Conspirituality

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 Trump a "reprehensible idiot" and "America's Hitler" in 2016. But who is this 39 year old, really—who after less than two years of on-the-job experience, is now almost a heartbeat away from leading the free world? Well, not unlike other right-wing populists in Europe and at home, Vance has an idiosyncratic political affinity for JRR Tolkien. We might even call him America’s conspiracy hobbit at this point, fresh from the Appalachian Shire but inexorably drawn by the burning crypto rings of Silicon Valley to eventually land at the feet of Sauron to meet his fate. But to answer this question and examine where JD Vance fits into the conspirituality landscape, we’ll be breaking down a speech recently released by ProPublica. It’s from an intimate invitation-only conservative event hosted in 2021 by a group called the Teneo Network. Behind closed doors, Vance encouraged his audience to get away from that weird feeling in their chests when listening to the unique truths of conspiracy theorists. Like, Alex Jones sees the world more clearly than MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. The right also apparently needs more oligarchs. Oh, and the literal Devil is at work in the world around us. Show Notes J.D. Vance Speaks at a Private Teneo Network Event, Sept. 2021 Inside the “Private and Confidential” Conservative Group That Promises to “Crush Liberal Dominance” How Lord of the Rings Shaped JD Vance’s Politics The Influences on JD Vance’s Political Philosophy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 25 July 2024

Project 2025's plan for workers is clear: crush unions, eliminate minority protections, curtail reproductive health care benefits, and make the workplace biblical again. Derek and Julian unpack the details of another insane chapter from Project 2025's 920-page manifesto that describes their vision for the reduced rights of the working class. According to their own statements, a Trump presidency would set these and other disastrous plans in motion from day one. Show Notes Conspirituality 187: Project 2025: An Authoritarian Conspiracy Project 2025's Disdain for Public Education The GOP Thinks Food Stamps Are the Real Problem The GOP Takeover of Media The Plan to Dismantle Health Care Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 22 July 2024

We cover conspiracy theories, spiritual abuse, and religious and right-wing extremism. We cover showmen and charismatics suffering from King Victim Complex. Last week we had to study a goddam assassination attempt. But sometimes we get to peek into the worlds that younger people are making within our cursed digital environments, and we realize they might be laughing at some of the problems that fill us olds with despair right out of existence. Gaming journalist and Master of Divinity Riley MacLeod joins Matthew to talk about whether the hit indie game Cult of the Lamb might be all the inoculation against cultic dynamics that generation Alpha ever needs. Show Notes Riley MacLeod - Aftermath Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 20 July 2024

Two landmark Supreme Court decisions—the Trump immunity case and the overturning of the Chevron doctrine—represent the legal institutionalization of the core values of conspirituality: self-sovereignty, natural immunity or divine protection, and “doing your own research.” The attempted assassination on the former president forged the essence of these two rulings into a stunning still life of Trump’s image for those who love him and those he’s appointed to serve him. Julian and Matthew wade into the flood, and what might happen at ground zero of conspiracy theory formation—this time veering left as well as right. Show Notes Former classmate of Trump rally gunman says he was ‘bullied almost every day’ The FBI Identifies Suspected Gunman in Trump Rally Shooting: What to Know - The New York Times FBI identifies Thomas Crooks of Bethel Park as the suspect in Trump assassination attempt FBI probing motives, background of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the Western Pa. gunman behind Donald Trump assassination attempt A shooting range, a gun store, and a ladder purchase: Tracking the Trump rally gunman's movements leading up to his attack Trump rewrites Republican convention speech to focus on unity not Biden - Washington Examiner Vance shooting response: https://x.com/JDVance1/status/1812280973628965109 Musk shooting response: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1812256998588662068 Rubio shooting response: https://x.com/marcorubio/status/1812256529296613657 Boebert shooting response: https://x.com/KyleClark/status/1812316469016846373 Brief: The Theatre of Trump (w/Hank Willenbrink) — Conspirituality 23-939 Trump v. United States (07/01/2024) Clarence Thomas Raised Another Issue: Was Jack Smith Legally Appointed? - The New York Times 22-451 Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (06/28/2024) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 18 July 2024

Project 2025's approach to environmental issues is pretty straightforward: deny climate science, dismantle the EPA, clear a path that prioritizes corporate profits, and let the world burn. Derek and Julian unpack the details on the chilling chapter from Project 2025's 920-page manifesto that outlines their plans for the Environmental Protection Agency. According to their own statements, a Trump presidency would set these and other disastrous plans in motion from day one. Show Notes Conspirituality 187: Project 2025: An Authoritarian Conspiracy Project 2025's Disdain for Public Education The GOP Thinks Food Stamps Are the Real Problem The GOP Takeover of Media The Plan to Dismantle Health Care Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 15 July 2024

While speaking on Steve Bannon’s podcast, The War Room, Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts recently stated, “We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless—if the left allows it to be.” Roberts is the mastermind behind Project 2025, Heritage’s 920-page “presidential transition” agenda that seeks to implement authoritarian power in America. The text combines the anti-regulatory stance of libertarianism, laissez faire capitalism on steroids as espoused by conservatives, and the heinous and anti-democratic religious dogma of Christian nationalists, and it’s finally receiving a lot of attention. Derek and Julian look beyond the “bloodless” comment to hear what else Roberts and crew have in store for America should Donald Trump regain the presidency. As you might imagine, it has nothing to do with democracy. Show Notes Taraji P Henson Calls Out Project 2025 at BET Awards ‘Complete and utter B.S.’: Trump DEFINITELY knows his own team authoring Project 2025 Kevin Roberts on The War Room Conspirituality 187: Project 2025: An Authoritarian Conspiracy Project 2025's Disdain for Public Education The GOP Thinks Food Stamps Are the Real Problem The GOP Takeover of Media The Plan to Dismantle Health Care Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 13 July 2024

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 his very expensive encounter group, Fit For Service, is definitely not a cult. And at how Matthew got quoted in the opening montage as though he endorsed FFS as an “anti-cult.” He hasn’t. Marcus might be protesting too much. Because no one with any credibility has actually called FFS a cult, and they couldn’t, because no one has done the investigative work that would take. In a lot of ways, that question is beside the point. It’s not the ‘70s anymore. If you have 604K YouTube subscribers, and millions in the bank from oil money and supplement sales, you don’t need to coerce anyone into staying on your ashram compound and working on your spiritual ideas for free. You too can have an unlimited supply of well-heeled seekers cycling through your coaching encounter group. So the real questions are: what is it really worth, and what does it really serve? Show Notes 87: The Aubrey Marcus Spectacle Brief: The New Age Origin Story of RFK Jr’s Campaign 107: An Open Letter to Aubrey Marcu 86: Charles Eisenstein, New Age Q Why Kyle Kingsbury Quit The UFC Myths That Make Us | Godsey Montana Summit talk The music festival that wants to know your deepest secrets [Annihilation] Can someone explain the shimmer from the movie scientifically? Dharma Artist Collective—Godsey’s online community The Poet Queen 'I Was 13 When Marc Gafni's Abuse Began' Former Rabbi Accused of Improper Sexual Conduct Now Rising Star in U.S. Spiritual Movement Gafni Faces Fallout From New Age Community Marc Gafni Named In Latest Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Against Yeshiva University Popular New Age author Marc Gafni molested 13-year-old girl in 1980, lawsuit says Sara Kabakov lawsuit docket Aaron Rogers in Marc Gafni’s library Has Aaron Rodgers been learning Torah at his offseason retreat? My Dad Died: The Blessings Of The Father Pt 1 w/ Dr. Marc Gafni Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 11 July 2024

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 events. They didn’t attend trainings and rituals. They combed the internet for evidence of what they were looking for. They found strange and anxious spiritual themes. But they also found evidence of what the internet does in all of its speed and dissociation, in its invitation to seize attention through contrarianism and amplify jagged anxieties and glittering pieties. In finding conspirituality, they may have proven that you can’t do religion on the internet. And maybe, that’s part of why conspirituality exists. Religious impulses are ancient and primal, centering communities as campfires do. But they also throw off sparks of narcissism and extremism, which the algorithms must capture to drive engagement. Show Notes MMMEATTT — “A newsletter about things that can’t exist on the internet” by Beau Brink Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 8 July 2024

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 autism, to how feminism has desecrated the sanctity of motherhood. It’s not surprising that a growing number of the conspirituality influencers we know and love are all tuckered out, and now choosing to let Jesus take the wheel. Freebirth mogul Yolande Norris Clark now joins the growing ranks of converts from conspirituality to Orthodox Christianity. How will she square her politics of the divine feminine with a hyper-patriarchal tradition? Or is it really such a stretch? Show Notes "Giving Birth in Yogaland" She wanted a 'freebirth' with no doctors. Online groups convinced her it would be OK. From Costa Rica, Yolande Norris-Clark Free-Births COVID News About “Hellscape” of Canada Free-Birther Yolande Norris-Clark Promotes “The Secret Covenant” COVID-Denialist: “Rona Is as Real as You Want it To Be”Argentino on Pastel Q — Twitter Pastel QAnon The Women Making Conspiracy Theories Beautiful The Instagram aesthetic that made QAnon mainstream The Conspiracy Theory to Rule Them All 'Pastel QAnon' Is Infiltrating the Natural Parenting Community First appearance of "The Secret Covenant" online Secret Covenant: Freedom-Force (2004) Secret Covenant boosted on a QAnon channel, 2020 PolitiFact | John D. Rockefeller did not write a ‘secret covenant’ about world domination Transphobia in the Midwifery Community Yolande Norris-Clark: Transgenderism, Feminism & C0Vid (Content warning: transphobic creator) Orthodox Christian churches are drawing in far-right American converts Matthew Heimbach excommunicated Justin Trudeau & The Misuse Of Words Giving Birth in the Church Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 6 July 2024

Can yoga bring hostages home? No. Can yoga stop a genocide? Also no. But this won’t stop earnest practitioners from instrumentalizing practice for both purposes. For supporters of Israel, practice is dedicated to the protection of land, the return of hostages, and to uphold the spiritual valor of soldiers. Among supporters of Palestine and a ceasefire, yoga practice and community is an organizing principle for decrying genocide, building mutual aid, and resisting global colonialism. Both factions cite the Bhagavad Gita. Does yoga support nationalistic violence and body fascism? Isn’t that where its modern origins lie? Or does it have deeper, intersectional roots in universal liberation? The interpretive war, articulated and inflamed online, only accelerates the material war. But there is a third space we examine today: the gap between how spiritual aspirations appear and are praised or condemned in the world of the spectacle, and how they play out in the flesh. Show Notes Tel Aviv Yoga Event About : Israeli hostages taken by Hamas We Are Still Standing handstand event Carmel Gat | Yoga in captivity Taken captive: Carmel Gat, seen doing yoga with hostage children Initial Twitter posting of Alfie's yoga class in Gaza Reserve combat engineer practices yoga with soldiers in a house in Gaza IG post | criticism of Yoga Journal cover In Israel, Chanting 'Om' Between Missiles What does Israel's rescue of 4 captives, and the killing of 274 Palestinians, mean for truce talks? AP: Calculating death numbers in Gaza Sarah Martin Little Rock yoga benefit event Rasha Madkour fundraiser for The Longhorn Muslim Alumni Network UK yoga event for the Palestine Children's Relief Fund Hot Yoga Glasgow yogathon for the International Rescue Committee A look inside the growing Pro-Palestine student solidarity encampment at UCSB Pro-Palestinian Demonstrators At USC Join Camp-In Movement On Heels Of Valedictorian Controversy Sheena Sood's Yoga for Palestine series at Bhakti Yoga Movement in Portland 50. Sellouts & Zealots (w/Sheena Sood) Samson's Foxes insignia Reserve combat engineer practices yoga with soldiers in a house in Gaza The Dangerous History Behind Netanyahu’s Amalek Rhetoric Dark Mirror: A Torah View of Revenge, and its Reflection in Israeli Media During Operation Iron Swords Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 3 July 2024

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 tell you? How to live morally. What kinds of sex are forbidden. How to avoid death and live forever. When the end of the world is coming, and which messiah will bring it. In this latest installment on the history of the intersection of spirituality and pseudoscience, Julian looks at the story of a prophet named Ellen G. White and what she may have in common with historical figures as diverse as Gopi Krishna, Dostoevsky, and Joan of Arc. Show Notes Christian Experiences and Teachings of Ellen G White Phantoms in the Brain Sam Kean: Heaven is for Neuroscience Neuroscience for the soul Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 1 July 2024

Last month, Russell Brand visited Jordan Peterson's podcast for “The Evolution of Theology.” Which, given these two figures, had to focus on topics like the unreligious impulsivity of gay people and why slaves should “just not be slaves.” Derek and Julian discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 29 June 2024

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 Covid-19. Turns out the Pentagon hired an outside agency to purposefully spread FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) about the Chinese inoculation program by flooding social media with anti-vax propaganda. It was a smack in the face for anyone—including us—who’s been calling for sound public health measures over the last four years. And it very likely killed people in Southeast Asia. This week, we look at the harrowing reporting that revealed a shameful, interventionary program that began under the Trump administration and persisted at least a few months into the Biden presidency. We’ll also review the very few conspiritualists that have even covered the story—somewhat surprising, given that a good ol’ government conspiracy is their bread and butter. But what happens when anti-vaxxers are confronted with a government-led anti-vax program, enacted by the same military that some of them, like RFK Jr, want to drastically reduce? Let’s find out. Show Notes Pentagon ran secret anti-vax campaign to undermine China during pandemic (Reuters) Pentagon Ran Secret Anti-Vax Campaign in Philippines, While Censoring Americans Who Criticized COVID Shots (Children’s Health Defense) Supporting military missions overseas (GDIT “Careers” page) Companies Profiting from the Gaza Genocide CONTRACT to GENERAL DYNAMICS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, INC. DynPort Vaccine Company Public Health Vaccine Diplomacy in the Wake of COVID-19 Pentagon Orders Sweeping Review Martin Luther King Jr.’s moral stance against Vietnam War offers lessons for the Middle East Exclusive: Inside the S--tshow That Was the Trump-Biden Transition The Scam at the Heart of the Mysterious Epoch Times End The Forever Wars | Kennedy24 EXPOSED: Secret Pentagon MISINFO Campaign Spread LIES About COVID Vaccines (The Hill) DISGUSTING! Glenn Greenwald GOES OFF On Pentagon Anti-Vax Psyop (Breaking Points) Pentagon Opens Sweeping Review of Clandestine Psychological Operations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 27 June 2024

What is the distance between spiritual practice and social action? Derek has weighed this question for decades. This unscripted meditation on the topic uses Aubrey Marcus's new "documentary," Anti-Cult, as a jump-off point. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 24 June 2024

A Deep Cut from January's Patreon. Control the Court. Overturn Roe. Funnel anonymous donations and shady gifts. Deregulate for Jesus. Roll back the cultural clock. Celebrate. Rinse and Repeat. Leonard Leo’s libertarian Catholic agenda has made him a preeminent power-broker in right-wing American politics. He’s reshaping society while enjoying the pipeline of cash and influence that connects billionaire GOP mega-donors and the SCOTUS judges he helped install. Julian tracks how Leo’s Federalist Society used Trump as part of a decades-long systematic takeover of the judicial system that culminated in the current ethics and corruption scandal in the SCOTUS. Show Notes ProPublica “Friends of the Court” investigative journalism series The Guardian Club For Growth GOP Insurectionist Support Open Secret 2022 Donor List Dark Money Spending After Citizen’s United Senator Sheldon Whitehouse “The Front Group Swarms” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 22 June 2024

Acclaimed actor Terrence Howard has a new role playing a heroic Galileo-like character on the YouTube and podcast stage, where he fearlessly points out the flaws in mainstream math and science. Howard's recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience gave him three hours to explain how his dreams and spiritual visions, along with his own research and deep study of maverick experts, have revealed unique answers to the deepest unsolved mysteries of physics. Turns out that none of this is new, the actor actually unveiled his discoveries in a surprising lecture at the Oxford Union in 2017. Today we'll break down these two cosmic events in space-time and discuss what it all means, and whether it's just a bit of fun or something more dangerous. Show Notes 5 Craziest Moments from Terrence Howard on Rogan Prophetic Charisma By Len Oakes: A Brief Overview Terrence Howard's Dangerous Mind Terrence Howard Patents Debunked Howard Virtual reality Patent Claim John Keeley and The Etheric Force Machine Walter Russell Society, now named The University of Science and Philosophy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 20 June 2024

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 are evenly-placed breaks for you all to pause on! Chapter 1: Positions After 4 years, we’ve come to a natural question at the end of defining the problem of conspirituality. How do we orient ourselves towards possible answers? Chapter 2: The Prospirituality Challenge If you’re clear on how spirituality—including beliefs in the supernatural—can be medicine, you can be clearer on where it becomes poison. Chapter 3: I did not expect to be friends with Joseph Baker I never thought I would be friends with a student of A Course in Miracles: maybe my judgments about its inevitably bad impacts are misplaced. Also: it’s not a good idea to dismiss anyone on the basis of religious belief if you don’t know how that belief actually operates, and you won’t unless you talk to them. Chapter 4: Buddhist Tolerance, Buddhist Repair Conspirituality is right at home within high-demand groups or cults. Paranoid and controlling social structures feed on paranoid and dissociative emotions and ideas. For members and observers alike, it can become difficult to tell whether the content of the religious group is intrinsic to its cruelty, or whether these can be separated. Surprisingly, some high-demand groups can foster reforms from within, with members reframing the very concepts that had been weaponized against them to liberate themselves. In that sense, the doctrines and beliefs can be part of the problem, but also part of the solution. Chapter 5: Eve Sedgwick Cynicism about religion is an occupational hazard of this beat. It’s also popular. At times it’s worth questioning the critical economy focused more on deconstruction than on generating ideas and solidarity. Chapter 6: The Trouble and Joy of Belief and Silence “You will know them by their fruits. Do we gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” Matthew 7:16 Show Notes Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People Survivors of an International Buddhist Cult Share Their Stories Paranoid Reading, Reparative Reading Baylor Religion Survey: 3 graphs On the Relation Between Religiosity and the Endorsement of Conspiracy Theories: The Role of Political Orientation Anxious attachment and belief in conspiracy theories There are higher levels of conspiracy beliefs in more corrupt countries The impact of economic inequality on conspiracy beliefs To trust or not to trust in the thrall of the COVID-19 pandemic: Conspiracy endorsement and the role of adverse childhood experiences, epistemic trust, and personality functioning Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 17 June 2024

Terrence Howard recently made waves (again) when appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast to discuss “Terryology,” a language of logic which he claims proves one times one equals two. Since he announced his theory in 2015 (and published it on Twitter in 2017), he’s been repeatedly criticized. In this latest round, that criticism is coming from Eric Weinstein, who appeared on physicist Brian Keating’s podcast to discuss Howard’s math. As usual with Weinstein, the conversation went in a million directions. Derek and Julian discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 15 June 2024

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 brainchild of Dave Asprey, the conference focused on numerous “hacks” to help you live not only longer, but better and longer. This has been a decades-long goal of Asprey, who you might know as the founder of Bulletproof Coffee—you know, despite mountains of clinical evidence stating otherwise, this tech entrepreneur is certain that melting a stick of butter in your coffee every morning is the key to longevity. Was the key, that is. Dave is now behind the supposed “mold-free” coffee company, Danger Coffee, alongside a whole bunch of other sciencey gimmicks, like his “Wasabi Method,” which was launched at the conference. The key to longevity, it seems, is knowing that your sales funnel always depends on there being another key. That’s the vibe our returning correspondent, Mallory DeMille, got when reviewing the many reels and videos that surfaced from the conference rooms at the Fairmont Hotel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 13 June 2024

QAnon’s “Great Awakening,” influencers claiming to channel spirits or aliens, prophecies of a glorious Christian apocalypse—all aspects of the modern phenomenon that we call “conspirituality.” A sign of our crazy times?! Not quite. The roots of this passionate delusion can be traced to an eventful time in American history: the mid-1800’s. In this episode of his pseudoscience series, Julian covers the relationship between famous Spiritualists who talked to the dead on stage, the emerging science of parapsychology, early formulations of New Age beliefs, and the passionate Christian revivalism centered in New York State’s “burned-over district.” Show Notes Doomsday Prophecy and Spiritual Porn (earlier episode on 19th century Great Awakening) Hearing Voices, Seeing Colors, & Fighting Phantoms (earlier episode on temporal lobe epilepsy) New Yorker: Why Did So Many Victorians Try To Talk To The Dead PBS: William Miller and The Second Great Awakening Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 10 June 2024

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 spectacle of Trump through the lens of performance studies. From his childhood listening to Norman Vincent Peale, to his lifelong fascination with Broadway, to his TV celebrity, to the tableau vivants of evangelicals gathered round him to sanctify his holy mission, Trump hits his marks so well he doesn’t even need to remember his lines. Now he has a new role to play: the framed felon. Show Notes Performing for the Don: Theaters of Faith in the Trump Era About Me – Hank Willenbrink Bread and Puppet Theater — Glover, VT Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 8 June 2024

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 Congress as part of the “Twitter Files.” Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger sounded the alarm about a supposedly vast conspiracy between think tanks, big tech companies, and government intelligence agencies to censor the free speech of conservative Americans. They referred to that conspiracy as the “Censorship Industry Complex," identifying its leader as a shadowy former CIA intern named Renee Diresta. The reality is that Diresta was involved in a 2020 academic project called the Election Integrity Partnership, which studied then gave reports on viral social media content steeped in misinformation. She joins us to discuss her new book, Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies Into Reality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 6 June 2024

Nicole Shanahan, RFK Jr's VP pick, has recently started her own podcast. Dilbert creator Scott Adams joined. The conversation quickly turned into a conspiracy free-for-all, starting with DEI, then swerving into fertility, vaccines, transgender people, EMFs, and much more. Derek responds. Show Notes Inside the fringe worldview of RFK Jr.’s VP pick A Running Mate’s History: $1 Billion, Cocaine, a Fling With Elon Musk Back to the People: Reframing Our Brains on Food, Debt, and DEI (full episode) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 3 June 2024

When young TikTok dance stars joined 7M Films, they got access to big production budgets, luxurious locations, and exciting career opportunities. There was a problem, however. Their boss, Robert Shinn, was a self-styled Christian pastor who placed increasing pressure on their time and finances, demanded unquestioning devotion, and isolated them from the outside world. (Julian covered the story of a family trying to regain contact with their daughter, Miranda Derrick, who had disappeared into Shinn’s Shekinah Church for Conspirituality 105: TikTok, Cults & Conspiracies.) A new Netflix docuseries picks up where we left off. Julian talks to the series director, Derek Doneen, to discuss “Dancing for the Devil.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 1 June 2024

Every year, the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, DC-based lobbying group, publishes its “Dirty Dozen” report, which supposedly informs consumers about the 12 “dirtiest” fruits and vegetables. The report is repeated verbatim by major media outlets, which routinely demonize strawberries, blueberries, and other conventionally-grown produce. But does their science hold up? Not according to the majority of scientists and researchers. Over the decades, the EWG has slammed some pesticides but not others, ignored data on dosages, and even wondered out loud if all that mercury in vaccines might just be causing autism. They also routinely ignore potentially hazardous organic chemicals, while selling “verified” labels for skin care products and sunscreens. Today Derek is going to walk me, the non-science journalist, through the work of the EWG before he talks to biomedical scientist Dr Andrea Love and cosmetic chemist Dr Michelle Wong about the group’s questionable methodologies and fear-mongering tactics. Show Notes Environmental Working Group and the Dirty Dozen The Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen” list is a danger to public health put out by an organic industry funded activist group Influence Watch: Environmental Working Group Dietary Exposure to Pesticide Residues from Commodities Alleged to Contain the Highest Contamination Levels Ken Cook: The Story of The Environmental Working Group What Biden’s oil record means for the industry’s future Alleged ‘deal’ offer from Trump to big oil could save industry $110bn, study finds 10 years after Flint's lead water crisis began, a lack of urgency stalls 'proper justice' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 30 May 2024

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-theist home in hyper-sectarian Scotland, but feeling the inexorable call of religion. So started a long journey toward her vocation as a hospice chaplain at the height of COVID. They discuss the needs of the dying, regardless of beliefs, and how losing dignity to institutional abuse does not necessarily mean losing faith. In discussing how some former believers feel excluded from community life, Jude says something remarkable: “Everyone has a right to a sacramental life.” Jude has a Master’s degree in Public Theology and research interests which include: podcasting as a medium for theological reflection and enquiry; narratives of spiritual and religious abuse and harm and issues of disabled, neurodivergent and LGBTQ+ inclusivity in church contexts. Her podcast 'Fkd Up By Faith' will be the research subject for her PhD. Show Notes Jude's website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 27 May 2024

There’s been a growing acceptance of religious belief from the previously religious-averse, especially in the Covid contrarian space. This comes in the wake of a number of recent high-profile conversions, most notably Russell Brand getting baptized. Why are the skeptical suddenly finding faith? Derek and Julian discuss their atheism in the context of these recent changes of heart—including Brand’s recent appearance on Bret Weinstein’s Dark Horse podcast. They share how their own skepticism has evolved and informs their work, debating on what value religion and, specifically, a belief in a god, holds for spiritual practices today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 25 May 2024

Philosopher Thi Nguyen first visited us 150 episodes ago (!!) to discuss how social media gamification exploded online conspiracy theories and audience capture drags content producers toward the seductions of premature clarity—and the ecstasy of fascism. Nguyen returns to discuss “value capture”: how simplified and portable metrics in institutions, technology, and media landscapes erode our moral capacities as we pursue goals we never signed up for. (We even consider this influence on podcasting!) Throughout, we also talk about the heart of Nguyen’s book, Games: Agency as Art, in which he explores the liberatory nature of games that offer the pleasures of striving and absorption. We wonder whether—if we valued and understood play for its own sake—we might not need to gamify the world. Show Notes Games: Agency as Art Games and the Art of Agency (Philosophical Review) (2020 APA Article Prize; selected for Philosopher Annual‘s “10 Best Philosophy Articles of 2019”) Value Capture (JESP) Trust as an Unquestioning Attitude (OSE) Transparency is Surveillance (Philosophy and Phenomenological Research) (short summary) Hostile Epistemology (keynote for the 2022 NASSP.) Autonomy and Aesthetic Engagement (Mind) (audio) Art as a Shelter from Science (Aristotelian Society Supplementary) The Arts of Action (Philosopher’s Imprint) Moral Outrage Porn with Bekka Williams (Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy) (selected for Philosopher Annual‘s “10 Best Philosophy Articles of 2020”) How Twitter Gamifies Communication (Applied Epistemology, OUP) (And a shortened version for students, with suggested classroom exercises.) Echo Chambers and Epistemic Bubbles (Episteme) The Seductions of Clarity (RIPS) Cultural Appropriation and the Intimacy of Groups, with Matt Strohl (Philosophical Studies) Trust and Antitrust — Annette Baier Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 23 May 2024

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 rebel to right-wing, conspiracy-theorist radicalization pipeline? Is Brand seeking absolution for his sins, or recognizing that most of his audience are Christians “oppressed” by authoritarian libs? Julian explores how the “enlightened outsider” uses pseudoscience to justify spiritual beliefs that are actually connective tissue between conspiracism, New Age metaphysics, and faux Christian victimhood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 20 May 2024

Two weeks ago, several university administrators asked militarized police units to smash pro-Palestinian encampment protests on quads and in occupied buildings. It happened at places like Columbia and CUNY, and the University of Texas in Austin where our guest today, Dr. Peniel Joseph, teaches on the history of the Black Power movement. In the midst of the news cycle frenzy, an old phrase began popping up in discussions of who the protestors were and whether the police actions were justified. Authorities said (and media figureheads repeated uncritically) that protestors were infiltrated and influenced by “outside agitators.” It’s a phrase with a long history to it. Joining Matthew to unpack it is Dr. Peniel Joseph, a historian of the Civil Rights era, during which time the trope reached peak exposure, when it was lobbed at Martin Luther King Jr., as he sat in Birmingham Jail. Show Notes Peniel E. Joseph NYPD Chief of Patrol on the “unknown entity” Thursday's Headlines: NYPD Discovers Chained Bike Locks Edition Nearly all Gaza campus protests in the US have been peaceful, study finds Unmasking The 'Outside Agitator' Debunking the “Outside Agitator” Trope amid pro-Palestinian campus protests Cost of repairing occupation damage at Portland State library estimated at $750K Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 18 May 2024

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 Practice and All is Coming: Abuse, Cult Dynamics and Healing in Yoga and Beyond. It focused on survivor stories of assault and abuse within the cultic mechanisms of Pattabhi Jois' Ashtanga Yoga community. The book also proposed a path into co-creating safer yoga communities via enhanced critical thinking, self-and-other-care, student empowerment, and community resilience. In many ways, this book holds the keys to how one-third of the team has tackled the conspirituality era. Derek and Julian interview their colleague about it all on the occasion of the release of a second edition, now titled: Surviving Modern Yoga: Cult Dynamics, Charismatic Leaders, and What Survivors Can Teach Us (North Atlantic Books). Show Notes Surviving Modern Yoga by Matthew Remski | PenguinRandomHouse.com Yoga’s Culture of Sexual Abuse: Nine Women Tell Their Stories | The Walrus Survivors of an International Buddhist Cult Share Their Stories | The Walrus How a #MeToo Facebook Post Toppled a Yoga Icon | by Matthew Remski | GEN Shielded for Decades, A Yoga Leader's Alleged Sexual Abuse Finally Comes Under Fire How to Respond to Sexual Abuse Within a Yoga or Spiritual Community—Jubilee Cooke, Karen Rain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 16 May 2024

In 2020, former NY Times journalist Isabel Wilkerson published Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. The book tells a compelling story: that the root of our social divisions is the invented hierarchical structure of castes, not, as we often assume in America, race. Race, she writes, is only another manifestation of caste. While it’s certainly an important topic here in America, Wilkerson shows, by investigating the longstanding caste system in India, the social divisions in Nazi Germany, and America’s founding and expansion through chattel slavery, that caste is a universal phenomenon. Derek discusses his thoughts on this powerful and important book. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 13 May 2024

Dr Sarah Ballantyne forged a career in science communication and health education advocating for autoimmune solutions in food and the paleo diet. In 2014, she began questioning her approach. Shortly after, she realized she was spreading nutrition misinformation and has dedicated her career to correcting those errors. Derek talks to Sarah about the dangers of diet and nutrition misinformation, dealing with obesity and eating disorders, and the challenges of talking about food in public. Her new book is Nutrivore: The Radical New Science for Getting the Nutrients You Need From the Food You Eat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 11 May 2024

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 Logic hosts, Laurel Beversdorf and Sarah Court, who navigate the curvilinear path of creating irreverent yet high quality science-based movement content that sets teachers and students free from dogma and fear-mongering. Our two podcasts intersect by looking into fallen gurus, pseudoscience health claims, dodgy alignment dogmas, and cults of personality susceptible to the dangers of conspiracism. And this week we’re diving into a recent Movement Logic episode on back pain specialist, Stuart McGill. Yet, as this conversation shows, all hope is not lost, and all physical culture is not a pipeline into body fascism, or worse—multi-level marketing. There are still intelligent and grounded educators who share the love of movement, infused with the logic and humility of science. Laurel Beversdorf is an international yoga educator, a certified kettlebell specialist, and a strength coach. Sarah Court is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, movement mentor, and yoga teacher trainer. Show Notes Movement Logic Episode 62: Make McGill Make Sense Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 9 May 2024

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 invested the images and remains of the unborn with passionate but imaginary desires that obscured from them how much harm they were causing. One of them exited that highway, but the other is still burning it up. Includes the story of Kermit Gosnell, and how his Philadelphia abortion abattoir exemplified a political and moral disaster worthy of Naomi Klein. An obvious, organized crime, something that everyone could see but some tried to paper over, aided and abetted by the dominant order and progressive hypocrisy. Something that becomes the focal point of reasonable rage, but then leads to twisted conclusions. Content warning: abortion details. Full Show Notes available on Patreon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 6 May 2024

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 beliefs, far from being central to or definitive of religion, are actually antithetical to religious community. A religion’s historical longevity, he argued, depends on its ability to absorb and neutralize beliefs—epistemological dead ends built on willful ignorance. “The challenge to religion,” Carse says, “is not its opponents from without, but its believers from within, and the real enemy of religion is belief itself.” What does this mean for a project like Conspirituality and other projects of disillusionment carried out in the shadow of New Atheism and other modern skeptical movements? Blair Hodges of the Fireside and Family Proclamations podcasts joins Matthew to discuss a potential casualty of the battle against religious extremism: a nuanced understanding of religion itself. Show Notes The Religious Case Against Belief by James P. Carse Fireside with Blair Hodges Family Proclamations w/ Blair Hodges Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 4 May 2024

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 anti-vax mom, Nicole Shanahan, to nail down the VP slot. His Children’s Health Defense charity is casting doubt on whether polio was even a virus. And he keeps claiming he’s not against vaccines himself, but his messaging around it tells a different story. It’s been a few months since we’ve checked up on Chaos Kennedy, so it’s high time we did: to look at polling, rhetoric, and charismatic technique. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 2 May 2024

"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: Is someone with a degree from a chiropractic college qualified to talk about seed oils, GMOs, depression, tinnitus, fluoride, detoxifying through water fasts, and diet plans? Is it concerning that his 10X Health System cofounder is a fervent Scientologist? And what happens when you actually read the science Brecka is linking to? Show Notes Worst U.S. cities for air pollution ranked in new American Lung Association report GMO Foods: How Genetically Modified Foods Sabotage Your Health | Ultimate Human with Gary Brecka Are children and pregnant women risking their health by eating “GMO” foods? The American Association of Pediatrics controversially says ‘yes’. The real question: Is the AAP endangering the food vulnerable? Organic foods are not healthier...or pesticide free. A Comprehensive Review of Health-Benefiting Components in Rapeseed Oil Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 29 April 2024

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 morning of January 6, he put on his red, white, and blue face paint, his postmodern quasi-Native American horned fur hat, and grabbed the spear to which he had attached an American flag. In performance mode, this cosplay persona had already garnered him a taste of the attention that would soon increase exponentially as he became the most recognizable figure of the Capitol Riot. In today’s Bonus, Julian argues that his costume, as well as his ritual actions on that day were also an expression of a political worldview, run through with deeply held spiritual beliefs about the world and his role in it. The history of political religion, propagandistic conspiracies, and progressive spiritual convictions may show that—far from being trivial—belief is at the heart of the American, and perhaps the human, story. Intro music: Single Origins—Luz Cafe Interstitial: Silent Song—Eccodek (EarthRise SoundSystem Remix) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 27 April 2024

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 the mental health fallout of growing up the youngest of 10 in a Catholic family with an extremely unwell father. In the process he’s made some of the great mysteries of family pain and inner turmoil more tolerable. And—he’s a fan of our podcast, because in his search for relief, he’s tripped through the land of psychedelics, where conspirituality can sour the active ingredients. Neal joins us today to talk about his weird journey through the plant medicine scene, to wonder whether emotional and spiritual healing makes him funnier, and to answer our questions about how today’s comics are dealing—or not—with their supersized role as political pundits. His new special is called Crazy Good. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 25 April 2024

Tensions between Israel and Iran escalated as supernaturally-charged conspiracy theories about the solar eclipse flooded the internet. And so Julian searched for answers about the mysterious “red heifer.” What is so special about a red cow? Might its discovery and ensuing journey from Texas to Jerusalem have played a role in the October 7 attacks? Why are zealots from all three Abrahamic religions so focused on one piece of holy real estate? Could apocalyptic prophecies actually be self-fulfilling, even when the metaphysics are make-believe? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 22 April 2024

Matthew is joined by Theo Wildcroft and Harriet McAtee, co-editors of The Yoga Teacher's Survival Guide: Social Justice, Science, Politics, and Power (Singing Dragon Publications), a volume of essays from 16 yoga world contributors. Three yoga culture critic nerds get into the weeds of how wellness workers and yoga teachers survive and navigate a post-pandemic world that exists at the crossroads of: capitalism and spirituality medicine and religion modern therapeutics and precolonial philosophy and caregiving gigwork and care work Theo is a yoga scholar. Harriet has been training yoga teachers for seven years in a little school in Oxford, UK. Show Notes The Yoga Teacher's Survival Guide | Singing Dragon - US Theo Wildcroft Harriet McAtee Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 20 April 2024

“Cult expert” Steve Hassan has been publicly concerned with the complex sociology of trans youth since 2020. We track that interest back to his communications with gender critical activists in 2017, who reached out to him because they believed that his cult theory could shed light on what they believed were nefarious aspects of the trans awareness movement. In the spirit of helpfulness, but without any chops in the subject, he stepped up to the plate and started swinging. Regardless of how earnest or paranoid his concern is, his access to this landscape has been bought with his intellectual legacy, and been filtered through networks that question trans identity altogether. His most inflammatory (but also silly) claim is that many young people are being hypnotized by online pornography and influenced by social media groups to the extent they inexorably choose medical transition. We investigate and analyze this unfortunate skid into the culture war mud. Hassan has stated at length his opposition to the “cancel culture” he believes is directed at Rowling and himself. This episode is not that. It’s a sober evaluation of legacy, disciplinary overreach, and what better public intellectual engagement would look like. Show Notes Full show notes posted to our website and Patreon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 18 April 2024

Following up on our Long COVID episode with Tara Haelle, Matthew will be expanding the Listener Stories portfolio with stories from listeners about navigating Long COVID. Why? Because there’s nothing like a mysterious disease, denied by some, stigmatized by others, and politicized by multiple interests, that will bring a person closer to the appeal of alt-med conspirituality. Matthew Stillman is our guest today. Author, documentary filmmaker, and lifelong New Yorker, Stillman grew up in an eccentric family of spiritualism and alternative medicine, but which also fostered a healthy respect for evidence-based medicine. So what happens when experts at Mt. Sinai Center for Post-COVID care reach the end of their capacity to help him with not one but two strains of Long COVID? Red light therapy! Chinese herbs! And a bracing contemplation of what it means to explore the tension between hope and knowledge. Show Notes Matthew Stillman The major genetic risk factor for severe COVID-19 is inherited from Neanderthals | Nature How Genes from Neanderthals Predispose People to Severe COVID-19 | The Scientist Magazine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 15 April 2024

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 History of the Gay Right. Young’s riveting storytelling shows how, beginning in the aftermath of WWII, many American gay men—born into socially conservative and religious families from which they had struggled to individuate—hitched the wagon of their political hopes to a Republican party they believed would champion their privacy and individual civil rights. Ground zero for their fiercely libertarian clubs and action committees was San Francisco, where a culture of rugged entrepreneurship fostered the slogan “Keep the government out of our bedrooms, and out of our wallets.” It was an individualist politics that looked to Civil Rights and women’s rights movements for inspiration, but not allyship. In time that same GOP would lead a culture war against everything queer—paradoxically led by closeted gay politicians who, with deeply conflicted motives, legislated against their fellows. But even as the tide turned, many gay Republicans kept their shoulders to the unforgiving wheel of respectability politics. Young illuminates the flashes of bravery and self-reliance in these men’s stories, but also shows what happens when a marginalized group seeks acceptance and political power—instead of liberation—within a culture built on exclusion. Neil writes for WaPo, the Atlantic, CNN, the Los Angeles Times, Vox, Politico, Slate, and the New York Times. Show Notes Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right, Young Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 13 April 2024

When Moms For Liberty attacks libraries with demands to ban books about MLK Jr and age-appropriate sex education, and claims that librarians are grooming their children into the trans agenda, they’re enacting the worst forms of neo-fascist bullying. But they’re also paradoxically defending a troubled American legacy against a librarian culture attempting to course-correct towards greater inclusion. To discuss this problem, Matthew talks to Heath Umbreit, a reference librarian who works at a public library in the northeastern U.S. Mis- and disinformation has been a professional and personal interest of theirs for several years; Heath's study of the phenomenon focuses on a critical examination of popular narratives about disinformation, the concept of epistemic supremacy, and the ways in which information and disinformation intersect with systemic power differentials in American society. Show Notes Derek gives the Keynote Address at the 2023 Oregon Library Association's Annual Conference Library Bill of Rights | Advocacy, Legislation & Issues Students, authors fight censorship in PA schools Kuo & Marwick, "Critical Disinformation Studies" Morales & Williams, "Moving Toward Transformative Librarianship: Naming and Identifying Epistemic Supremacy" danah boyd, "You Think You Want Media Literacy... Do You?" PEN America, 2023 Banned Books Update: Banned in the USA Kelly Jensen, Trauma, Book Bans, and Libraries: A Resource Guide for Library Workers, Library Supporters, and Beyond Kristen Browde, Who's Making News for Sex Crimes Involving Children? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 11 April 2024

Project 2025 is the libertarian conservative Heritage Foundation’s systematic governance plan for the next Republican president. The 920-page plan aims to implement the "unitary executive theory," which would give all of the power of the US government to the executive branch—Donald Trump, if he wins in November. Derek and Julian read the chapter on the Department of Education, which focuses on unlocking public funds for Christian schools while banning any discussion on DEI, CRT, or gender theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 8 April 2024

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 certainly true, Derek and Julian discuss why a lot of products and services in wellness land is really just another form of extractive capitalism. Head to factormeals.com/conspirituality50 and use code conspirituality50 to get 50% off your first month plus 20% off your next month! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 6 April 2024

This week we take stock of the full entrenchment of the Mirror World, where conspirituality influencers bask in the rays of confident delusion. After a little stage-setting on the heterodox mediasphere, we open with a snapshot of conspirituality Valhalla as we listen in on Joe Rogan and Chris Rufo talking about unhoused people as though they are children who haven’t been given good boundaries. Then we’ll look at four instances in which the spectacle brokers meet reality. What happens when Chaya Raichik gets bodied by Taylor Lorenz? What happens when the Moms for Liberty have to explain themselves on 60 minutes? What happens when Destiny rejects Jordan Peterson’s bullshit? And what happens when the mack daddy of it all, Alex Jones, gets confronted by Sandy Hook parents, face to face? Does reality break through? Head to factormeals.com/conspirituality50 and use code conspirituality50 to get 50% off your first month plus 20% off your next month! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 4 April 2024

Project 2025 is the libertarian conservative Heritage Foundation’s systematic governance plan for the next Republican president. The 920-page plan aims to implement the "unitary executive theory," which would give all of the power of the US government to the executive branch—Donald Trump, if he wins in November. This week, Derek and Julian investigate the chapter on the Department of Agriculture, which aims to strip funding for food stamps and welfare programs and further deregulate Big Ag. And if you think the author is part of a climate change denial think tank, you'd be correct. Head to factormeals.com/conspirituality50 and use code conspirituality50 to get 50% off your first month plus 20% off your next month! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 1 April 2024