196: Julian Goes to the New Age Expo!

When young TikTok dance stars joined 7M Films, they got access to big production budgets, luxurious locations, and exciting career opportunities. There was a problem, however. Their boss, Robert Shinn, was a self-styled Christian pastor who placed increasing pressure on their time and finances, demanded unquestioning devotion, and isolated them from the outside world. (Julian covered the story of a family trying to regain contact with their daughter, Miranda Derrick, who had disappeared into Shinn’s Shekinah Church for Conspirituality 105: TikTok, Cults & Conspiracies.) A new Netflix docuseries picks up where we left off. Julian talks to the series director, Derek Doneen, to discuss “Dancing for the Devil.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 Juni 202425min

Every year, the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, DC-based lobbying group, publishes its “Dirty Dozen” report, which supposedly informs consumers about the 12 “dirtiest” fruits and vegetables. The report is repeated verbatim by major media outlets, which routinely demonize strawberries, blueberries, and other conventionally-grown produce. But does their science hold up? Not according to the majority of scientists and researchers. Over the decades, the EWG has slammed some pesticides but not others, ignored data on dosages, and even wondered out loud if all that mercury in vaccines might just be causing autism. They also routinely ignore potentially hazardous organic chemicals, while selling “verified” labels for skin care products and sunscreens. Today Derek is going to walk me, the non-science journalist, through the work of the EWG before he talks to biomedical scientist Dr Andrea Love and cosmetic chemist Dr Michelle Wong about the group’s questionable methodologies and fear-mongering tactics. Show Notes Environmental Working Group and the Dirty Dozen The Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen” list is a danger to public health put out by an organic industry funded activist group Influence Watch: Environmental Working Group Dietary Exposure to Pesticide Residues from Commodities Alleged to Contain the Highest Contamination Levels Ken Cook: The Story of The Environmental Working Group  What Biden’s oil record means for the industry’s future Alleged ‘deal’ offer from Trump to big oil could save industry $110bn, study finds 10 years after Flint's lead water crisis began, a lack of urgency stalls 'proper justice' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

30 Maj 20241h 5min

In this Listener Stories episode, Matthew sits down with Jude Mills, an old friend from the yoga world, to hear her story about growing up in an anti-theist home in hyper-sectarian Scotland, but feeling the inexorable call of religion. So started a long journey toward her vocation as a hospice chaplain at the height of COVID.  They discuss the needs of the dying, regardless of beliefs, and how losing dignity to institutional abuse does not necessarily mean losing faith. In discussing how some former believers feel excluded from community life, Jude says something remarkable: “Everyone has a right to a sacramental life.” Jude has a Master’s degree in Public Theology and research interests which include: podcasting as a medium for theological reflection and enquiry; narratives of spiritual and religious abuse and harm and issues of disabled, neurodivergent and LGBTQ+ inclusivity in church contexts. Her podcast 'Fkd Up By Faith' will be the research subject for her PhD.  Show Notes Jude's website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

27 Maj 20246min

There’s been a growing acceptance of religious belief from the previously religious-averse, especially in the Covid contrarian space. This comes in the wake of a number of recent high-profile conversions, most notably Russell Brand getting baptized. Why are the skeptical suddenly finding faith?  Derek and Julian discuss their atheism in the context of these recent changes of heart—including Brand’s recent appearance on Bret Weinstein’s Dark Horse podcast. They share how their own skepticism has evolved and informs their work, debating on what value religion and, specifically, a belief in a god, holds for spiritual practices today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

25 Maj 202447min

Philosopher Thi Nguyen first visited us 150 episodes ago (!!) to discuss how social media gamification exploded online conspiracy theories and audience capture drags content producers toward the seductions of premature clarity—and the ecstasy of fascism.  Nguyen returns to discuss “value capture”: how simplified and portable metrics in institutions, technology, and media landscapes erode our moral capacities as we pursue goals we never signed up for. (We even consider this influence on podcasting!) Throughout, we also talk about the heart of Nguyen’s book, Games: Agency as Art, in which he explores the liberatory nature of games that offer the pleasures of striving and absorption. We wonder whether—if we valued and understood play for its own sake—we might not need to gamify the world.  Show Notes Games: Agency as Art  Games and the Art of Agency (Philosophical Review) (2020 APA Article Prize; selected for Philosopher Annual‘s “10 Best Philosophy Articles of 2019”) Value Capture (JESP) Trust as an Unquestioning Attitude (OSE) Transparency is Surveillance (Philosophy and Phenomenological Research) (short summary) Hostile Epistemology (keynote for the 2022 NASSP.) Autonomy and Aesthetic Engagement (Mind) (audio) Art as a Shelter from Science (Aristotelian Society Supplementary) The Arts of Action (Philosopher’s Imprint) Moral Outrage Porn with Bekka Williams (Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy) (selected for Philosopher Annual‘s “10 Best Philosophy Articles of 2020”) How Twitter Gamifies Communication (Applied Epistemology, OUP) (And a shortened version for students, with suggested classroom exercises.) Echo Chambers and Epistemic Bubbles (Episteme) The Seductions of Clarity (RIPS) Cultural Appropriation and the Intimacy of Groups, with Matt Strohl (Philosophical Studies) Trust and Antitrust — Annette Baier Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

23 Maj 20241h 8min

Russell Brand has accepted Jesus into his heart and been baptized in the spirit. But does his conversion to Christianity make sense along the New Age rebel to right-wing, conspiracy-theorist radicalization pipeline? Is Brand seeking absolution for his sins, or recognizing that most of his audience are Christians “oppressed” by authoritarian libs?  Julian explores how the “enlightened outsider” uses pseudoscience to justify spiritual beliefs that are actually connective tissue between conspiracism, New Age metaphysics, and faux Christian victimhood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

20 Maj 20247min

Two weeks ago, several university administrators asked militarized police units to smash pro-Palestinian encampment protests on quads and in occupied buildings. It happened at places like Columbia and CUNY, and the University of Texas in Austin where our guest today, Dr. Peniel Joseph, teaches on the history of the Black Power movement.  In the midst of the news cycle frenzy, an old phrase began popping up in discussions of who the protestors were and whether the police actions were justified. Authorities said (and media figureheads repeated uncritically) that protestors were infiltrated and influenced by “outside agitators.” It’s a phrase with a long history to it. Joining Matthew to unpack it is Dr. Peniel Joseph, a historian of the Civil Rights era, during which time the trope reached peak exposure, when it was lobbed at Martin Luther King Jr., as he sat in Birmingham Jail. Show Notes Peniel E. Joseph NYPD Chief of Patrol on the “unknown entity” Thursday's Headlines: NYPD Discovers Chained Bike Locks Edition Nearly all Gaza campus protests in the US have been peaceful, study finds  Unmasking The 'Outside Agitator' Debunking the “Outside Agitator” Trope amid pro-Palestinian campus protests Cost of repairing occupation damage at Portland State library estimated at $750K Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

18 Maj 202437min

Matthew is in the guest seat today! Why? Because in 2019—just months before the pandemic and this podcast kicked off—he published a book titled Practice and All is Coming: Abuse, Cult Dynamics and Healing in Yoga and Beyond. It focused on survivor stories of assault and abuse within the cultic mechanisms of Pattabhi Jois' Ashtanga Yoga community. The book also proposed a path into co-creating safer yoga communities via enhanced critical thinking, self-and-other-care, student empowerment, and community resilience.  In many ways, this book holds the keys to how one-third of the team has tackled the conspirituality era. Derek and Julian interview their colleague about it all on the occasion of the release of a second edition, now titled: Surviving Modern Yoga: Cult Dynamics, Charismatic Leaders, and What Survivors Can Teach Us (North Atlantic Books). Show Notes Surviving Modern Yoga by Matthew Remski | PenguinRandomHouse.com Yoga’s Culture of Sexual Abuse: Nine Women Tell Their Stories | The Walrus Survivors of an International Buddhist Cult Share Their Stories | The Walrus How a #MeToo Facebook Post Toppled a Yoga Icon | by Matthew Remski | GEN Shielded for Decades, A Yoga Leader's Alleged Sexual Abuse Finally Comes Under Fire How to Respond to Sexual Abuse Within a Yoga or Spiritual Community—Jubilee Cooke, Karen Rain  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

16 Maj 20241h 2min