Brief: Tech-Bro Mormonism (w/Blair Hodges)
Conspirituality18 Jan 2025

Brief: Tech-Bro Mormonism (w/Blair Hodges)

We know Bryan Johnson gobbles 100 pills a day. He pumps his son’s plasma through his veins. He does light therapy on his junk and wants to live forever. But do we understand how Johnson’s fascinations reflect his Mormon heritage? No. No we don’t. That’s why we called our very own Salt Lake City expert, Blair Hodges, host of the Relationscapes podcast. Blair joins Matthew to discuss Johnson’s transhumanism, which has roots in the LDS but has also led him away from it. They cover the spirituality of his money, whether he’s trying to become a living god, and how his home gym has some distinctive Mormon temple elements. Also: is Bryan really as polite as he seems, or is he hiding Blair has degrees in journalism, religious studies, and disability studies from the University of Utah and Georgetown University. He directed communications for the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Studies at Brigham Young University before moving to the nonprofit sector. He has served as communications director for Volunteers of America, Utah and RMHC of the Intermountain Area. He’s currently working on a research project on the history of intellectual disabilities in Mormon thought. Show Notes Relationscapes—Blair Hodges Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episoder(752)

292: Women of Jan 6 (w/ Noelle Cook)

292: Women of Jan 6 (w/ Noelle Cook)

Noelle Cook’s The Conspiracists: Women, Extremism, and the Lure of Belonging is the first ethnography of conspirituality, and it comes via someone who was able to really embed themselves in a volatile...

22 Jan 1h 8min

Bonus Sample: Oil, Power, and Theocracy

Bonus Sample: Oil, Power, and Theocracy

In 1953 the CIA and MI6 participated in a coup d’etat in Iran. That true sentence (and what usually follows) can create an oversimplified distortion of history—and present. But Iran is in the news aga...

19 Jan 7min

MAHA’s Selective Skepticism

MAHA’s Selective Skepticism

Whole milk is back! The war on protein is over! Mainline meat! Derek investigates the new inverted pyramid and everything lacking in the new dietary guidelines. Show Notes The New Dietary Guidelin...

17 Jan 23min

291: My Chinese Buddhist Israeli AI Guru

291: My Chinese Buddhist Israeli AI Guru

“Train your mind gently, not to deny what is hard, but to see what is still good” implores the monk sharing spiritual messages to his 2.5 million Instagram followers. Clad in an orange robe—well, some...

15 Jan 1h 6min

Bonus Sample: Overwelled

Bonus Sample: Overwelled

From Andrew Huberman's Goop collab and Mel Robbins' protein shots to MAHA flipping the long-defunct food pyramid and making meningitis great again, the first full week of 2026 was off to quite a start...

12 Jan 4min

Brief: Censorship Industrial Complex

Brief: Censorship Industrial Complex

Marco Rubio’s office published an official press release last month titled “Announcement of Actions to Combat the Global Censorship Industrial Complex.” The memo discusses the decision to impose visa ...

10 Jan 22min

290: Trump Derangement Science

290: Trump Derangement Science

What do fascists need to do to convince their rank and file that they’re the smartest in the room? They invent new science to trash the old science they didn’t like. First, we look into how RFK Jr is ...

8 Jan 1h 6min

Bonus Sample: What My Late Mom Would Have Thought About Jordan Peterson

Bonus Sample: What My Late Mom Would Have Thought About Jordan Peterson

Matthew reflects on the fifth anniversary of his mother’s death and revisits how her life, trauma, and values helped him understand the appeal—and fatal flaw—of Jordan Peterson’s worldview. Toughness ...

5 Jan 5min

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