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.
- Update frequency
- every 2 days
- Average duration
- 48 minutes
- Episodes
- 686
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2025
Bonus Sample: Imaginary Children #1: Fetal Remains
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 pas…
00:05:58 |
Mon 06 May 2024
Brief: Religion is Not Belief? (w/Blair Hodges)
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 …
00:47:19 |
Sat 04 May 2024
204: What the Hell is RFK Jr Doing?
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. H…
01:10:19 |
Thu 02 May 2024
Bonus Sample: Let's Talk About Gary Brecka
"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 coll…
00:05:54 |
Mon 29 Apr 2024
Deep Cut: On Belief
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 blu…
00:55:19 |
Sat 27 Apr 2024
203: Is This a Joke? (w/Neal Brennan)
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…
01:05:53 |
Thu 25 Apr 2024
Bonus Sample: The Dark Sun, The Red Cow, and The End of Days
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 hei…
00:06:01 |
Mon 22 Apr 2024
Brief: Yoga Teacher’s Survival Guide (w/Theo Wildcroft & Harriet McAtee)
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…
00:42:19 |
Sat 20 Apr 2024
202: Steve Hassan and the Trans Cult Conspiracy Theory
“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, …
01:22:09 |
Thu 18 Apr 2024
Bonus Sample: Long Haul Stories: Matthew Stillman
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…
00:07:40 |
Mon 15 Apr 2024
Brief: A History of the Gay Right (w/Neil Young)
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 storytelli…
00:43:50 |
Sat 13 Apr 2024
201: Librarians Are Not Groomers (w/Heath Umbreit)
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…
01:17:42 |
Thu 11 Apr 2024
Bonus Sample: Project 2025's Disdain for Public Education
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," wh…
00:06:50 |
Mon 08 Apr 2024
Brief: The High Cost of Wellness
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 l…
00:44:33 |
Sat 06 Apr 2024
200: Rogan-Rufo Reality Check
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 mediasphe…
01:08:56 |
Thu 04 Apr 2024
Bonus Sample: The GOP Thinks Food Stamps Are the Real Problem
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," wh…
00:07:17 |
Mon 01 Apr 2024
Brief: Woman, Life, Freedom (w/Negin Shiraghaei)
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 movement. Jina’s crime was wearing an “improper” headsc…
00:34:29 |
Sat 30 Mar 2024
Brief: Yes, Huberman’s Behavior Matters
In response to Kerry Howley’s meticulous reporting on the deceptions of Andrew Huberman in New York Magazine, Huberstans around the world are braying that the man’s private life has nothing to do wit…
00:27:57 |
Sat 30 Mar 2024
199: Inside Anti-Abortion Christian Nationalism (w/Rob Schenck)
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 crisis, used fetal remains as political props, a…
01:12:39 |
Thu 28 Mar 2024
Bonus Sample: Conspirituality and the Imaginary Children (Series Intro)
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 conspirituality anxiety and discourse.
There are two t…
00:08:22 |
Mon 25 Mar 2024
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