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Conspirituality — Philosophy
Conspirituality

Dismantling New Age cults, wellness grifters, and conspiracy-mad yogis. At best, the conspirituality movement attacks public health efforts in times of crisis. At worst, it fronts and recruits for the fever-dream of QAnon. As the alt-right and New Age horseshoe toward each other in a blur of disinformation, clear discourse, and good intentions get smothered. Charismatic influencers exploit their followers by co-opting conspiracy theories on a spectrum of intensity ranging from vaccines to child trafficking. In the process, spiritual beliefs that have nurtured creativity and meaning are transforming into memes of a quickly-globalizing paranoia. Conspirituality Podcast attempts to bring understanding to this landscape. A journalist, a cult researcher, and a philosophical skeptic discuss the stories, cognitive dissonances, and cultic dynamics tearing through the yoga, wellness, and new spirituality worlds. Mainstream outlets have noticed the problem. We crowd-source, research, analyze, and dream answers to it.

Copyright: © 2023 Conspirituality

Latest Episodes:

Bonus Sample: The Anti-Woke Industrial Complex Jun 12, 2023

Show notes

From Ron DeSantis's anti-woke presidential campaign to Bari Weiss's FAIR war on woke, the concept of "wokeness" has become an ideal devil in right-wing and right-leaning politics—even if (or especially because) no one can really define it. But as Derek discusses, a recent deep dive into FAIR shows, anti-woke crusaders are suffering from internal conflicts and coming up with troubling non-solutions, while monetizing their platforms along the way.

Show Notes

Is it possible to be both moderate and anti-woke?

Morning Joe: June 5, 2023

Daily Wire host defends book bans

Journalist or Heretic? | Bari Weiss | EP 175

Plandemic 3 Red Carpet moment

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Brief: Updates on Countering Hate Jun 10, 2023

Show notes

How can we protect ourselves and our children from online hate and misinformation? Julian interviews Imran Ahmed about the latest work the Center for Countering Digital Hate has done on TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook ads for state-sponsored antisemitic propaganda from Iran.

Show Notes

Parents Guide to TikTok

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157: Science & Sensibility Jun 08, 2023

Show notes

How did “following the science” get so confusing during the pandemic? As the publication of our book draws closer, Derek shares his best practices for science literacy, and examples of where grifters and conspiracists maximized confusion to exploit wellness consumers.

This is the first in a three-part series on what we’ve learned though writing our book and working on the podcast. Each episode is piloted by one host with commentary by the other two.

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Bonus Sample: Conspirituality Marches on the White House (pt 2) Jun 05, 2023

Show notes

After reviewing how Mother Marianne and Bobby Kennedy Jr are set to disrupt the race in Part 1, we turn now to Mr. “Coronavirus is a Coronation for all,” Charles Eisenstein, has just disclosed that he’s working on Bobby’s campaign as Director of Messaging. Holy shit.

It’s like our book is so accurate that Steve Bannon fed a digital ARC into a LLM to spit out AIs of all the characters in it so he could play them like chess pieces across the 2024 electoral map.

Matthew and Julian take stock of this new stage: the routinization and institutionalization of conspirituality.

Show Notes

A Major Life Change - Charles Eisenstein

https://twitter.com/jack/status/1247343782279839744

Charles Eisenstein | Zika and the Mentality of Control

Keys to the Navajo Nation’s COVID-19 Vaccination Success | Johns Hopkins | Bloomberg School of Public Health

The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible w/Sayer Ji

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Special Report: Taking Alberta Backwards (w/Jeremy Appel) Jun 03, 2023

Show notes

On Monday, May 29, Danielle Smith, the leader of the UCP of Alberta, seized the reigns of majority government power with the help of a right-wing antivax group called Take Back Alberta.

Jeremy Appel, founder of The Orchard, joins Matthew for a masterclass on how things got so bad in Alberta, and how conspirituality played a key role.

Show Notes

The Orchard — Jeremy Appel

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156: Medical Medium (w/Dan Adler) Jun 01, 2023

Show notes

Medical Medium, aka Anthony William, gained many of his 4.4M IG followers thanks to his declaration that celery juice can heal you from many ailments that science hasn’t figured out. William proudly displays his numerous celebrity endorsements and hundreds of anecdotal healing stories on his library-esque website. Yet when one reporter—Vanity Fair’s Dan Adler—had the audacity to report on one now-deceased confidante of William, the self-proclaimed medium went on the defense, releasing a four-part podcast series and posting on social media in a frenzy about how there’s a plot to “take down Medical Medium.”

Yes, William speaks of himself often in the third person, and wears his lack of any medical training whatsoever as a badge of honor. Today, we look at some of the most outrageous claims that he’s made and discuss the rhetorical techniques that have made him an alt-health celebrity. We’re also joined by Dan Adler to discuss his in-depth reporting on the man who claims angels give him medical advice decades ahead of modern science—and somehow gets away with it.

Show Notes

The Medical Medium and the True Believer

Medical Medium Survivors

Medical Medium: Miracle Healer or Quack? (The Celery Juice Guy)

Why Is Everyone Drinking Celery Juice as if It Will Save Them From Dying?

The Truth About The Celery Juice Craze

Everyone Is Drinking Celery Juice — But Is It Healthy? We Dive Into The Science Behind The Trend

Alex Ebert on Conspirituality

Matthew’s reply to Alex

Alex’s follow-up

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Bonus Sample: Conspirituality Marches on the White House (pt 1) May 29, 2023

Show notes

Marianne Williamson—New Age matriarch and popularizer of A Course in Miracles—is polling at 9%. Muscular Catholic antivax entrepreneur Bobby Kennedy Jr is polling at 20% or more: Rasmussen has him in a dead heat with Biden.

And Mr. “Coronavirus is a Coronation for all,” Charles Eisenstein, has just disclosed that he’s working on Bobby’s campaign as Director of Messaging. Holy shit.

It’s like our book is so accurate that Steve Bannon fed a digital ARC into a LLM to spit out AIs of all the characters in it so he could play them like chess pieces across the 2024 electoral map.

Matthew and Julian take stock of this new stage: the routinization and institutionalization of conspirituality.

Show notes available on Patreon.

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Brief: RFK Jr., The Anti-Vax Candidate May 27, 2023

Show notes

Another Kennedy is running for President. But discussion of his anti-vaccine activism often overlooks how it affects people with autism. Julian talks to Eric Michael Garcia, political correspondent for The Independent, and author of We're Not Broken: Changing The Autism Conversation, about the human cost.

Show Notes

We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation — Eric Garcia

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155: We Want Them Infected (w/Jonathan Howard, M.D.) May 25, 2023

Show notes

What "really" happened during the pandemic? Conspiracists have decided to take a victory lap. They were right, you see? The vaccines failed, and besides, they were super dangerous. COVID obviously came out of a lab. Masks were useless, and the lock-downs were completely unnecessary forms of totalitarian oppression. The authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, who were censored on social media, were right all along.

Not so fast.

Our guest today is Dr. Jonathan Howard, who not only did grueling service at Bellevue Hospital in NYC (as the first wave raged, and corpses were stacked in meat trucks) but has put in the time to create a comprehensive document of how contrarian doctors shaped cultural perceptions during the pandemic. He takes the title of his new book, We Want Them Infected, from a quote found in a series of emails from July 2020.

Trump-appointed science-advisor to the HHS, Paul Alexander, urged officials there and at the FDA, and the CDC, to pursue a herd immunity strategy for COVID-19. "There is no other way," he wrote. "We need to establish herd, and it only comes about when we allow non-high-risk groups to expose themselves to the virus. PERIOD. Infants, kids, teens, young people, middle-aged with no conditions have zero to little risk. So we use them to develop herd. We want them infected."

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Bonus Sample: The Dangers of Slogans May 22, 2023

Show notes

In 1970, farmer, writer, and environmental activist Wendell Berry published his essay, "Think Little." In it, he writes about the dangers of not making your public causes private causes as well, depending too much on outside organizations to make decisions, and—this is key—of how autonomy should lead to the greater good and the recognition of interdependence.

Many of these messages resonate in the conspirituality world. Derek frames the essay before reading it in full.

Show Notes

The World-Ending Fire — Wendell Berry

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