Brief: Unmasking Liana Shanti (w/Jennings Brown)
Jennings Brown is becoming the Dr. Who of cult journalism. Every few years he pops up on a very different planet in the cultiverse, and tries to repair the timeline. These days he’s deep into the sto...
22 Apr 202342min
150: Spiritual Influencer Theory
Julian and Matthew go big-picture in this tour through all the elements that construct and drive spiritual Influencers. At the center of the parasocial storm is charisma, which covers over the intelle...
20 Apr 20231h 14min
Bonus Sample: From Rabbit Hole to Research (w/Jaigris Hodson)
Our Listener Story this week comes from Dr. Jaigris Hodson, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair for Digital Communication for the Public Interest at Royal Roads University in Victoria, Briti...
17 Apr 202328min
Brief: The Promises & (Mostly) Perils of Ketamine Therapy
Though not specifically a psychedelic — ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic — ketamine therapy is being touted as a depression treatment and, for some, a new form of spiritual healing. And indeed, s...
15 Apr 202332min
149: Spiritual Heartbreak
“I would pursue transcendence and live with its inevitable close cousins, disappointment and heartbreak, for most of my life.” So writes “Steven” (not his real name) in the first of our six spiritual ...
13 Apr 20231h 19min
Bonus Sample: JP Sears’s Woke CBD Grift
JP Sears is selling CBD. His new company, Awaken, recently sent out a marketing email extolling the benefits of CBD. Derek looks at the science behind the claims. Show Notes CBD is everywhere. But is ...
10 Apr 20236min
Brief: The Spirituality of Vaccine & Mask Panics
Why do so many inflammatory culture war issues crystallize around vaccines and masks? What is so compelling about these forms of public health and mutual aid, that they become central to the right-win...
8 Apr 202329min
148: Marianne Williamson and Asshole Jesus
Is Marianne Williamson’s promotion of A Course in Miracles any more relevant to her political persona than Biden’s Catholicism? If it demonstrably informs her every instinct and communication (as we e...
6 Apr 20231h 16min
