#21: Why Health Became the New Religion | Alan Levinovitz
episodePreviously titled “Why We Argue About Health Like It’s Religion: Long Covid, Seed Oils & Diets” — renamed by the publisher on Sep 15, 2026
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What insights does a religion scholar provide about health beliefs?
Welcome to 2%. I'm your host, Michael Easter. So Alan Levinowitz, he is not a health journalist, nor is he a doctor. He is a religion scholar at James Madison University. But that background, that has allowed him to figure out something really important. And that's that the way most of us think about health, it often functions like a religion. Think about it. There are ideas of purity and contamination and salvation. And there are also tribes that will turn on you the second that you question the doctrine. Now, once you see this pattern, you cannot unsee it.
How does the backlash to Alan's article illustrate identity in health debates?
Arguments we all have online and see out in the world about science, diet, seed oils, longevity, raw milk, long COVID, they aren't disagreements about data. They're often disagreements about who we are. Now, why are we bringing on Alan now? Well, he recently wrote a piece for Wired Magazine about long COVID. And the backlash this guy got, it was vicious and it was immediate. So we're going to start there. Not to reiterate the science, but because the backlash itself is the cleanest demonstration of Alan's thesis that I have seen in years. Now, this interview, it can help you think about your own health beliefs much better. I know it helped me. So let's bring on Alan now after a quick break.
What role do purity and contamination play in health arguments?
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I like watching it with my dad.
It's a connecting force.
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How does Alan explain the connection between health beliefs and religious metaphors?
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What examples demonstrate the extremes of health beliefs in society?
The Jonas Brothers here. Our podcast is called Hey Jonas. Since everyone has a podcast, we wanted to as well. And we've had some incredible guests so far. And now our good friend Niall Horan is joining the show.
How's it going, boys? Hey, Niall. It's the same thing with Slow Hands. Slow Hands is not about anything else really, is it? You know, our taste so good can't be about food.
How does the concept of 'natural' influence dietary choices?
You do the same, Nick, with some of the stuff that you've done.
You too, Joe.
Drop what you're doing and listen to Hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Hey, it's Alec Baldwin. This season on my podcast, Here's the Thing, I talk to composer Mark Shaman.
It's about the hang. It's the pleasure of hanging out with the people that you're with. You know, Rob and I was always a great hang. and director Morgan Neville. Film school teaches you all the wrong things about making documentary.
What are the psychological aspects of health-related beliefs?
What do you want to say? Documentary is all about your ear. What do you hear? I feel like my job is listening really, really hard.
Listen to Here's the Thing on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Well, Alan, thanks for coming on the show.
Thanks for having me. I really appreciate it.
All right, so a new edition of WIRED. You write an article on long COVID, basically about brain retraining approaches, the role of the brain in chronic illness, and why some of these treatments seem to work for some patients, but they're kind of seen as heretical among people who suffer from long COVID and these patient advocacy groups.
How can individuals navigate the complexities of health information?
And the response, it was intense. What has it been like for you given the response online?
Well, it's been a little scary, to be honest. There's some people who have watched every second of every video that's available of me online, clicked it to make me look as bad as possible, read every single post, every single piece of writing.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What insights does a religion scholar provide about health beliefs?
0:17–0:48
2
How does the backlash to Alan's article illustrate identity in health debates?
0:48–1:36
3
What role do purity and contamination play in health arguments?
1:36–2:05
4
How does Alan explain the connection between health beliefs and religious metaphors?
2:05–2:50
5
What examples demonstrate the extremes of health beliefs in society?
2:50–3:07
6
How does the concept of 'natural' influence dietary choices?
3:07–3:37
7
What are the psychological aspects of health-related beliefs?
3:37–4:17
8
How can individuals navigate the complexities of health information?
4:17–1:33:28
Speakers
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