Brief: RFK Jr Screws His Followers

Recently, “holistic veterinarian” Marcie Fallek, whose latest book, “Little Miracles Everywhere: My Unorthodox Path to Holistic Veterinary Medicine," is the #1 bestseller on Amazon in the Alternative Holistic Medicine category, appeared on Children's Health Defense's daily morning show. During “Pet Vaccines and Holistic Vet Care" she spreads the same sort of vaccine misinformation and fear-mongering that RFK Jr's nonprofit has become infamous for. All of which made Derek realize that yes, they're actually coming for our pets. Show Notes Why Your Vet Bill Is So High Private Equity Is Killing Your Pets Nearly 70% of veterinarians have lost a colleague or peer to suicide, study finds The acute suicide crisis among veterinarians: 'You're always going to be failing somebody' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2 Nov 202425min

With days left before the most consequential US election in our lifetime, we reflect on the last 4.5 years of this podcast while expressing our hopes–and our own reporting goals—for the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

31 Okt 20241h 28min

Matthew here with the third installment of Five Big Questions Posed to an Extremely Thoughtful Person.  Michelle Cassandra Johnson was an early guest on our show and helped us lay the groundwork for understanding the reality and impacts of racism in the worlds of wellness and new spirituality. She’s an author, activist, and racial equity trainer. Her latest book, A Space For Us: A Guide For Leading Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Affinity Groups, was published by Beacon Press in August 2023. She lives in North Carolina with her sweet dog, Jasper, and her honeybees. Show Notes Michelle Cassandra Johnson Conspirituality 40: White Supremacy: Grift and Gravity (w/Michelle Cassandra Johnson & Daniel Lombroso)  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

29 Okt 202431min

Derek discusses Tucker Carlson advocating for corporal punishment as a way to discipline children in his appearance at the Turning Points USA MAGA rally. Show Notes Stephen Colbert: Tucker Carlson’s Weird Daddy Issues Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

28 Okt 20246min

Billionaire legal activist Leonard Leo has had a role in placing all six conservative justices on the SCOTUS, and so therefore is in large part responsible for the overturning of Roe V Wade. But his right-wing activism isn’t even close to over, as he recently stated during a rare interview with The Daily Wire. Derek and Julian discuss Leo’s dark vision for the future. Show Notes Swamp Creatures 6: Leonard Leo, Judicial Kingmaker Inside Leonard Leo’s Plan For Conservatives To ‘Crush Liberal Dominance’ We Don’t Talk About Leonard: The Man Behind the Right’s Supreme Court Supermajority Leonard Leo’s Extremely Revealing Letter to a Dark-Money Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

26 Okt 202437min

On Oct 4, Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of medicine, economics, and health research policy at Stanford, held a symposium at his university. Titled “Pandemic Policy: Planning the Future, Assessing the Past,” it was marketed as an open-minded series of panel discussions involving a range of experts to debate and discuss the efficacy of Covid mitigation techniques. In reality, it was a collection of mostly anti-vax and definitely anti-lockdown contrarians that tried in vain to bait people like Dr Peter Hotez to attend in order to give the event an air of legitimacy. Held on the anniversary of the “Covid is bad for business” doctrine, The Great Barrington Declaration, the day presented an opportunity to air supposed “censorship” grievances and demands that the public should have a say in the science of future pandemics. The rub: most everyone involved is invested in the economics of public health, not the science, though those lines were freely and falsely blurred throughout the day. Considering Stanford’s new president, economist Jonathan Levin, gave the opening remarks, the Covid contrarians took one more step into the mainstream with their business-first, science-whatever attitudes. Show Notes Pro-COVID UK Charity With Anti-Vax Ties Behind Controversial Stanford Health Policy Conference Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says a failing economy is worse than coronavirus  Dr. Vinay Prasad: “Public Health’s (Mis)Truth Problem” Can Stanford Tell Fact from Fiction? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

24 Okt 20241h 10min

As the world watches, Israel and Iran are squaring off for a potential war. Meanwhile, a Texas evangelical preacher, who runs the biggest Christian Zionist group in the world, is cheering on the coming apocalypse—as predicted in his 2005 book, Jerusalem Countdown. John Hagee even flew to DC to persuade Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, to jam through another military aid package. Julian examines the real-world significance of conflicting religious prophecies focused on one particular piece of real estate in East Jerusalem as the “shoreline of eternity”—the portal into God’s Kingdom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

21 Okt 20246min

Trump’s Town Hall DJ love-in stumped a lot of folks. From the conspirituality angle, however, there’s something familiar about this improvised ritual. Because the world we cover is strewn with the wreckage of charismatic patriarchs who bleed their followers dry in the closed-loop system of cultic dynamics.  When leaders like Trump get to the end of the line, all that’s left is pure affect. They have exhausted themselves in the efforts of self-aggrandizement. They have nothing left to say because they’ve said it a 1000 times. They’re all out of stories. They might even be bored of their own bullshit. Underslept or dysregulated by chaotic schedules, they may not be sure where they are. They’re beset by enemies, ill and in cognitive decline, but can’t admit it. And when they start to feel overwhelmed by their followers' pathetic—in their view—neediness, they will reach for any help they can get in maintaining their emotional dominance.  What October 14 showed us is that in these moments, Trump’s go-to resource is canned music, and, without his own iPad at the ready, a DJ handler who can spin the tracks and support his reverie of relief and control.  Show Notes Trump holds town hall in Pennsylvania suburbs with focus on economy  How Media Outlets Covered Trump’s Musical Town Hall Donald Trump is DJing weekly at Mar-a-Lago, plays Broadway songs and Celine Dion from his iPad, report says DJ T: How Trump controls the music at Mar-a-Lago   Twitter thread  152: Tulsi Gabbard’s Krishna Consciousness (w/Nitai Joseph) PLAYING FOR OSHO 1989 Introduction – Chinmaya Dunster  Patted Down by India’s Hugging Saint  The Soft Nationalism of Amma, India’s Hugging Saint 37: Guru Jagat Cultjacks Kundalini Yoga (w/Philip Deslippe & Stacie Stukin) Letter to Sogyal Rinpoche from current and ex-Rigpa members details abuse allegations  Trump's bizarre music session reignites questions about his mental acuity  Brief: Trump’s Impending Ego Implosion (w/ Daniel Shaw) Traumatic Narcissism: Relational Systems of Subjugation Sex abuse allegations surround L.A. Buddhist teacher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

19 Okt 202435min