and pseudoscience — and some are quite dangerous. Derek looks at his experiences as a student at Jivamukti Yoga as well as the recent "ozone enema" podcast between Gwyneth Paltrow and Will Cole to discuss spiritual rhetoric and pseudosc...
Mar 20, 2023•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast When Disneyworld becomes DeSantisland, Eric Weinstein will be in charge of the Epcot Planetarium, JP Sears will headline the Family Values comedy stage, Jordan Peterson and Jonathan Pageau will build an Orthodox cathedral for male transformation rituals. And Cinderella Castle will be remodeled into a Potemkin Capitol where Mikki Willis will choreograph and film daily insurrections. The groundwork is being laid now, as we explore the institutionalization of QAnon. Moms for Liberty, egged on by Mi...
Mar 16, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Transcript available on Metacast QAnon ain't over—it's on your television. It's been mainstreamed, networked, and remixed. Senior online extremism and disinformation researcher, Alex Kaplan of Media Matters joins Julian to share his reporting on the latest developments. 2024 is fast approaching. Under the looming shadows of legal calamity, Trump is rallying the Anons on Truth Social while Mike Flynn and his grifter-entourage roadshow preaches hellfire and ivermectin anti-vax election denial at an evangelical church near you. Ca...
Mar 14, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this listener story, Julian talks to disabled rights activist and journalist Abby Mahler about how the fake COVID-cure grift endangers people who really need hydroxychloroquine to survive. -- -- --Support us on PatreonPre-order Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat: America | Canada Follow us on Instagram | Twitter: Derek | Matthew | JulianOriginal music by EarthRise SoundSystem Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 13, 2023•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast "Cleansing is no longer an option, it's a necessity.” From wellness influencers obsessed about the meat-body, to Christofascists obsessed about the body politic, rhetoric bombards us from all sides. Professor of Rhetoric Colleen Derkatch joins Julian to discuss the techniques of the meaning miasma. Her focus is on wellness rhetoric specifically, and how it points to incipient illness, encourages recreational diagnostics, and describes daily routines as liturgies that grant membership in divine c...
Mar 09, 2023•2 hr 34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Can Marianne Williamson maintain street cred as a progressive while promoting New Age Jesus? Can she hammer out functional policy while preaching out of A Course in Miracles—the most anti-political pseudospiritual text on the planet? Can she advocate for public health despite a history of waffling on vaccine science? Can she make a strong argument for health care reform while giving sermons from a book that says people get sick because they are not spiritual enough? Can she really help fat peopl...
Mar 06, 2023•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast For three years, we’ve covered a forest fire of body fascism, unleashed by the culture wars and the pandemic. With the help of many esteemed guests, we have tracked its hateful and eugenicist impacts on marginalized groups: the disabled, the racialized, the fat, the neurodivergent. We have taken too long to host a trans person who can give us both a front line personal and analytical report on what it feels like, and what it means, to live under the current regime of moral panic and legislative ...
Mar 02, 2023•2 hr 48 min•Transcript available on Metacast Answering the current wave of confusing vaccine misinformation. Julian is joined by molecular biologist Dr. Dan Wilson. "Died Suddenly," correlation vs. causation, the vaccine court, and the recycled anti-vax tropes gaining fresh traction are all addressed in this succinct PSA. Correction: Julian incorrectly calls Dr. Dan a "microbiologist" at the start of this Brief—but he actually holds a PhD in molecular biology. Show Notes Vaccinated/Unvaccinated Viral Load Study Vaccination Reduces COVID Tr...
Feb 28, 2023•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast So much suffering occurs because we romanticize a past that never actually existed in the belief that it's destined to become the future. In the middle we sit, here, now, with time marching forward. Derek explores how wellness influencers weaponize this psychological phenomenon and describes his personal remedy for such thinking. -- -- --Support us on PatreonPre-order Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat: America | Canada Follow us on Instagram | Twitter: Derek...
Feb 27, 2023•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Continuing a conversation from EP142, Derek looks at the cultural damage done when musicians co-opt musical styles to promote their own propaganda, which is often at odds with the social struggles of the oppressed class that created the music. After briefly investigating the history of reggae through the lens of indentured servants from India, he discusses artists using two genres—reggae and hip-hop—in such a way that strips the original intention of the music of all value. -- -- -- Support us o...
Feb 25, 2023•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Do visiting inter-dimensional spirits and stowaway UFO passengers use the LAX Airport to touch down among us? Well they do if they're in town for the Conscious Life Expo, conveniently located at the LAX Airport Hilton for those who rely on otherwise mundane modes of travel. The Valentine's Day weekend crystals and angel cards fest of disjointed spirituality meets dodgy science just celebrated its 21st year as the premiere gathering point for awakened seekers choosing to come out of sovereign sup...
Feb 23, 2023•2 hr 38 min•Transcript available on Metacast How does it feel to grow up in a back-to-the-land house that vibrates with the anxious passion of conspiracy theories? What would happen when the world began to disconfirm the conspiratorial lore? How would you maintain your relationships, nurture the good, and gently let go of everything else?Maggie joins Matthew for this Listener Story to explore these questions in relation to her journey from childhood to today. Note: my question about conspirituality being an ethnicity was inspired by a conv...
Feb 20, 2023•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Is Canada trying to euthanize the mentally ill? Self-professed "theocratic fascist" Matt Walsh says so. So does the OG anti-woke agitator, James Lindsay. Both cravenly distort Canada's proposed expansion of its Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) laws to include people suffering from mental illness. But are they entirely wrong? From the left, Jeremy Appel writes in Jacobin: I’ve come to realize that euthanasia in Canada represents the cynical endgame of social provisioning within the brutal logic...
Feb 16, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hot yoga tycoon and sex offender Bikram Choudhury was set to teach his sweaty pseudoscience in Vancouver starting on February 20th. But a team of yoga allies, led by a woman who has sued Choudhury for rape, said "Fuck off." So that's that. Or is it? We have many questions. Why was this cursed event planned in the first place? Who on earth is continuing to support this clown, and trying to make money off of him? Who would cover themselves in sweaty shit in order to prop up this Simpsons-level car...
Feb 14, 2023•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Twitter Files are the grift that keeps on giving. This week, Derek and Julian look at Alex Berenson's recent appearance on Russell Brand's Rumble channel to talk about the conspiracies that only exists in their heads—and the misinformation they share along the way. Show NotesThe Pandemic’s Wrongest ManRussell Brand: Elites Are Using Liberal Ideas to Justify InequalityHow anti-vaxxers monetize misinformationURGENT: A federal database offers more evidence the mRNA Covid jabs may have serious c...
Feb 13, 2023•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today, Hulu releases a 3-episode doc series called “Stolen Youth,” directed by Zach Heinzerling. The pole star for this low-dopamine, low-cortisol, non-true-crime, survivor-centred documentary is Daniel Levin’s painful and radiant memoir, Slonim Woods 9. In 2010, Levin was drawn into an extended-family domestic abuse group led by Larry Ray, the father of one of his friends at Sarah Lawrence College. It took him years to leave, years to begin to recover, and years to become the de facto subject c...
Feb 09, 2023•1 hr 28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Sure, a big question: one Derek explores in the context of this nearly three-year-old Conspirituality project. Criticism and awareness are essential tools in a critical thinking kit, but to what end? As he prepares upcoming presentations on the topic of misinformation in public health, Derek reflects on the value of identifying charlatans and quacks while also speculating about how to move forward. -- -- --Support us on PatreonPre-order Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a H...
Feb 06, 2023•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Those who fly high, fall hard. Pole dance company S-Factor crashed and burned in 2021 amidst a stack of complaints. Detractors said the company was conducting unlicensed group therapy, cosplaying enlightenment by co-opting the labour of sex workers, and whitewashing issues of racial equality.Created by former actor Sheila Kelley, S-Factor monetized pole dancing as a path of feminist and spiritual awakening.In this 2-part Listener Story, Matthew speaks to Jessica Hopper about her 13 years learnin...
Feb 04, 2023•3 hr 55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Can you believe that Nancy Pelosi paid people to attack the Capitol on Jan 6 in order to make Republicans look bad? Actually, I mean, Jan 6 was the most peaceful gathering of a million patriots in history. Wait, hold on: Jan 6 was an antifa operative to act as cover for the fact that the election was, indeed, stolen. Do any of these stories sound familiar? Now imagine hearing them all, and dozens more like them, all in the same day, and you’ll get a glimpse of what Daily Show correspondent and h...
Feb 02, 2023•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast Katie Griggs. Katie Day. Kundalini Katie. Guru Jagat. We hardly knew you. The late "Queen of Conspiracy Theories" is now memorialized on NPR through Emily Guerin's LAist podcast "Imperfect Paradise." Matthew sits down with Emily to explore how we cover figures like Griggs, what it was like to interview her family, and what we can ultimately say about the compromised feminist empowerment she offered her followers—and whether she could have taken another route. Show Notes She was a popular yoga gu...
Jan 31, 2023•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast What do you do when your psychotherapy clients suffer from conspiracy theory anxiety? What do you do when the conspirituality-based therapy advice they get from TikTok is compelling, but also misleading? Toronto-based Registered Psychotherapist Alessia Caputo joins Matthew for this Listener Story installment to discuss the changing therapeutic landscape, in the office and online. -- -- --Support us on PatreonPre-order Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat: Ameri...
Jan 30, 2023•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Using a combination of Alexa, Siri, and your extensive search history, we've been able to scan your bio energetic field, and are sending personalized quantum rebalancing and immune-boosting frequencies your way as you listen. Can you feel it?! Can your pet feel it? Because, dear listener, there’s a program for them, too. In fact, there’s a program for everything and everyone because frequencies don’t discriminate—as long as you’re not into Big Pharma, that is. All you need is to invest in this l...
Jan 26, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Did the Matrix kidnap Top G? Or is Andrew Tate the Matrix himself, now unplugged and shorting out in a Romanian jail? While his self-confessed crimes against women come home to roost, the online spectacle his arrest has generated provides a litmus test for just how fast the cognitive dissonance of culture war chaos can plummet. Welcome to the broader “Tate crime”: a spectacle of acute reality-reversal, fueled by reactionary politics and driven by a cultic network of devotees and SEO managers, wh...
Jan 24, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ok, the title is a bit outlandish, but for a reason: many of Russell Brand's Rumble videos feature titles like "HERE WE GO" and "THE FALL OF FAUCI." When everything is at volume 11, nothing seems to make sense—which is a bit how Derek and Julian feel after listening to his recent interview with Bari Weiss. Not that Bari isn't a solid presenter—she is, even if we don't agree with everything she says. We'll pick apart her portion of the Twitter Files, while also continuing our investigation into R...
Jan 23, 2023•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Perhaps you’ve seen the Rumi quote repeated on social media memes: “The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” The wounded healer is a popular archetype in wellness spaces, and indeed, sometimes experience teaches wisdom, enabling the victim to overcome their trauma and help others. But in conspiritualist spaces, the wounded healer can also begin a monetization stream where everything becomes evidence of trauma, only to be healed through this book, or that course, or a brand-new brand o...
Jan 19, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Transcript available on Metacast In part two of Derek and Julian's deconstruction of the Russell Brand/Matt Taibbi Twitter Files Rumble Session, Matt and Russell swoon over their interactions with Elon Musk, discuss how the MSM unfairly maligns Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine, and chat about the old regime at Twitter being in service of the sinister agenda of global institutions like the IMF. Strap in. -- -- --Support us on PatreonPre-order Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat: Amer...
Jan 16, 2023•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast How do the screams of the Satanic Panic echo in anti-woke politics? This past week, New Age Satanic Panic influencer Teal Swan released a new video to 1.5M YouTube subscribers about the dangers of "Wokeism." Yesterday, Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) announced plans to form a Congressional Anti-Woke Caucus. We know by now that conspirituality is a machine charismatics can use to generate mystical solutions to exaggerated or imagined crises. With Swan’s pivot into anti-woke discourse, she is taking the nex...
Jan 14, 2023•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Where have all the strongmen gone, long time scrolling? Where have all the strongmen gone, long time ago? Where have all the strongmen gone? Gone to posting, everyone. Oh when will they ever turn off their phones? Not anytime soon. Trump on Truth Social, Modi on Instagram, Bolsonaro tweeting from a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Miami. Today we’re looking at the new strongmen at the top of our political circuses. According to our guest, strongman-whisperer historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat, they’re of new bre...
Jan 12, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Transcript available on Metacast In November, the College of Psychologists of Ontario (CPO)—through which Jordan Peterson must be licensed in order to treat private clients—opened an investigation into complaints over his Twitter behavior. A few days ago, he publishing the disciplinary paper trail to Twitter, but failed to properly redact the names of complainants. Mystery questions: Can you shitpost at public servants, dox complainants, misgender people, call doctors who provide gender-affirming care “monsters,” cavort with fa...
Jan 10, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
