Brief: Vaccination, a Delusion?

With MAHA taking over stages nationwide, we’re experiencing a deluge of wellness influence and contrarians screaming about systemic issues with food, medicine, and government. Yet the solutions they offer never actually address public health.  Ironically, the same trend has been occurring in investment-driven medicine, where both government and private sector money is flowing into individualized medicine at the expense of public health.  Derek dives into this sordid affair, concluding with six steps experts agree would actually do something about the state of our health. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

7 Okt 20245min

Finally: a dedicated, concise report on RFK Jr’s sordid history with women, with all the sources. Why?  Because now one of the allegations involves a criminal act.  And because it’s becoming clearer that the emotional manipulation he allegedly deploys in his personal life—many sources say that “love-bombing” is his technique—rhymes so closely with his political day-to-day that it’s hard to find the lines between stumping, white knighting, seducing, and screwing. Correction: The RFK Jr clip “I’m not a church boy” ran on Breaking Points, not Majority Report.  Show Notes The real victims of Olivia Nuzzi’s affair with RFK Jr are other female journalists | Moira Donegan | The Guardian  Exclusive: Multiple Women Claiming Romantic Relationships With RFK Jr. Threaten His Standing in Trump Orbit  RFK Jr.’s Family Doesn’t Want Him to Run. Even They May Not Know His Darkest Secrets. | Vanity Fair  Damning Report Reveals RFK Jr.’s History of Alleged Sexual Assault | The New Republic RFK Jr. Was a Compulsive Womanizer, and Yes, We Should Care | The New Republic  43 suspected mistresses found in RFK Jr.’s phone  Former babysitter for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. accuses him of sexual assault in Vanity Fair profile  Woman who accused RFK Jr of sexual assault says he apologized by text | Reuters   Keith Edwards — “I’m not a church boy.” Massachusetts Sexual Assault Laws Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Texts Apology to Woman Who Says He Sexually Assaulted Her  A Timeline of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Controversies  The Last Days of Mary Kennedy: 'She Is Angry and Depressed, but She Is Not Ill' (Exclusive)  AA meetings in the White House? Kennedy, a recovering addict, says it's just one of changes he'd make RFK Jr. Wants to Send People Addicted to Antidepressants to Government “Wellness Farms” – Mother Jones   Brief: The New Age Origin Story of RFK Jr’s Campaign — Conspirituality Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

5 Okt 202423min

Cleanse the soil! Purify the blood! Save the children! Make America Healthy Again! On Sept 23, Jordan Peterson, RFK Jr., rising alt-health stars Casey and Calley Means, and many other nutrition non-experts gathered for a live streamed event they called the American Health and Nutrition Roundtable, hosted by Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Their subtitle, A Second Opinion, was an apt description for the alternative fact-filled diatribes that ensued. The soil has been poisoned, everyone is fat and sick, the entire medical industry is corrupted by Big Pharma, and Big Food is enacting a genocide on the American people via metabolic dysfunction. COVID skepticism and anti-vax messaging lurked just beneath the surface. The speakers painted a terrifying picture and then presented themselves as benevolent common-sense saviors. At the climax of her speech, Casey Means, fresh from her career-boosting Tucker Carlson appearance, took a deep breath before declaring that this is all actually a spiritual crisis. Show Notes Killers of the Flower Moon: The real history behind diabetes and Native Americans.  Special Report: QAnon Fantasies Look Like Colonial Realities (w/Julian Brave NoiseCat) — Conspirituality Palestinians pampered”— Robert Kennedy Jr CDC Sociodemographic Data on American chronic disease Commonwealth Fund: Portrait of the Failing US Healthcare System Mikhaila Fuller | Yeah, I get botox. From the latest Q&A, link in bio. | Instagram Mikhaila Peterson’s life at the molten core of the culture wars - New Statesman   NPR on International Journal of Obesity Study Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

3 Okt 20241h 8min

Matthew here with the second installment of Five Big Questions Posed to an Extremely Thoughtful Person.  Does Natalie Wynn need an introduction? Or do we simply know that every frame of every Contrapoints essay is a gorgeous still life, a love letter to the unknown viewer thirsty for smarts and queerness and justice? Often, top-tier artfulness will wind up concealing the artist. But despite the rigors of curation and the introversion Wynn ‘fesses up to in this interview, she also communicates welcome and generosity, and it was an honor to hear her speak personally about these Big Things..  BTW: here are the five questions. You can think about them too. What terrifies you most in these times? What is the most meaningful and supportive idea or story you return to for reliable wisdom and relief? What is the greatest obstacle you face in forming community relationships, and how do you work to overcome it? If you were responsible for comforting and guiding a child terrified of climate catastrophe, how would you do it? What would you say?  If your wisest ancestor came in a dream to offer you one piece of advice about living in difficult times, what would it be? Show Notes ContraPoints - YouTube Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 Okt 202430min

An essay from Matthew exploring the problem of authenticity which plagues every investigation we do on the spiritual influencer beat.  There are queasy questions we’re always contending with when we’re listening to the preaching of Charles Eisenstein, Kelly Brogan, Zach Bush, or RFK Jr:  Has this person really committed to the spirituality they are presenting? Or is spirituality instrumental to them? Do they have experience to share, or programs to sell? It’s hard if not impossible to find the line between these things, especially in the society of the spectacle, especially when we’re talking about influencers we don’t personally know. But it's an important consideration because assumptions made in one direction or another taint the entire discourse.  Maybe, we’re talking about the difference between unearned faith and earned faith. Show Notes Zero at the Bone: Wiman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

30 Sep 20246min

On Monday, Senator Ron Johnson sponsored a congressional panel entitled "American Health and Nutrition: A Second Opinion." Unfortunately no actual health or nutrition experts were invited. Instead, the four-and-a-half hour event featured speakers like Robert F Kennedy Jr, Jordan Peterson, Jillian Michaels, Vani Hari (Food Babe), and a host of other influencers and contrarians. Derek investigates all the science that wasn't told—and all the products and services that were sold. Note: Derek meant to compare aluminum fear-mongering with thimerasol (organomercury) but instead conflated them. Both are safe at the level used in vaccines as adjuvants, though most thimerasol was removed due to public outcries and an abundance of caution. Links added to Show Notes. Show Notes Mandela Barnes Says Sen. Ron Johnson 'Bought and Paid for' by Big Pharma The Congressional "American Health and Nutrition Roundtable" was an egregious display of anti-science disinformation MEDIA ADVISORY: Sen. Johnson to Lead Roundtable Discussion: “American Health and Nutrition: A Second Opinion” Thimerosal and Vaccines Adjuvants and Vaccines Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

28 Sep 202443min

Tens of people will be flocking to Washington DC this Sunday as Rumble comes to life during Rescue the Republic, a one-day event featuring RFK Jr, Russell Brand, Jordan Peterson, Bret Weinstein, Tulsi Gabbard—it’s quite an impressive roster of anti-vax luminaries and right-wing contrarians gathering under the pretense of what is effectively a glorified Donald Trump rally. And that’s not hyperbole, given that Trump is seated next to Elon Musk on the marketing materials, which is a graphic retelling of George Washington crossing the Delaware River. While this event is already infected with tons of conspirituality, one late addition caught our attention: Human Garage. This fascia-release-cures-everything organization had to flee California for Canada due to legal troubles, yet their star continues to rise as they embark on their “Transforming Trauma” world tour. And nothing says “healing” more than spreading pseudoscientific wellness jargon and hawking turmeric supplements at a Trump event. Show Notes Apostolic Journey to Singapore: Interreligious Meeting with Young People in the Catholic Junior College (13 September 2024) | Francis  Lord by Thy Holy Cross  Pope: War in Gaza is too much! No steps taken for peace - Vatican News Physio Reacts: Episode 1 - Human Garage (Part 1 of ?) Physio Reacts: Episode 2 - Human Garage (Part 2) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

26 Sep 20241h 9min

The British occultists took the thin and sickly but beautiful boy away from his family. Groomed him for 20 years to become the savior of humanity. Trained him between 1909-29 to be a serene guru and charming English aristocrat. He looked good in a double-breasted suit and had fabulous hair. Huge amounts of money flowed into the organization they built around him. But Krishnamurti became a man the day he shocked them all. Julian’s latest chapter of his historical series wraps up Helena Blavatsky’s Theosophical Society—one of the crucial 19th century roots of New Age metaphysics, and the phenomenon we call conspirituality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

23 Sep 20246min