95: Aleksandr Dugin: Kali Yuga Chess
Julian unpacks the perennialist religious movement, Traditionalism, and how it speaks to fascist political actors around the world, including Steve Bannon. This is especially relevant in light of tragic events in Europe, a stark reminder of those of us who remember the Cold War. This time, Dugin and Putin dream of a new Russian Empire.
94: Conspirituality Goes to War
Conspirituality influencers have gone to war, and they’ve dragged us kicking and screaming to the front lines. But now that we’re here, we’re committed to understanding and negotiating this liminal space.
93: Roganomics (w/Daniel Latorre & Jessica Malaty Rivera)
Infectious disease epidemiologist and science communicator, Jessica Malaty Rivera, and civic product leader and community activist, Daniel Latorre, join to discuss Joe Rogan’s misinformation debacles.
92: The Quiet Part, Loud (w/Sara Aniano & dappergander)
Julian interviews extremism experts Sara Aniano (who regularly reports on the alt-tech far-right cess-pool, Telegram) and dappergander about recent developments in the Q-adjacent conspiracy sphere, implications for the planned American convoy, and the coming midterm elections in America.
91: We Need to Talk About Stephanie
When Stephanie Sibbio, owner of Glowing Mama Fitness in Toronto, livestreamed herself harassing workers in her local health food store over COVID policy, the world was introduced to a now-familiar archetype: the petulant anti-masker who cares as little about science as she does about others.
90: The Convoy is an Occupation (w/Elizabeth Simons)
Matthew interviews Elizabeth Simons of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network on the deep background, the big picture, and the horizon of the “Freedom Convoy.”
89: Till Death Do Us Part (w/Mary)
Mary joins Matthew for an extended interview about the last year of her husband’s life. Louis died of pancreatic cancer almost exactly a year ago, at the age of 45. Mary loved him and cared for him throughout that journey. It was hard, not only for the reasons we all share, but because Louis spent his last months under the influence of quantum chiropractor Joe Dispenza.
88: New Age Crack
While it’s debatable how much good chiropractic adjustments are doing for your body—there’s some evidence that it alleviates lower back pain, alongside a litany of unsubstantiated claims—what’s not debatable is the number of anti-vax, pseudoscience-prone chiropractors clogging the conspirituality pipeline these days.
87: The Aubrey Marcus Spectacle
When we left our Austin conspirituality heroes in the last episode, Charles Eisenstein, New Age Q, was locking in his position as the philosopher—or jester—in the court of Aubrey Marcus. But what of this court? Matthew’s scene by scene analysis of some prime Marcus marketing porn will give us some clues.
86: Charles Eisenstein, New Age Q
Since joining us for a two-part interview, Charles Eisenstein has accelerated and intensified his rhetoric. Today, we’ll see how he’s fortifying his money networks, and starting to say the quiet parts out loud. He’s no longer “just” dog-whistling violence and QAnon.
85: Gaia Buys Yoga International, Stocks Rise on Uranus
Yoga International—one of the largest yoga media companies in the world—had been acquired by Gaia—one of the largest pseudoscience, pseudointellectual, conspiracy theory platforms in the world. While the CEO of Yoga International immediately assured nervous content providers that the platform will remain editorially independent, only time will tell.
84: Red State Christians (w/Angela Denker)
Lutheran pastor and journalist Angela Denker spent years on the road talking to Christians who voted for Donald Trump—listening to their motives and writing honestly, but not uncritically, about their reasoning. She joins this week to discuss her book, Red State Christians: Understanding the Voters Who Elected Donald Trump.
83: Climate Solstice (w/George Monbiot)
Climate journalist emeritus George Monbiot joins Matthew to discuss the never-ending road of empathy and activism, and what happens on that road when otherwise brilliant and sensitive people “lose their mirror,” or sense of responsibility to the commons. What happens when they aestheticize grief.
82: Steve Bannon, Mystic (w/Benjamin Teitelbaum)
Benjamin Teitelbaum, an Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology and International Affairs at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and author of the book, War for Eternity: The Return of Traditionalism and the Rise of the Populist Right, joins to talk about gaining access to leading right-wing figures around the world, including Steve Bannon.
81: Praying for Fire (w/Sean Prophet)
New Age doomsday cult leader, Elizabeth Clare Prophet, is responsible for a prayer used by the Q-faithful. We’ll ask today’s guest host, Sean Prophet—who happens to be the eldest son of that cult leader—how he got out, and how we got here.
80: Lights, Camera, Yoga (w/Jill Miller)
Our guest host today is Jill Miller, who many listeners will know from her hugely influential body of work in yoga and movement as founder of Tune-Up Fitness. She's also a former actor, which played an important role in her transition to full-time yoga instructor. We're going to start today with an excerpt from her 2017 TED-style talk that she gave in Toronto titled, “Lights, Camera, Yoga.”
79: Anti-Hate Work in Canada (w/Dan Collen, Elizabeth Simons, & Morgan Yew)
COVID has been a recruiting windfall for hate groups in Canada, with new alliances and networks forged between white supremacists, xenophobes, and ethnonationalists in the fire of accelerated conspiracism. Joining Matthew to map out this landscape are street-level anti-hate activists Elizabeth Simons, Neuberger Holocaust Education Center researcher Dan Collen, and video journalist Morgan Yew.
78: Society of the Conspiracy
Conspiracy theories flourish during uncertain times. They're always with us, passed down through generations like alternate histories, yet they’re constantly reinvented when collective stress levels peak.
77: A Homeopathy Episode So Potent You Can’t Hear It (w/Jonathan Jarry)
Derek takes us on a tour through the strange history of homeopathy, the medicine that isn’t there, and interviews Jonathan Jarry of the McGill Office for Science and Society on why it haunts us.
76: A Field Guide to White Supremacy (w/Kathleen Belew)
Matthew reviews a new volume of essays that might help. A Field Guide to White Supremacy, edited by Drs. Kathleen Belew and Ramon Gutierrez, brings together a pile of resources for journalists and policy-makers who want to engage thoughtfully with issues of equality. And he interviews Dr. Belew on best practices, The Great Replacement conspiracy theory, and why there are no “lone wolves.”