199: Inside Anti-Abortion Christian Nationalism (w/Rob Schenck)
Reverend Rob Schenck spent 30 years on the front lines of the Evangelical war against Roe V. Wade. He blockaded abortion clinics, screamed at women in crisis, used fetal remains as political props, an...
28 Mar 20241h 12min
Bonus Sample: Conspirituality and the Imaginary Children (Series Intro)
In this series of audio essays, Matthew will examine how children as symbols—but not persons with their own internal lives—are at the center of conspirituality anxiety and discourse. There are two ty...
25 Mar 20248min
Brief: Unmasking Jay Shetty (w/John McDermott)
Former monk turned spiritual influencer to the stars, Jay Shetty, has amassed 15 million followers on Instagram. He’s interviewed Michelle Obama, Kim Kardashian, and Kobe Bryant on his popular podcast...
23 Mar 202429min
198: Holy Food (w/Christina Ward)
Does God have a recipe? That’s the first line of the blurb of Holy Food: How Cults, Communes, and Religious Movements Influenced What We Eat: An American History by independent food historian, Christi...
21 Mar 20241h 6min
Bonus Sample: Ketamine Soul Mates
Dolphins, drugs, new age music. Isolation tanks as a portal into other dimensions. True love and fake aliens. Julian shares a personal love story from the nineties that intersects with the work of pro...
18 Mar 20245min
Brief: RFK Jr Hijacks the “Crisis in Masculinity” (w/Natalia Petrzela)
Masculinity, in all its wounded and preening anxiety, is the perennial currency of American populism. America’s foremost public historian on fitness and education, Natalia Petrzela, returns to the pod...
16 Mar 202431min
197: Psychic Surgery (feat Brad Abrahams)
The “healer” mutters prayers, flutters his hands over the patient’s belly, then rubs his fingers close to her navel. A stream of what looks like blood shoots out from between his fingers. After a few ...
14 Mar 20241h 7min
Bonus Sample: How to Stamp Out Racists (and more)
At what point do you tune someone out and no longer consider them worth considering? Is their entire catalog of thought defined by one encounter you don’t like? Multiple encounters? If you disagree wi...
11 Mar 20246min
