46: Back to the Vax (w/Lydia Greene & Heather Simpson)

Deep Cut pulls from our bonus episode archive to unearth previous ideas that remain relevant today. What the hell happened between the Dalai Lama and that Indian boy? The internet served up a raft of painfully inflammatory takes, so I took a month to talk with Tibetologists and review the literature on sexual abuse in Tibetan Buddhist contexts. This is a deep, tangled dive. Content warnings apply. Chapters: Why cover this, and why now? Summary The Clip Virality Two Orientalisms Outrages and Pilled Mindset What do Tibetans and their allies say? Kazi Adi Shakti, Thi Nguyen, Becca Williams Deep Cut Intro Music Single Origins — Pete Kuzma Show Notes Stop Sensationalizing the Dalai Lama's Innocent Interactions | A Tibetan's Perspective Yin Sun རྒྱ་གར་མཐོ་སློབ་ཀྱི་བྱིས་པ་ཞིག་གིས་མཇལ་ཁ་ཞུས་པ། Cardi B on Twitter: This world is full of predators. The Dalai Lama is clearly pedo inclined. He wrote a statement (in third person) after we posted the clip below. https://twitter.com/MIAuniverse/status/1645530569042956289 MIA on vaccines, vindication and her visions of Jesus: ‘People fear me for some reason’ Himalayan Community comes out with massive outpour of support for HH the Dalai Lama https://thewalrus.ca/survivors-of-an-international-buddhist-cult-share-their-stories/ Survivors of an International Buddhist Cult Share Their Stories | The Walrus ‘Abuse of Power’ (1999) | open buddhism Confessions of Kalu Rinpoche ‘Not The Tibetan Way’: The Dalai Lama’s Realpolitik Concerning Abusive Teachers | open buddhism Independent: Sexual Abuse Allegations in Tibetan Buddhism Mind & Life Institute statement on the Dalai Lama Mongolian child named by Dalai Lama as reincarnation of Buddhism's third most important leader | Daily Mail Online China: Dalai Lama furore reignites Tibet 'slave' controversy - BBC News https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq4hDfaLe6d/ https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq_1L77vl2L/ Attune to the Body Cues of the Boy in the Dalai Lama Incident + Open Offer for Counseling to the Boy https://twitter.com/LizCrokin/status/1645971419447148545 Tibetans Say the Dalai Lama’s ‘Suck My Tongue’ Viral Video Is Being Misinterpreted Brother Lobsang commentary  “Eat my Tongue” explanation  Giaco Orofino commentary  HH Dalai Lama Archetype of Radical Innocence with Robert Thurman : On The Recent Viral Video Kazi Adi Shakti's essay  Holopoiesis MORAL OUTRAGE PORN C. Thi Nguyen and Bekka Williams Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

30 Sep 20231h 34min

The market for psychedelics is projected to grow from $2 billion in 2020 to $10.75 billion by 2027—a growth rate that could outpace the legal US cannabis market. Many high-profile investors and celebrities are entering the space, often under the pretense of funding breakthrough mental health interventions. But…is that the real concern? Microdosing to help depression, anxiety, addiction, or suicidal ideation are all laudable goals. But is that what’s really happening in the psychedelics space? Derek is joined by Psymposia co-founder, editor, and producer, Brian Normand; medicine, society, and culture research fellow, Neşe Devenot, PhD; and managing editor and harm reduction advocate, David Nickles. This far-reaching discussion about the history and future of psychedelics touches upon numerous aspects of this burgeoning industry. Show Notes Psymposia Church of Psilomethoxin, Part 1: Sacramental Skepticism. Is the Church in Denial? Right-Wing Psychedelia: Case Studies in Cultural Plasticity and Political Pluripotency Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

28 Sep 20231h 20min

We’ve spent the last three-and-a-half years criticizing a range of wellness ideas, charismatic charlatans, abusive self-styled gurus, and conspiracy theories. We’ve also discussed our own beliefs and highlighted many people and ideas that we believe are getting it right. Derek has never really explored what motivates him on a physical and mental level despite having spent many years doing so inside of gyms and studios. This is no motivational speech, but rather an exploration of a motivational mindset, weighed against how some popular influencers position the concept. Derek uses his recent experience summiting Mt St Helens to frame the conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

25 Sep 20234min

In light of the recent allegations, Matthew offers a backgrounder on what we’ve learned about Brand through conspirituality and cultic studies and from his opportunistic relationships to wellness, self-help, and Kundalini Yoga. Ending with a focus on how his yoga world LARPing became a launch pad for his success as a spirituality-coded conspiracy theorist in the age of COVID. Go to HelloFresh.com/50conspirituality and use code 50conspirituality for 50% off plus 15% off the next 2 months! Get 50% off up to $20 and zero delivery fees on your first order when you download the DoorDash app and enter code CONSPIRITUALITY. Show Notes Conspirituality 97: Brand Awareness  Russell Brand accused of rape, sexual assaults and abuse Russell Brand - In Plain Sight (Dispatches) [couchtripper] - video Dailymotion  BBC and police begin inquiries as Russell Brand faces more claims Russell Brand: BBC resists calls to release complaints filed against presenter Russell Brand's Charismatic Bullshit - by Derek Beres  Russell Brand helps the homeless with his yoga teacher... and his new tantric tattoos | Daily Mail Online  Yogi Bhajan Turned an L.A. Yoga Studio into a Juggernaut, and Left Two Generations of Followers Reeling from Alleged Abuse  Conspirituality 36: Guru Jagat's Pandemic Brandwash Conspirituality 37: Guru Jagat Cultjacks Kundalini Yoga  Conspirituality 64: Remembering Guru Jagat Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

23 Sep 202337min

Who could be a better guide through the fever dream of modern anti-semitism—the socialism of fools—than a scrappy young scion of the House of Rothschild? How has Mike, this mysterious insider—visible on CNN but a seeming ghost in real life—used his inheritance and connections to score book deals with the Fake News Media? Will he redeem his family name? Just joking! Author and friend of the pod Mike Rothschild is no relation to the banking family that has lived rent-free in the minds of antisemites and conspiracy theorists for over two centuries now. He is the author of 2021’s The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything. His new book out less that two years later, is ​​Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories. Mike joins us now from his summer palace in the South of France, um, actually his home office in Los Angeles to discuss the very stupid but dangerous groundswell of Jew hatred now filling our feeds. Go to HelloFresh.com/50conspirituality and use code 50conspirituality for 50% off plus 15% off the next 2 months! Get 50% off up to $20 and zero delivery fees on your first order when you download the DoorDash app and enter code CONSPIRITUALITY Show Notes Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

21 Sep 202355min

When we deconstruct harmful ideas and beliefs—from antivax positions to reactionary social views—we will inevitably be seen or felt as attacking the relationships that people form through those views. That’s a big problem in a lonely world, and there will be blowback. What to do? Matthew steps off the debunkery hamster wheel, and remembers an old piece of yoga advice.  Show Notes The Religious Case Against Belief by James P. Carse Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

18 Sep 202310min

Burning Man 2023 will forever be burned in memory with two images: a group of climate activists blocking the single road into Black Rock City and the sea of mud that a climate change-induced hurricane turned the playa into. The jigsaw puzzle is pretty complete. Will Burners see it? Tommy Diacono is a five-time Burner. He also helped organize the protest. He joins two-time Burner Derek for a discussion about why his crew blocked the roads, the importance of rituals, and the importance of knowing when rituals need to end. Show Notes FULL VIDEO: Climate Protesters Shut Down BURNING MAN, Rangers Ram Through Blockade Tommy Diacono on Instagram Burn it all down — Derek Beres Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

16 Sep 202327min

Naomi Klein’s Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World is a polymathic work that serves up new political heuristics with the firepower we’ve come to expect from the coiner of “disaster capitalism.” A Dante-spiral through our circles of cultural hell, it’s also a memoir of demoralization, self-evaluation, and persistent hope. If this sounds overly ambitious or grandiose—that’s a fair suspicion in this age of galaxy-brained pundits who want to write *that book about everything.* In less humble, less feminist hands, a project like this could feel like a vanity vehicle for an author’s unbearably brilliant mind. But that doesn’t happen here, because Klein’s intersectional discipline—which despite many flights of fancy, she never abandons—serves the values of economic, racial, and climate justice, and she does it by always citing her sources and elevating the voices of the marginalized. Derek, Julian, and Matthew discuss briefly before Klein joins Matthew to discuss her way into and out of this bizarre and demoralizing land. Show Notes Doppelganger — Naomi Klein Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

14 Sep 20231h 20min