Brief: Vaccination, a Delusion?

For our inaugural bonus episode of Conspirituality Podcast, we feature a single interview: a deep dive into the demonology of QAnon and Xtian evangelicalism with Dublin-based Religious Studies scholar Jonathan O’Donnell (pronouns: they/them).O’Donnell took Matthew through a tour of modern demons: how they show up and how believers relate to them. They also explore the amazing world of “spiritual warfare handbooks,” which have a history in US evangelicalism, are bestsellers in Q-land, and in some ways resemble new-age self-help manuals. They discuss prophecy, speaking in tongues, and the impacts of demonology on marginalized identities. Professor O’Donnell specializes in American Religious and Cultural Studies, with a focus on the religious right and systems of dehumanization. They study Islamophobia, antisemitism, transphobia, and religious nationalism. Their current research analyses the relation between evangelical demonology, authoritarianism, and “post-truth politics” in Trump’s America. -- -- --Support us on PatreonPre-order Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat: America | Canada Follow us on Instagram | Twitter: Derek | Matthew | JulianOriginal music by EarthRise SoundSystem Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

28 Syys 202054min

Some wellness influencers offer compelling critiques of Big Pharma, factory farming, and psychiatric malpractice. What happens when their arguments become honeypots for snake oil? In this episode, Derek provides an overview of modern pharma practice and its discontents. Julian delves into the muddy culture of yoga and antidepressants—the bad advice, the stigma, the magical thinking. He also reviews the latest Q-adjacent content of Canadian self-help celebrity Danielle LaPorte, and checks in on Kate Northrup’s interview with Zach Bush. Derek and Julian interview Matthew about his recent feature investigation on conspirituality power couple, Dr. Kelly Brogan and Sayer Ji. There’s lots of material that didn’t make the final copy, like how Brogan’s conspirituality could endanger the mental health of her online clients, and how her usage of Kundalini Yoga as a supplemental therapy is riddled with false historical and medical claims. Also: why didn’t Sayer Ji denounce QAnon when given the chance? Finally, Derek digs into the podcast origin story with an interview of Jules Evans, who helped “conspirituality” become an almost-household term. Show Notes Inside Kelly Brogan’s Covid-Denying, Vax-Resistant Conspiracy Machine Popular Health Guru Sayer Ji Curates the Scientific Literature with His Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy Matthew’s review of Brogan’s “review” of Yogi Bhajan survivor Pamela Dyson’s memoir From Maharaj to Mahan Tantric: The Construction of Yogi Bhajan’s Kundalini Yoga Cognitive Errors and Diagnostic Mistakes: A Case-Based Guide to Critical Thinking in Medicine An Olive Branch Report on Yogi Bhajan, the abuser White Bird in a Golden Cage: My Life with Yogi Bhajan Trump Claims He Invented the Term “Fake News”—Here’ s an Interview With the Guy Who Actually Helped Popularize It Lies, Damn Lies and Viral Content -- -- -- Support us on Patreon Pre-order Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat: America | Canada Follow us on Instagram | Twitter: Derek | Matthew | Julian Original music by EarthRise SoundSystem Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

24 Syys 20202h 8min

At this point, we can say for sure that American spiritual and wellness communities are not only vulnerable to conspiracy brainworms but they’re actively hosting and spreading them. Seane Corn joins us to discuss what to do when QAnon rhetoric and hashtags co-opts lurches through yoga communities. But is this really unexpected from a historical point of view? Our second guest, cult researcher and historian Jared Yates Sexton joins us to talk about his new book, American Rule. He discusses the longstanding conspiracies that have influenced America since its very founding as well as the chronic problem of American exceptionalism. We all add in our own reflections on 9/11: how close to home it came, how one of us was in a cult when it happened, and how we learn and manage fear. Show Notes Thread on Pastel QAnon The Birth of QAmom Wellness Influencers Are Spreading QAnon Conspiracies About the Coronavirus Seane Corn’s anti-Q post swarmed by QAnons Inside Kelly Brogan’s Covid-Denying, Vax-Resistant Conspiracy Machine The Brightest Stars Shine In The Deepest Dark -- -- -- Support us on Patreon Pre-order Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat: America | Canada Follow us on Instagram | Twitter: Derek | Matthew | Julian Original music by EarthRise SoundSystem Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

17 Syys 20202h 26min

Yoga-crazed Hindu nationalists murder Muslims for eating beef, believing that the cow embodies the religious gift of India’s soil. American white supremacists chug gallons of local milk to prove their lactose tolerance and their claim that they alone should occupy the Global North. Extreme examples aside: it’s clear that key elements of the alt-right and the New Age agree that the Earth is sacred. Bountiful and healing, the Earth preserves everything lost to industrialization, Big Pharma, and globalization. Home is where the soil is. But whose home? Who’s welcome here? Who can afford it? Who’s allowed to own it, and who has to slave-labor on it? For all the supposed concern for ecology, why aren’t we seeing conspiritualists and QAnon devotees marching against carbon emissions, celebrating the carbon drops of lockdown, supporting the migrant workers who pick their arugula, or starting community gardens in their food-desert cities? This week Matthew reviews the soft-fascist “blood and soil” themes of conspirituality culture. Derek gives some background and context on the romanticization problem with agriculture. And Julian looks at the quasi-scientific premises and promises that podcast fave Dr. Zach Bush offers in response. We also bring you an interview with farming activist John Roulac, who’s incensed at how conspirituality is ripping up progressive foodie movements. In a recent article, he called out his old friends and associates (like Mikki Willis and Christiane Northrup) for what he calls their “body-snatching” beliefs. Matthew closes with a view from Manitoulin Island. Show Notes Is the Wellness Movement Being Tainted by QAnon and the New Age Right? John Roulac tangles with Mikki Willis John’s projects: Kiss the Ground | Nutiva | Rebotanicals Matthew’s feature on Pattabhi Jois, yoga guru and serial sexual abuser When The U.S. Government Tried To Replace Migrant Farmworkers With High Schoolers A reflection on the lasting legacy of 1970s USDA Secretary Earl Butz Why factory farms are a “perfect storm” for disease pandemics Brian Rose on Zach Bush Our COVID-19 -- -- -- Support us on Patreon Pre-order Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat: America | Canada Follow us on Instagram | Twitter: Derek | Matthew | Julian Original music by EarthRise SoundSystem Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10 Syys 20201h 56min

For decades, Neo-Tantra has focused on sex workshops and orgasmic bliss, overlooking the fact that the Kama Sutra is effectively a patriarchal instruction manual as well as Tantra’s grassroots origins in the lower castes in Indian society, which were responding to lofty metaphysical ideas with practical rituals everyone could partake in. From that perspective, a modern industry marketed with Shiva-Shakti figurines is yet another example of capitalist yoga in a privileged society. Derek opens this week discussing a redpilled-lite video by Danielle LaPorte, while Julian discusses an intensely personal story related to Tantra; he also explores the role of the Aghoris. We break from Tantra talk during Matthew’s interview with Alex Auder, a veteran yoga instructor who uses comedy as a relief mechanism from the QAnon craziness in the yoga world. Matthew ends this week’s episode with a reflection on his history with Tibetan Buddhist Tantra, and how he sees echoes of its archaic elements showing up, in undigested form, in the QAnon imaginarium. Show Notes Danielle LaPorte’s video How tantric sex trains people to have more intense orgasms, and why it’s so controversial The Mysterious Death of a Tantric Sex Guru Sex Messiah: A Tantric Odyssey Not for the Faint of Heart: The Aghori and Their Unorthodox Path to Enlightenment Reza Aslan (almost) loses his head Yoga: An Evolving Story Of Cross-Cultural Innovation Julian Feeld at the Hollywood Blvd QAnon rally -- -- -- Support us on Patreon Pre-order Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat: America | Canada Follow us on Instagram | Twitter: Derek | Matthew | Julian Original music by EarthRise SoundSystem Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

3 Syys 20202h 15min

This week we announce and discuss a refinement in our podcast’s direction. Real talk: conspirituality has clearly become both a front and a gateway for the fever-dream of QAnon. As mainstream news outlets wake up to the sordid reality that independent journalists have been tracking for two years, we find neither stream truly conceptualizing answers or methods for recovery and healing. Going forward, we’re going to concentrate not only on critique, but also offering solutions. Our guest this week is Lorna Liana, publisher of Entheonation. She tells Matthew about the insurgence of conspirituality in the plant medicine and ceremony world. Some neo-shamans, she says, are redpilling plant worshippers during vulnerable states. Julian and Derek chime in with their own experiences of psychedelics. Show Notes Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us about Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence What Are the Coronavirus Risks with Ayahuasca Ceremonies? Can Ayahuasca Protect You From Coronavirus? Is Tobacco Antiviral (& Can It Treat COVID-19)? Plant Ceremonies and Your Safety in the Midst of a Global Crisis COVID-19 Denialism is Rooted in the Settler Colonial Mindset A Neuroscientist Explains What Conspiracy Theories Do To Your Brain The Danger of Manipulative Love-Bombing in a Relationship The Certainty Bias: A Potentially Dangerous Mental Flaw Dopamine, cognitive biases and assessment of certainty: A neurocognitive model of delusions The Dopaminergic Midbrain Encodes the Expected Certainty about Desired Outcomes -- -- -- Support us on Patreon Pre-order Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat: America | Canada Follow us on Instagram | Twitter: Derek | Matthew | Julian Original music by EarthRise SoundSystem Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

27 Elo 20202h 8min

Dr. Theodora Wildcroft joins us again to take us through the basics of contemporary Religious Studies. She discusses how the discipline approaches issues of ritual, value, meaning, charisma, and role-playing, while also leading us through the process by which objects, places, and people become sacred. Spoiler: it’s more about what we do than what we believe. Wildcroft also dissects the chronic problem of conspiritualists weaponizing myths of rebellion and recovery. Matthew gives a brief rundown on the trainwreck of Mikki Willis’s “Plandemic 2,” and also talks about the Q-map as an artistic (if delusional) landscape of comfort and connection. Derek contemplates the chemicals we don’t question while putting onto or inside of our bodies, while Julian homes in on one particular chemical: the pyramid scheme propped up by Big Essential Oil. Show Notes The QAnon map How to spot a conspiracy theory – Expert guide to conspiracy theories part one Mandala Offering – Ring Set Version Lotsawa House: Mandala Offering Deep State Mapping Project Was Lewis Carroll a Pedophile? His Photographs Suggest So Travis View on Twitter 2019 Plastic Surgery Statistics Report Risk Associated with Bee Venom Therapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Class Action: Young Living ‘Nothing More Than an Unlawful Pyramid Scheme’ Multi-Level Vaccine Refusal Very simplistic visual example of how conspiracy theories can become transnational Deconstructing the placebo effect and finding the meaning response T -- -- -- Support us on Patreon Pre-order Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat: America | Canada Follow us on Instagram | Twitter: Derek | Matthew | Julian Original music by EarthRise SoundSystem Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

20 Elo 20202h 16min

Last week, we started to explore how the real issue of child trafficking is being weaponized by bad-faith actors. This week we’re joined by two experts that explain the overt and subtle impacts involved. Regan Williams, CEO and founder of Seen & Heard, a nonprofit that provides youth in foster care with professional and personal development via the performing arts, offers a ground zero perspective of trafficked children and teens (and the people that actually care for them) being made even more invisible by conspiratorial clicktivism. Religious Studies scholar and trauma-sensitive yoga consultant, Dr. Theo Wildcroft, joins us from England to discuss the consequences of trauma histories being hijacked for political and emotional manipulation. She offers insight into the mythic elements of conspirituality-to-Q that cannot be ignored if we want to understand how trauma is both stored and resisted. On This Week in Conspirituality, Matthew considers the absurdity of David Wolfe accusing the medical community of not doing anything about cancer. Julian investigates anti-Semitic blood libel themes in QAnon and Derek discusses the chronic dangers of seeking utopia. Show Notes To report abuse/neglect, call the child abuse hotline: 800.540.4000 (LA county) / 800.422.4453 (National) Epstein is a real pedophile. Why are QAnon and Pizzagate so focused on fake ones? The Dark Virality of a Hollywood Blood-Harvesting Conspiracy Just how anti-Semitic is QAnon? QAnon isn’t newly anti-Semitic—it’s always been that way Q supporters are incorrectly doxxing journalists who report on QAnon as Jewish Nearly 600,000 people have voted for candidates who support QAnon Here are the QAnon supporters running for Congress in 2020 QAnon Supporter Who Made Bigoted Videos Wins Ga. Primary, Likely Heading To Congress Prominent Republicans back a conspiracy theory-promoting congressional candidate in Georgia Argentino on -- -- -- Support us on Patreon Pre-order Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat: America | Canada Follow us on Instagram | Twitter: Derek | Matthew | Julian Original music by EarthRise SoundSystem Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

13 Elo 20202h 19min