Matthew narrates the first three sections of the audiobook, Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat.

Friend of the pod and historian of American fitness culture, Natalia Petrzela, joins Matthew to shed light on a new development in RFK Jr’s campaign to disrupt the Democratic Party: his recent workout campaign videos from the barbell patio of Gold’s Gym in Venice beach. 

Julian explores a different version of Conspirituality. This form translates QAnon for a European audience and calls for a return to the golden age of the Russian empire, but also to an ancient pre-Christian Slavic identity united across borders in pagan faith.

“It’s much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong," wrote Richard Feynman. But does curiosity end where awareness cuts off? Derek explores the positive and negative sides of the spiritual search, especially in light of the burgeoning eco-spiritual movement.

Matthew sets pseudoscience and spiritual bypassing into the social context of cultic relationships, reviewing some of the tortured dynamics we monitored during COVID, laying out a few cult-resistant hygiene rules, some pointers on avoiding stigmatization, and asking tough questions about where the whole cult discourse thing is going in this parasocial era.

We've spent three years tracking the slide from online wellness influencer to red-pilled conspiracy promoter, from yoga and breath work teacher to anti-vax ivermectin slinger, from vegan raw chocolate aficionado to anti-immigrant, transphobic, election denial. Turns out, the roots of this phenomenon run deep. We speak to these today.

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.

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.

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.

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. Vanity Fair staff writer, Dan Adler, joins to discuss at least one person harmed by MM’s harmful claims.

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.

Dr. Jonathan Howard joins to discuss his new book, We Want Them Infected.

Renée DiResta, a writer and research manager at Stanford Internet Observatory, talks about conspiracies, terrorism, and information warfare.

Derek talks with The Banter founder, Ben Cohen, about the modern state of antisemitism and the questionable tactics of Russell Brand and Aubrey Marcus.

Derek talks to ADL disinformation analyst Sara Aniano and cosmetic chemist Michelle Wong about the anti-sunscreen movement.

To see how her sleight-of-hand works, Matthew examines two classic Marianne Williamson encounters to show that the answers she gives on the stump aren’t much different from the answers she gives on her New Age retreats.

What does it mean for a prominent American politician to come into power as the sleeper cell of an eccentric Hindu-American cult? Nitai Joseph shares heritage with Tulsi Gabbard, as he also grew up in a Hare Krishna sect. He joins to discuss this lineage.

Canadian filmmakers Sean Horlor and Steve Adams have a new documentary out called “Satan Wants You,” and it fills in a lot of the blanks in our prior “Swan Song Series” reporting with incredible archival footage and brave interviews from friends and family members.

Who is Liana Shanti, and why isn’t she Liane Wilson any more? Matthew talks to Jennings Brown to uncover an answer.

Julian and Matthew go big-picture in this tour through all the elements that construct and drive spiritual Influencers.