Conspirituality

Relief Project #2: Natalie Wynn/Contrapoints

01 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Matthew here with the second installment of Five Big Questions Posed to an Extremely Thoughtful Person.  Does Natalie Wynn need an introduction? Or d...

Bonus Sample: Faith: Unearned and Earned

30 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

An essay from Matthew exploring the problem of authenticity which plagues every investigation we do on the spiritual influencer beat.  There are quea...

Brief: The Actual Biggest Losers

28 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On Monday, Senator Ron Johnson sponsored a congressional panel entitled "American Health and Nutrition: A Second Opinion." Unfortunately no actual hea...

225: Trauma Healing for Trump

26 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tens of people will be flocking to Washington DC this Sunday as Rumble comes to life during Rescue the Republic, a one-day event featuring RFK Jr, Rus...

Bonus Sample: The Child Messiah Fantasy

23 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The British occultists took the thin and sickly but beautiful boy away from his family. Groomed him for 20 years to become the savior of humanity. Tra...

Brief: RFK Jr Says the Devil Measures Carbon

21 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

“God talks to human beings through many vectors. But nowhere with such detail, and grace and joy, as through creation. When we destroy nature, we di...

224: RFK Jr’s Pet Guru Blesses Trump

19 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There’s been a question gnawing at fans of Charles Eisenstein: what does he really feel about RFK Jr’s pivot to Trump? The always aspiring poet-ph...

Bonus Sample: Waking Up With the Biohackers

16 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"Biohacking expert" Kayla Barnes recently published a 31-minute video about her morning routine, filled with EMF-blocking shields, grounding protocols...

Brief: Tucker Carlson’s Friendly Fascism

14 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tucker Carlson is the Steve Bannon of Joe Rogans. Tucker surpasses Rogan’s massive reach at times, but his curated guest list drives a deliberate ag...

223: Tucker Carlson’s Toxic Cleanse

12 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 2022, Tucker Carlson produced a documentary called “The End of Men,” his contribution to the so-called “masculinity crisis.” That’s when ...

Relief Project #1: Jivana Heyman

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Here’s the first installment of a regular timeline cleanser featuring interviews with folks reflecting on hope, faith, resilience and building commu...

Bonus Sample: Imaginary Children # 3: Mole Children vs. Gazan Children

09 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What does it mean to spill ink on dispelling conspiracy theories about non-existent children being murdered, while actual children are being murdered?...

Brief: Ultra-processed Pseudoscience

07 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Calley Means is the cofounder of TrueMed, a company that helps businesses qualify products and services like supplements and ice baths for HSA and FSA...

222: RFK Jr: As the Worm Turns

05 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

RFK Jr has dropped out of the presidential race and thrown his weight behind Trump. In our 10th episode on the man in the last year-and-a-half, we loo...

Bonus Sample: The OG New Age Grifter: Madame Blavatsky

02 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Born in 1831, Helena “Madame” Blavatsky pioneered the New Age grift. The Russian aristocrat plagiarized her books while claiming to be channeling ...

Brief: Trump’s Impending Ego Implosion (w/ Daniel Shaw)

31 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dems are laughing about Donny Dentures or #TrumpisDone, but the reality inside his head, and Mar a Lago, will be very grim, and there will be a lot of...

221: The Dangers of Dr Google (w/Dr Jonathan Stea)

29 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In one survey, 82% of young people aged 18-25 searched the internet for mental health advice. Another survey of university students found that 44% rep...

Bonus Sample: The Next Plandemic Grift

26 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Peter McCullough recently shared a ton of misinformation about mpox while speaking to Drew Pinsky; both men work for The Wellness Company, a supplemen...

Brief: Dictatorship for Dummies

24 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

ProPublica recently got a hold of 25 Project 2025 training videos—over 14 hours worth of content revealing the policies the Heritage Foundation woul...

220: Swifties for Trump (and Other AI Lies)

22 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Did you hear that Taylor Swift is supporting Donald Trump for president? That’s right: last week, the former president shared photos of fans rocking...

Bonus Sample: Introducing the Conspirituality Relief Project

19 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A short break-the-fourth-wall reflection from Matthew on his new regular series for our main feed, starting in September.  The Conspirituality Relief...

Brief: Big Dad Energy

17 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

An unexpectedly cheerful followup to “JD Vance Taps into Parental Rage.” The alt titles today could be: “Tim Walz Taps into Parental Goals,” o...

219: Dems Learn to Sh*tpost

15 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Eight years ago, they called us cucks, libtards, and globalists. We were corrupted by cultural Marxism, teaching our kids to hate themselves. Four yea...

Bonus Sample: JD Vance’s Dictator Fetish

12 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tech billionaire Peter Thiel claims “freedom and democracy are incompatible.” Mentor and $15M donor behind JD Vance’s political career, Peter Th...

Brief: Stealing Democracy for Jesus

10 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ziklag’s ultra-wealthy network of Christian donors is spending nearly $12M to mobilize Republican voters in order to secure a Trump victory this Nov...

218: Meet the Sexvangelicals (w/Julia Postema & Jeremiah Gibson)

08 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

You’re an eight year-old girl. The purity culture of your evangelical church, ruled by men but policed by women, has you worried that the spaghetti ...

Bonus Sample: The "Crisis" of Meaning

05 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Scroll through masculinity influencer social media feeds and you're constantly told there's a "crisis of meaning." But is that really true? Has a shar...

Brief: JD Vance Taps into Parental Rage

03 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The “childless cat lady” thing is as ridiculous as JD Vance is. But it’s not stupid. It’s tapping into something powerful, because it’s sham...

217: Childless Cat Lady

01 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If something real occurs in this timeline, but no conspiracy theorist is there to FUBAR it, does it actually happen? An old man, weakened by COVID, pi...

Bonus Sample: Imaginary Children: “God’s Word on Spanking”

29 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is the second episode in “Conspirituality and the Imaginary Children,” an occasional series on how children, as symbols (but not persons with...

Brief: Bret Weinstein: “The Biden Psy-Op”

27 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A tale of two tweets: Dark Horse podcast cohost and “conspiracy hypothesizer” Bret Weinstein took to Twitter twice this month, first dropping a vi...

216: J.D. Vance, Conspiracy Hobbit

25 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Just two days after surviving an assassination attempt, Donald Trump announced JD Vance as his VP pick. Vance has made a dramatic U-turn from calling ...

Bonus Sample: Project 2025 on Worker's "Rights"

22 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Project 2025's plan for workers is clear: crush unions, eliminate minority protections, curtail reproductive health care benefits, and make the workpl...

Brief: Cult of the Lamb Anti-Cult School? (w/Riley MacLeod)

20 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We cover conspiracy theories, spiritual abuse, and religious and right-wing extremism. We cover showmen and charismatics suffering from King Victim Co...

215: Divinely Protected

18 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Two landmark Supreme Court decisions—the Trump immunity case and the overturning of the Chevron doctrine—represent the legal institutionalization ...

Bonus Sample: Project 2025's Plan: Let It Burn

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Project 2025's approach to environmental issues is pretty straightforward: deny climate science, dismantle the EPA, clear a path that prioritizes co...

Brief: Project 2025’s “Bloodless” Coup

13 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

While speaking on Steve Bannon’s podcast, The War Room, Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts recently stated, “We are in the process of the...

214: Aubrey Marcus is Totally Not a Cult Leader

11 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today we’re looking at a lavish infomercial put out by New Age oligarch and RFK Jr superfan Aubrey Marcus, in which he tries to show the world that ...

Bonus Sample: You Can’t Do Religion on the Internet

08 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Back in 2011, Ward and Voas wrote that conspirituality was a mainly-online movement, and they were right about that. They didn’t do fieldwork at eve...

Brief: The Freebirth to Born-Again Pipeline

06 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The stress of influencing in the New Age / alt-med world is rough. You have to pretend to know everything, from vaccine science to the origins of auti...

213: Yoga for Gaza, Yoga for Israel

03 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Can yoga bring hostages home? No. Can yoga stop a genocide? Also no. But this won’t stop earnest practitioners from instrumentalizing practice for b...

Bonus Sample: The Prophet & the Electrical Storm

01 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What does it really mean to be a prophet, found a religion, and persuade millions of people that god speaks directly to you?  And what does this god ...

Brief: Jordan Peterson Teaches Russell Brand Theology

29 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Last month, Russell Brand visited Jordan Peterson's podcast for “The Evolution of Theology.” Which, given these two figures, had to focus on topic...

212: US Military Tells RFK Jr-Style Lies

27 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On June 14, Reuters published an article about the US Military’s clandestine program to discredit China’s Sinovac vaccine during the early days of...

Bonus Sample: Sanctimonious Spirituality

24 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What is the distance between spiritual practice and social action? Derek has weighed this question for decades. This unscripted meditation on the topi...

Deep Cut: Leonard Leo, Judicial Kingmaker

22 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A Deep Cut from January's Patreon. Control the Court. Overturn Roe. Funnel anonymous donations and shady gifts. Deregulate for Jesus. Roll back the cu...

211: Terrence Howard Solves Science

20 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Acclaimed actor Terrence Howard has a new role playing a heroic Galileo-like character on the YouTube and podcast stage, where he fearlessly points o...

Bonus Sample: 6 Chapters on Prospirituality

17 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Six chapters on approaches to prospirituality, now that we know (or think we know) what the hell conspirtuality is. This is a long episode, but there ...

Brief: Math Class with Terrence Howard & Eric Weinstein

15 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Terrence Howard recently made waves (again) when appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast to discuss “Terryology,” a language of logic which he claims p...

210: Bioquacking Bro Science (feat Mallory DeMille)

13 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Are you ready to “live beyond 180? That’s the tagline of the 10th Annual Biohacking Conference, which went down in Dallas two weeks ago. The brain...

Bonus Sample: Speak Through Me

10 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

QAnon’s “Great Awakening,” influencers claiming to channel spirits or aliens, prophecies of a glorious Christian apocalypse—all aspects of the...

Brief: The Theatre of Trump (w/Hank Willenbrink)

08 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s all just a show, and sometimes that makes it all the more real. Playwright and theater scholar Hank Willenbrink joins Matthew to look at the sp...

209: The Right’s Fantasy Super-Villain (w/Renee Diresta)

06 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We talked to Renee Diresta, when she in the middle of a life-changing crisis. Elon Musk’s hand-picked "journalists" were testifying in front of Cong...

Bonus Sample: Nicole Shanahan Talks DEI with Scott Adams

03 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nicole Shanahan, RFK Jr's VP pick, has recently started her own podcast. Dilbert creator Scott Adams joined. The conversation quickly turned into a co...

Brief: Dancing for the Devil (w/Derek Doneen)

01 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When young TikTok dance stars joined 7M Films, they got access to big production budgets, luxurious locations, and exciting career opportunities. Ther...

208: Dirty Dozen Disinformation (w/Drs Andrea Love & Michelle Wong)

30 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Every year, the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, DC-based lobbying group, publishes its “Dirty Dozen” report, which supposedly informs c...

Bonus Sample: Public Theology and Hospice Care (w/Jude Mills)

27 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this Listener Stories episode, Matthew sits down with Jude Mills, an old friend from the yoga world, to hear her story about growing up in an anti-...

Brief: Is God Necessary in Spiritual Practices?

25 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There’s been a growing acceptance of religious belief from the previously religious-averse, especially in the Covid contrarian space. This comes in ...

207: Gaming Realities (w/Thi Nguyen)

23 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Philosopher Thi Nguyen first visited us 150 episodes ago (!!) to discuss how social media gamification exploded online conspiracy theories and audienc...

Bonus Sample: Russell Brand Is Christian Now?

20 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Russell Brand has accepted Jesus into his heart and been baptized in the spirit. But does his conversion to Christianity make sense along the New Age ...

Brief: The Outside Agitator Conspiracy Trope (w/Dr. Peniel Joseph)

18 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Two weeks ago, several university administrators asked militarized police units to smash pro-Palestinian encampment protests on quads and in occupied ...

206: Surviving Modern Yoga (w/ Matthew Remski)

16 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Matthew is in the guest seat today! Why? Because in 2019—just months before the pandemic and this podcast kicked off—he published a book titled Pr...

Bonus Sample: The Force That Divides Us All

13 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 2020, former NY Times journalist Isabel Wilkerson published Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. The book tells a compelling story: that the roo...

Brief: An Honest Discussion About Food (w/Dr Sarah Ballantyne)

11 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Sarah Ballantyne forged a career in science communication and health education advocating for autoimmune solutions in food and the paleo diet. In 2...

205: Dismantling Movement Dogmas (w/Laurel Beversdorf & Sarah Court)

09 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We have a real treat today for listeners who love all forms of movement, especially yoga and strength training. Derek and Julian talk to Movement Logi...

Bonus Sample: Imaginary Children #1: Fetal Remains

06 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the first full episode of this ongoing series, Matthew looks at the anti-abortion arcs of two men: Rob Schenck and Frank Pavone. Both leaders inves...

Brief: Religion is Not Belief? (w/Blair Hodges)

04 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The late historian of religion James Carse (1932-2020) made a radical proposal in his 2012 book, The Religious Case Against Belief. He argued that bel...

204: What the Hell is RFK Jr Doing?

02 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Robert F Kennedy, Jr isn’t backing down. You can’t get away from his voice or his endless content stream. He’s banked on tech world oligarch ant...

Bonus Sample: Let's Talk About Gary Brecka

29 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"Human Biologist" and life coach Gary Brecka's star rose after biohacking UFC President Dana White's health. Yet Derek has a few questions this week: ...

Deep Cut: On Belief

27 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A Deep Cut from our Patreon archive (July 2023) What do we mean when we say that we believe something? When the QAnon Shaman got dressed on the mornin...

203: Is This a Joke? (w/Neal Brennan)

25 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Neal Brennan has upped the artistic ante in stand-up comedy. In Netflix specials like "3 Mics and Blocks" he’s explored loneliness, isolation, and t...

Bonus Sample: The Dark Sun, The Red Cow, and The End of Days

22 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tensions between Israel and Iran escalated as supernaturally-charged conspiracy theories about the solar eclipse flooded the internet. And so Julian s...

Brief: Yoga Teacher’s Survival Guide (w/Theo Wildcroft & Harriet McAtee)

20 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Matthew is joined by Theo Wildcroft and Harriet McAtee, co-editors of The Yoga Teacher's Survival Guide: Social Justice, Science, Politics, and Power ...

202: Steve Hassan and the Trans Cult Conspiracy Theory

18 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

“Cult expert” Steve Hassan has been publicly concerned with the complex sociology of trans youth since 2020. We track that interest back to his co...

Bonus Sample: Long Haul Stories: Matthew Stillman

15 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Following up on our Long COVID episode with Tara Haelle, Matthew will be expanding the Listener Stories portfolio with stories from listeners about na...

Brief: A History of the Gay Right (w/Neil Young)

13 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Matthew is joined by historian Neil J. Young, co-host of the excellent Past Present Podcast, to talk about his new book: Coming Out Republican: a Hist...

201: Librarians Are Not Groomers (w/Heath Umbreit)

11 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When Moms For Liberty attacks libraries with demands to ban books about MLK Jr and age-appropriate sex education, and claims that librarians are groom...

Bonus Sample: Project 2025's Disdain for Public Education

08 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Project 2025 is the libertarian conservative Heritage Foundation’s systematic governance plan for the next Republican president. The 920-page plan a...

Brief: The High Cost of Wellness

06 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A common sentiment in wellness spaces is that people turn to alt-med practices due to the exorbitant costs of American healthcare. While the latter is...

200: Rogan-Rufo Reality Check

04 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week we take stock of the full entrenchment of the Mirror World, where conspirituality influencers bask in the rays of confident delusion. After ...

Bonus Sample: The GOP Thinks Food Stamps Are the Real Problem

01 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Project 2025 is the libertarian conservative Heritage Foundation’s systematic governance plan for the next Republican president. The 920-page plan a...

Brief: Woman, Life, Freedom (w/Negin Shiraghaei)

30 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The death of Mahsa Jina Amini at the hands of the Islamic Republic’s “morality police” in September 2022 lit a fuse on a fervent global protest ...

Brief: Yes, Huberman’s Behavior Matters

30 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In response to Kerry Howley’s meticulous reporting on the deceptions of Andrew Huberman in New York Magazine, Huberstans around the world are brayin...

199: Inside Anti-Abortion Christian Nationalism (w/Rob Schenck)

28 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Reverend Rob Schenck spent 30 years on the front lines of the Evangelical war against Roe V. Wade. He blockaded abortion clinics, screamed at women in...

Bonus Sample: Conspirituality and the Imaginary Children (Series Intro)

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this series of audio essays, Matthew will examine how children as symbols—but not persons with their own internal lives—are at the center of co...

Brief: Unmasking Jay Shetty (w/John McDermott)

23 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Former monk turned spiritual influencer to the stars, Jay Shetty, has amassed 15 million followers on Instagram. He’s interviewed Michelle Obama, Ki...

198: Holy Food (w/Christina Ward)

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Does God have a recipe? That’s the first line of the blurb of Holy Food: How Cults, Communes, and Religious Movements Influenced What We Eat: An Ame...

Bonus Sample: Ketamine Soul Mates

18 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dolphins, drugs, new age music. Isolation tanks as a portal into other dimensions. True love and fake aliens. Julian shares a personal love story from...

Brief: RFK Jr Hijacks the “Crisis in Masculinity” (w/Natalia Petrzela)

16 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Masculinity, in all its wounded and preening anxiety, is the perennial currency of American populism. America’s foremost public historian on fitness...

197: Psychic Surgery (feat Brad Abrahams)

14 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The “healer” mutters prayers, flutters his hands over the patient’s belly, then rubs his fingers close to her navel. A stream of what looks like...

Bonus Sample: How to Stamp Out Racists (and more)

11 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

At what point do you tune someone out and no longer consider them worth considering? Is their entire catalog of thought defined by one encounter you d...

Brief: The God Pivot: Rogan, Brand, & Huberman

09 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Being a chaos agent is exhausting. The internet never ends. It’s so abstract, groundless. At some point, all of your content seems stale and redunda...

196: Julian Goes to the New Age Expo!

07 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For 22 years, astrologers, channelers, and UFO enthusiasts have run booths next to crystal healers, purveyors of esoteric books and pseudoscience prod...

Bonus Sample: “There Are Worse Things Than Dying”

04 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is a newly favorite mantra that RFK Jr is using on the presidential stump.  The subtext, uttered in the shadow of a pandemic that this guy did w...

Brief: The CPAC Pope and the Icicle Babies (w/ Brad Onishi)

02 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Brad Onishi of Straight White American Jesus sits down with Matthew to analyze the debut of “America’s Bishop,” Joseph Strickland, on the CPAC s...

195: Long COVID (w/Tara Haelle)

29 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the early days of the pandemic, most of the cultural focus was on the necessity of quarantine measures and the distinction between mild and severe ...

Bonus Sample: Through the Looking-Glass

26 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

After going undercover at the Conscious Life Expo, Julian examines the weird synchronicities between himself and his mirror-world doppelganger, the ec...

Brief: The “Super Reasonable” Dr. Vinay Prasad

24 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A contrarian doctor “just asking questions.” Super reasonable. Certainly not anti-vax, just a regular guy who grievance-mongers about quarantine m...

194: The Power Worshippers (w/Katherine Stewart)

22 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

January 6, 2021. MAGA hats, tactical gear, American flags, poles turned into clubs. Another flag appears: white, with a blue corner square containing ...

Bonus Sample: Your Gut Isn't Leaking

19 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Cleveland Clinic's website states that leaky gut is a "hypothetical condition." Yet Cleveland Clinic physician, Mark Hyman, claims that leaky gut ...