
Brief: What Will Universal Healthcare Actually Require?
Derek is joined by two members of the nonprofit organization, Health Care for All Oregon: Collin Stackhouse, the Social Media Coordinator, and Rebecca Schoon, an Associate Professor of Public Health at Pacific University, who’s on the board. Together, they map out Oregon’s journey to universal health care.

256: Quacks, Cancer, and Kangen Water (feat Mallory DeMille)
Mallory DeMille returns to discuss one of the most insidious wellness grifts: selling ionized water to “treat” cancer.

Brief: The New Media Order
Julian looks into this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner—and Substack’s rival event.

255: A MAHA Wellness Scam at Ontario Place
Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government in Ontario has leased the public space of OP to the Therme Spa company, which promises to bring wellness and democracy to the good citizens of Toronto, for a price.
Bruce Van Dieten and Ann-Elizabeth Samson of Ontario Place for All join Matthew to discuss the history and possible future of Toronto's cherished public space.

Brief: How To Talk To Your Son About Fascism (Pt 1)
Historian Craig Johnson joins Matthew to discuss his new book, How to Talk to Your Son about Fascism.

254: The Great MAHA Purity War of 2025
Someone’s got dirt on RFK Jr. We cover the cursed game of telephone that bounced around right-wing podcasts speculating on who that is—as if the blackmail is real to begin with.

Brief: The Cult of Crossfit
Cultural and psychological anthropologist Katie Rose Hajtmanek joins Derek to discuss her new book, The Cult of CrossFit: Christianity and the American Exercise Phenomenon.

253: The Politics of Abundance
Derek and Julian discuss Abundance, the new book by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson.

Brief: Karma & Christ at the NIH
Derek and Julian discuss new NIH director Jay Bhattacharya first official interview—with Bari Weiss of the Free Press.

252: Netflix vs. Andrew Tate (On “Adolescence”)
Today we look at “Adolescence”: the origin story, the strengths and liabilities of its one-take technique, and its deceptively conservative messaging.

Brief: Antifascist Woodshed 3: The Kids are Alright
Matthew's third edition of the Antifascist Woodshed.

251: Who Is Curtis Yarvin?
We look at Curtis Yarvin, a man who has the ear of those reshaping our world at breakneck speed.

Brief: Is It Fascism?
Derek and Julian discuss Robert Paxton's 2004 book, The Anatomy of Fascism, in light of 2025 America.

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.

Brief: Jordan Peterson’s Shady Billionaire Backers
Julian covers the recent Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference in London. Headlined by Jordan Peterson, featuring Konstantin Kisin, Ayan Hirsi Ali, Jonathan Pageau, and Eric Weinstein, the conference positioned itself as an inspiring cultural gathering focused on reclaiming Western values.

249: Kings of Pain
Trump administration Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, recently stated the American economy is going to need a "detox" period. And so today we look at peak the conspirituality convergences between biological and political purification projects.

Brief: Antifascist Woodshed 2 (Punching Nazis?)
First of Matthew's two-part examination of why the hell questions of force, non-violent resistance with and without force, unarmed violence and property damage, and armed violence are so incredibly hard to talk about in a culture thick with spiritual and political bypassing.

248: What Side Are You On?
Lately a lot of folks (including us) have been doing the fascism comparisons.
The questions we ponder this week: How long it takes for fascism to fully dig its roots in, how varied is the opposition along the way, and what role does the media play?

MAHA's Soft Eugenics
MAHA's response to the measles outbreak has been horrific, though expectable. Yet RFK Jr's op-ed, in which he advocated for the MMR vaccine, ripped apart his coalition—briefly.
Derek looks at the responses to Bobby's moment of clarity, then contemplates what MAHA really wants now that their champion is the bureaucracy.

247: The Deeper State
This week we’re looking at how folks who associated themselves with the magical and morbid QAnon memes about the “coming storm” that would destroy the Deep State have become that storm, mainly by talking about it, and are now in the position to congeal an even Deeper State characterized by more repression and control.