Brief: Kombucha Krash

Conspirituality

Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, Julian Walker

Spirituality, Social Sciences, Religion & Spirituality, Science, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.2 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 5 August 2023

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

GT Dave's kombucha origin story is the stuff of legend—at least how he frames it. But when the LA Times broke the story of a judge awarding workers nearly half a million dollars in back and overtime pay, citing GT's abuse of employees and contradictory evidence, a different story unfolds. Derek looks at this kombucha company's origins, unrealistic health claims, and the many troubles its endured over the decades, and how GT's response aligns with the conspiritualist playbook. Show Notes L.A.’s kombucha empire exploited workers for years Meet the King of Kombucha What Science Says About the Potential Health Benefits of Kombucha The Disinformation Dozen Toxic Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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1:02.0	Hey everyone, welcome to Conspirituality where we investigate the intersection of conspiracy theories and spiritual influence to uncover cults, pseudoscience and authoritarian extremism.
1:14.0	I'm Derek Barris.
1:16.0	And today I want to share a story about kombucha and a lot more than kombucha.
1:23.0	Few products scream wellness like this fermented tea blended with bacteria, sugar, yeast and often fruit.
1:31.0	I'll admit off the top that I used to drink a lot of it.
1:34.0	Not so much because of the health claims, but because I enjoy drinking it.
1:38.0	My family is entirely Eastern European, so fermented products are in the DNA of my lineage.
1:46.0	And I will briefly address the health claims, though the real focus of this brief is the insatiable hunger for power that drives those who drink the kombucha of their own egos and the techniques they used to deflect criticism from themselves.
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