Brief: Vaccination, a Delusion?

The eighth installment of Matthew’s Five Big Questions Posed to an Extremely Thoughtful Person.  Friend of the pod Blair Hodges joins Matthew to talk about how he’s transformed the teachings of his Mormon upbringing into inspiration for social justice, how he grapples with the limits of the nuclear family as he thinks about community building, and why James Baldwin is so important to him. Blair has degrees in journalism, religious studies, and disability studies from the University of Utah and Georgetown University. He’s currently working on a research project on the history of intellectual disabilities in Mormon thought. Show Notes Relationscapes—with Blair Hodges  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

18 Helmi 26min

“You don’t get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, start a religion.” With those words, prolific sci-fi pulp fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard prophesied the course of his life’s work.  The 1950s saw the emergence of UFO- and alien channeling-based spiritual groups, as postmodern religious syncretism transformed supposedly ancient angels and demons into benevolent and/or terrifying aliens. No iteration of this fantasy has been more financially fruitful, culturally impactful, controversial, or bizarre than Hubbard’s brainchild: Scientology. In the latest episode of Roots of Conspirituality, Julian digs into the fascinating backstory of this prolific author, revered as prophetic by thousands, pursued as a fraud by the IRS for decades, described as a cult leader by church escapees, and called an abusive madman by his ex-wives. Allegedly… The religion is a complex blend of self-help psychology, elaborate pseudoscience, high-demand paranoia, and alien mythology that, at its height, commanded 100,000 members—and is still valued at roughly $2 billion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

17 Helmi 6min

Given how much shit the zone is being flooded with right now, you might have missed Donald Trump screaming about the supposed mistreatment of white South Africans recently. Last week, he said “certain classes of people” were being treated “very badly.” The trigger was a bill signed by South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, a former anti-Apartheid activist, trade union leader, and successful businessman—three qualities Trump doesn’t really understand. Like the Trump administration, we have our own South African on staff—and he’s legitimately employed here! Julian grew up under apartheid and left the country due to it. Derek chats with him about what life was like growing up there, and he explains the confusion that Trump is injecting into the body politic. Show Notes Trump vs. South Africa South African president signs controversial land seizure law No Proof Elon Musk's Grandparents Belonged to Nazi Party Errol Musk Talks About Elon’s Maternal Grandparents Understanding What the 2025 Expropriation Act Means Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

15 Helmi 25min

As of recording time, RFK Jr has not yet been confirmed to the HHS Secretary position by the Senate. That might change by publication date. But if we were setting odds on this confirmation, we’d say put your money on Bobby. So, WTF. Bobby Brainworms will be in charge of US public health, and its influence around the world. Our years of reporting on him have been defeated by the influencer noise of the MAHA Mamas. But we. Will. Carry. On. Julian reviews the misinfo docket. Derek runs down the bureaucratic implications. And Matthew speculates on just how perfect someone like RFK Jr would be as the domestic health figurehead of a fascist movement, if, you know, that were ever to be possible. Show Notes Some Cancers Rising Amongst Younger people Increased Lung Cancer from the 1960s to 80s. Lung Cancer Rates Today Smoking Suppresses Appetite and Results in Lower BMI for Some 64% of Adults in UK Overweight 65% of Australians Overweight Diabetes Was 1.8% in the US in 1960 11.6% of US Population Has Diabetes Risk of Alzheimer’s Doubles Every 5 Years After 65 30% of Smokers are Overweight or Obese A recent study did NOT show vaccines cause autism, but RFK Jr. keeps pushing the lie. “A New Academic Publishing Model”: Right-Wing Dark Money Group Launches Fringe Medical Journal Judge Orders White House to Unblock Funding for NIH, Others RFK Jr.'s financial disclosures reveal millions in both debt and income as he awaits HHS confirmation Racial ‘Sterility’ and ‘Hyperfecundity’ in Fascist Italy. Biological Politics of Sex and Reproduction in  History of fascism, reproductive rights offers lessons for today Are tyrants good for your health?  When the leader is ill—or addicted to cocaine, meth, steroids, or hormones Five Pseudosciences That Fueled the Nazis ‘Hitler Was Centre of Our Lives’: Confessions of Nazi Criminals’ Wives | History | Nuremberg. Casus pacis  Theodor Morell: Hitler’s Particularly Odious Physician  Public Health Under the Third Reich Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

13 Helmi 1h 1min

Derek meditates on a recent conversation about the left-right divide between Ezra Klein and James Pogue. Show Notes MAGA’s Big Tech Divide: Ezra Klein Show Going Back to Cincinnati — James Pogue Inside the New Right, Where Peter Thiel Is Placing His Biggest Bets — James Pogue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10 Helmi 7min

In the spring of 2017, Jordan Peterson first went viral by writing this in Canada’s National Post:  I will never use words I hate, like the trendy and artificially constructed words “zhe” and “zher.” These words are at the vanguard of a post-modern, radical leftist ideology that I detest, and which is, in my professional opinion, frighteningly similar to the Marxist doctrines that killed at least 100 million people in the 20th century. Remember that horseshit, or things like it? Did you guffaw because he was obviously absurd? Did you try to reason with his stans online? Did you see him as a crank influencer, or a dangerous political figure?  Did you hope his ideas would be beaten down in the marketplace of ideas? Or did you seek him out at a public event and shout him down with a bullhorn? Today, word salad like this is everywhere—including in Project 2025, now driving the Trump admin.  Matthew visits the antifascist woodshed to investigate the liberal manners, free speech naivety, and lack of community alliances that dissuaded him from grabbing the mic during a Peterson Q&A in 2017 and shouting:  “Your ideas are fascist and you should STFU. You are endangering trans people with your bullshit. Why do you care about how they experience their bodies, you whining pervert? Why are you inciting hatred against young people who want a better world?” Because… look where we are now. Show Notes Read the Memo Pausing Federal Grants and Loans - The New York Times  President George H.W. Bush on political correctness (1991) The History of Political Correctness—Lind The Pitfalls of Liberalism — Kwame Ture The Forgotten History of the World's First Trans Clinic | Scientific American  Jordan Peterson: The right to be politically incorrect | National Post  Bill C-16, An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code (gender identity or expression)  Jordan Peterson is trying to make sense of the world — including his own strange journey Postmodern Neo-Marxism — Jordan Peterson’s Shadow   Doug Ford met Jordan Peterson, appointment calendar reveals | CBC News  Why are the Proud Boys so violent? Ask Gavin McInnes — SPLC   Jordan Peterson revealed he once earned $400,000 a month Antifa by Mark Bray Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

8 Helmi 45min

Edward Snowden is largely only a public name thanks to Glenn Greenwald’s reporting, for which he was one of the contributors to a Pulitzer Prize-winning series for The Guardian in 2014. For a while, Matt Taibbi was considered the heir to Hunter Thompson when his gonzo journalism tore open the 2008 financial crisis and gave the public the term “vampire squids.”  Yet in more recent years, both men have swerved right: Glenn became a darling on Fox News and Taibbi was recruited by Elon Musk as one of the Twitter Files “journalists.” How did that happen? We’re joined by journalist Eoin Higgins, whose new book, Owned: How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices on the Left, dives into the career arcs of both Greenwald and Taibbi, and how they confuse and distort right-left alignments. Show Notes Sharath Jois, Heir to Founder of Ashtanga Yoga, Dies at 53 - The New York Times Sharath’s Statement on Pattabhi Jois’s Assaults: Context, Links, Notes – Matthew Remski  Surviving Modern Yoga - North Atlantic Books  Owned: How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices on the Left Eoin Higgins Morning Brew | Bluesky Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

6 Helmi 1h

Part 2 of Matthew’s sit down with sex-work veteran and social justice advocate Esme Providence Brown to discuss New Age / wellness antifeminist, Kelly Brogan, and how her craven politics bolster the permission structure for Trumpian misogyny. They track her political and aesthetic journey from labcoat wearer to wellness pole dancer to BDSM cosplayer—a spiral through deepening layers of appropriation, disavowal of responsibility, and cringe-tastic ideas. Esme concludes with some deep insights on what it means for artisanal BDSM to be stripped of its political and consent-culture context, and who Brogan’s “feminism is a psy-op” argument really serves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

3 Helmi 6min