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

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(825)

Bonus Sample: Reality, Monsters & Brain Glitches

Listen to the full episode What do films like Dracula, The Truman Show, The Matrix, Invasion of the Body-Snatchers, Being John Malkovich, and Night of the Living Dead all have in common? Science fic...

27 Jul 0s

Brief: The Chiropractors Are Coming

Support the podcast The MAHA Chiropractic Hub had a big launch in Washington DC this week, with RFK Jr extolling the benefits of the practice—and promising to redirect research funds their way as his...

25 Jul 0s

318: Wellness is the New Big Pharma [feat Mallory DeMille]

Support the pod on Patreon The pharmaceutical industry is filled with greedy businessmen getting innocent consumers hooked on their toxic products in order to barely keep them alive. But if you want ...

23 Jul 0s

Bonus Sample: Today at Death’s Door

Listen to the full episode Matthew considers two registers of painful eulogy: spectacles thrown for elite terrible people, and the music offered for ordinary terrible people, when we can manage it. ...

20 Jul 5min

Brief: Graham Platner’s QAnon Moment

Access ad-free listening and support the podcast Graham Platner’s recent 11-minute video, where he announced he was dropping out of his bid for the US Senate, is filled with some of the hallmarks we ...

18 Jul 40min

317: Jordan Peterson vs the Nuns

Jordan Peterson is back. After a hiatus due to a, well, a whole lot of problems, he’s up for regular posting on his social media channels. We’re going to take a look at what’s happened over the last y...

16 Jul 1h 15min

Bonus Sample: Taco Bell is Doing Better Public Health Than RFK Jr

Listen to the full episode A cyclospora outbreak has caused thousands of Americans to experience explosive diarrhea across 18 states. The CDC still has no idea where it's coming from. This has caused...

13 Jul 6min

Brief: Cult Within a Church Does a Schism

On July 1, 2026, the Society of Saint Pius X consecrated four bishops at its Écône seminary, defying Pope Leo XIV's direct plea to "turn back." Within 24 hours, Rome declared the SSPX's bishops and ro...

11 Jul 42min