Dismantling New Age cults, wellness grifters, and conspiracy-mad yogis. At best, the conspirituality movement attacks public health efforts in times of crisis. ...
"If Americans want to change their government, they're going to have to get over their dictator-phobia."
That's neo-reactionary philosopher Curtis Yarvin in 2012, when he outlined a strategy that's eerily similar to how Trump and Musk are now destroying our government. The "dark enlightenment" blogger, long a transgressive darling of the New Right, has in the last two months enjoyed a fresh round of mainstream exposure.
We look at a man who has the ear of those who are reshaping our world at breakneck speed.
Show Notes
That's Bait - by Jeff Sharlet
Kristi Noem Gets a MAGA Makeover - The New York Times
Kristi Noem’s New Teeth Are Blowing Up in Her Face | Vanity Fair
Venezuela-hired lawyers file petition in El Salvador aimed at freeing Venezuelans deported by US | AP News
Kristi Noem’s El Salvador Prison Photo Op Might Have Violated the Geneva Convention
Trump wants FEMA gone. But that could be its own kind of disaster.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem posed in front of El Salvador prisoners wearing $50k watch
Will Stancil: "The El Salvador government is using its concentration camp as a kind of Disneyland thrill ride for right-wing influencers”
Kelly Brogan’s Divine Dungeon: Pt 1 (feat/Esme Providence Brown)
Kelly Brogan’s Divine Dungeon: Pt 2 (feat/Esme Providence Brown)
‘All life is a service’: The Contested Erotics of Fascism from Foucault to Frost – Retrospect Journal
Cathedrals of Erotic Misery • Ill Will
Politico Yarvin Interview
Financial Times on Dark Enlightenment
TIME on Dark Enlightenment
Common Dreams on Dark Enlightenment/DOGE
NYT Podcast End of Democracy
Jennifer Kollmer, 1971-2021 — Yarvin’s obit poem, TW on the rest of the blog!
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58:10
Bonus Sample: American Oligarchy and the Kremlin Wizard
What is an oligarchy, exactly? Is the US entering a period similar to post-Soviet Russia in the 1990s? What do Russian oligarchs have to do with proven interference in the 2016 US election?
Julian digs into Russian history to explore parallels with modern-day America. Meet Vladislav Surkov, the architect of both Putin’s 25-year rule over what Surkov has dubbed “sovereign democracy,” and the global propaganda strategies generating our post-truth ecosystem of disinformation and conspiracies. There’s a reason why politics feels like theater these days, why democracy seems like a pipe dream.
While MAGA has a fascism fetish, Putin’s invasion of Ukraine might be a better match for Hitler on the verge, with Trump and Co acting as macho-clown versions of Neville Chamberlain.
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6:06
Brief: Is It Fascism?
Derek and Julian discuss Robert Paxton's 2004 book, The Anatomy of Fascism, in light of 2025 America.
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43:37
250: The Mercola Tapes
McGill University science communicator, Jonathan Jarry, was recently given hundreds of hours of Zoom calls between alt-med salesman, Joseph Mercola, and a supposed clairvoyant that goes by Bahlon. Jonathan joins us to discuss what he found.
Show Notes
Brad Schimel Admitted to Having "Psychologically Beat the Daylights Out" Of His 8-Year-Old Daughter - MeidasTouch News
Rallying Anti-Musk Donors, Liberal Judge Raises $24 Million in Key Court Contest - The New York Times
Here are claims about Wisconsin’s Supreme Court candidates — and the facts
Ahead of Wisconsin Supreme Court election, Elon Musk PAC offers cash for pledge - WPR
Trump backs Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate in hotly contested race - ABC News
Billionaires become a focus of the 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court race
Brad Schimel Begins Campaigning With Anti-MLK Advocate Charlie Kirk - MeidasTouch News
Exclusive Videos Show Dr. Joe Mercola’s Dangerous Ideas Whipped up by Alleged Medium
Brief: RFK's Health Propaganda Roundtable
Terminated HHS grants
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1:00:18
Bonus Sample: The War on Fat People
The Wellness Company is now selling retatrutide, a weight loss drug currently undergoing stage 3 trials by Eli Lilly. An anti-vax company that uses fear-based marketing to push supplements appears to be overstepping legal lines. Yet will they be held accountable in an RFK Jr-led HHS?
Derek looks at private market healthcare propaganda from Ronald Reagan to Kennedy, showing how health is not the real goal of MAHA. But if they can sell untested products to fat and chronically ill patients along the way, all the better.
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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.
USA