Conspirituality5 Okt 2020

Bonus: Bullying Gates, Bullying Biden: The Conspiracy of Male Violence

Bill Gates is unknowable—except to close and estranged friends, family members, his therapist if he has one. His empire sprawls; his philanthropy is tangled. He’s clearly not any one thing. But what is the one thing conspiritualists fantasize him to be? What archetypal role does he play for those who hate him?In this meditation, Matthew zeroes in on the briefly-mentioned biographical datum that Gates was bullied as a boy to unfold his symbolic power as neuroatypical scapegoat. If we listen carefully, he argues, we’ll hear something very high-school-ish, laced with homophobia and latent violence, in the lazy defamations slung at Gates. Is it a surprise that Trump graduated from the New York Military Academy in 1964—the same year that a horrific hazing incident cost several administrators their jobs? Is it a surprise, given what we saw in that so-called debate, that Trump’s school had written hazing into their cadet manual? No, it’s not. And when Biden pauses and smiles, and shakes his head, and his gaze falls, is he remembering what it was like to have had a stutter in an all-boys school? We spend a lot of time on this podcast unravelling the shoddy thinking at the heart of our conspirituality and political landscapes. These 24 minutes tackles primal cruelty that is up to men to address—if they can remember it, and challenge that sad assumption that it’s simply the way of the world. -- -- --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

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Episoder(807)

313: The Resurrection of JP Sears

A decade ago, JP Sears built a large following poking fun at yogis and wellness types with his “ultra spiritual life” videos. Then Covid came and Sears took a hard right turn. In fact, he credits the ...

18 Jun 1h 21min

Bonus Sample: Candace Owens and MAGA’s Russia Kink

Listen to the full episode Influential right-wing pundit turned celebrity conspiracy-peddler, Candace Owens, just visited Russia for the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. While at “Russia’...

15 Jun 6min

Book Club: Food Intelligence

In the first edition of the Conspirituality Book Club, Derek dives into Food Intelligence: The Science of How Food Both Nourishes and Harms Us by Julia Belluz and Kevin Hall, PhD. First, he looks at...

13 Jun 29min

312: The Next Plague

A plague is coming. We don’t know when or which one, but we do know that since humans started gathering in groups numbering in the thousands, plagues became a consistent feature of existence. So a pla...

11 Jun 1h 6min

Bonus Sample: Liberation Theology or Magical Thinking?

Matthew investigates whether Pope Leo XIV's appeals to Liberation Theology represent genuine solidarity with the poor or a sophisticated form of spiritual bypassing. Drawing on Ole Jakob Løland's an...

8 Jun 5min

Brief: Collapse at the FDA

The FDA is bleeding out Covid contrarians. Marty Makary, Vinay Prasad, Tracy Beth Høeg—all gone. Jonathan Howard returns to discuss why so many RFK Jr's friends have reached the end of their bureaucra...

6 Jun 31min

311: AI, Pope Leo, & The Antichrist

Leo the XIV wrote a big letter about a hyperobject. Many thoughts and debates are triggered. Today we’ll look at what the hell an encyclical is, the Vatican's decade-long conversation with Silicon Val...

4 Jun 1h 21min

Bonus Sample: Journalism In An Age of Fascism

Derek reports on the role of journalism after attending the News and Documentary Emmy Awards in New York City last week. Show Notes 2026 News & Documentary Emmy Awards | NEWS NIGHT (LIVE) You Migh...

1 Jun 7min