Decoding the Gurus

Christopher Kavanagh and Matthew Browne

An exiled Northern Irish anthropologist and a hitchhiking Australian psychologist take a close look at the contemporary crop of 'secular gurus', iconoclasts, and other exiles from the mainstream, offering their own brands of unique takes and special insights. Leveraging two of the most diverse accents in modern podcasting, Chris and Matt dig deep into the claims, peek behind the psychological curtains, and try to figure out once and for all... What's it all About? Join us, as we try to puzzle our way through and talk some smart-sounding smack about the intellectual giants of our age, from Jordan Peterson to Robin DiAngelo. Are they revolutionary thinkers or just grifters with delusions of grandeur? Join us and let's find out!

  1. 1 G FA

    The Rise of the Science Populists with Sam Gregson and Tim Henke

    In this interview episode, we are joined by physicists Sam Gregson (Bad Boy of Science YouTube channel) and Tim Henke to examine the rise of science populism: a style of science communication that borrows the tactics of political populism, including grievance narratives, institutional distrust, and conspiratorial framing, while presenting its advocates as lone truth-tellers battling a corrupt academic elite. We discuss how DTG favourites like Sabine Hossenfelder and Eric Weinstein, as well as fresh new faces Brian Keating and Avi Loeb, deploy selective truths about physics to fuel self-aggrandising, anti-expert narratives. Along the way, we also cover stuff like why “physics hasn’t progressed in 50 years”, cranks are useful props for populist arguments, and the strange obsession with Nobel Prizes. If you are interested in guru dynamics, science communication, and physics crankery, this might be an episode for you. Links Bad Boy of Science (Sam Gregson)Tim's Profile WebsiteBad Boy of Science – The Rise of Physics PopulisersTheories of Everything (Kurt Jaimungal)Losing the Nobel Prize – Brian KeatingInto the Impossible (Brian Keating)Sabine Hossenfelder’s YouTube ChannelThe Portal (Eric Weinstein)The Galileo Project (Avi Loeb)Sean Carroll – Mindscape / Preposterous UniverseNot Even Wrong (Peter Woit)

    1 h 35 min

  2. 3 GG FA · CONTENUTI EXTRA

    Supplementary Material 44: Peasant Archmages, Moral Panics, and LOTR Parenting Tips

    We descend once more into the Gurusphere, encountering secret peasant archmages, decline narratives, Epstein emails, and endless moral panics. The full episode is available to Patreon subscribers (1 hour, 37 minutes). Join us at: https://www.patreon.com/DecodingTheGurus 00:00 SM 44 PF 00:23 Introduction 01:30 Konstantin Kisin: Not Left Or Right, Just Right 05:20 Boghossian is shocked by pessimistic French people 08:50 Konstantin and Warren Smith as relics of the anti-SJW era 12:45 A PSA! Hyper Capitalism Tier Update! 18:36 Matt's AV Setup 20:01 Recommendation: Successville (British version) 21:40 My peasant farmer dad is secretly an Archmage! 28:14 Scott Galloway talks with Gwyneth Paltrow 40:18 American Capitalist Culture and the Gurus 48:54 Bryan Johnson vs AG1 51:45 Bryan Johnson & Epstein Schmoozing 58:09 Bari Weiss's Peter Attia Woes 59:14 Epstein and QAnon Conspiracies 01:03:23 Overinterpreting Epstein emails 01:09:04 Shermer promotes Dave Rubin to hawk his book on Truth 01:10:37 Conspiracy Theory prevalence on left and riht 01:17:44 Jonathan Haidt and his anti-social media crusade 01:23:15 Plato on the Corruption of the Youth 01:24:30 The Eternal Appeal of Decline Narratives 01:26:22 They won't let you enjoy things anymore... 01:30:24 Matt's laissez-faire parenting tips 01:31:45 Life lessons from Lord of the Rings 01:34:17 The Witch King of Angmar defeated by a Woke White Women Sources Konstantin Kisin on not being left or rightBoghossian and Kisin bemoan civilisational decline narrativesThe Guardian on Bari Weiss’s new CBS “Podcastistan” hiresNiall Ferguson on how Trump “won Davos”The Guardian: Elon Musk had more extensive ties to Epstein than previously knownMy Farmer Dad Is Secretly an Archmage – viral short-form fantasy dramaBehind the Scenes of My Farmer Dad Is Secretly an ArchmageOriginal Chinese version of a...

    33 min

  3. 30 GEN

    Open Science, Psychology, and the Art of Not Quite Claiming Causality with Julia Rohrer

    In a rare departure from our usual diet of online weirdos, this episode features an academic who is very much not a guru. We’re joined by Julia Rohrer, a psychologist at Leipzig University whose work straddles the disciplinary boundaries of open science, research transparency, and causal inference. Julia is also an editor at Psychological Science and has spent much of the last decade politely pointing out that psychologists often don’t quite know what they’re estimating, why, or under which assumptions. We talk about the state of psychology after the replication crisis, whether open science reforms have genuinely improved research practice (or just added new boxes to tick), and why causal thinking is unavoidable even when researchers insist they are “only describing associations.” Julia explains why the standard dance of imply causality → deny causality → add boilerplate disclaimer is unhelpful, and argues instead for being explicit about the causal questions researchers actually care about and the assumptions required to answer them. Along the way we discuss images of scientists in the public and amongst the gurus, how post-treatment bias sneaks into even well-intentioned experimental designs, why specifying the estimand matters more than running ever-fancier models, and how psychology’s current norms can potentially punish honesty about uncertainty. We also touch on her work on birth-order effects and offer some possible reasons for optimism. With all the guru talk, people sometimes ask us to recommend things that we like, and Julia's work is one such example! Links Julia Rohrer’s websiteThe 100% CI blogRohrer, J. M. (2024). Causal inference for psychologists who think that causal inference is not for them. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 18(3), e12948.Rohrer, J. M., Tierney, W., Uhlmann, E. L., DeBruine, L. M., Heyman, T., Jones, B., ... & Yarkoni, T. (2021). Putting the self in self-correction: Findings from the loss-of-confidence project. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(6), 1255-1269.Rohrer, J. M., Egloff, B., & Schmukle, S. C. (2015). Examining the effects of birth order on personality. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(46), 14224-14229.BEMC MAY 2024 - Julia Rohrer - "Causal confusions correlate with casual conclusions"Dr. Tobias Dienlin - Less casual causal inference for experiments and longitudinal data: Research talk by Julia Rohrer

    1 h 32 min

  4. 24 GEN · CONTENUTI EXTRA

    Supplementary Material 43: Red-Blooded Americans, Real Life Alan Partridge, and Rationalist Eulogies

    We crawl around the dark crevices of the internet so you don't have to. And what wonders we have to show you... The full episode is available to Patreon subscribers (1 hour, 34 minutes). Join us at: https://www.patreon.com/DecodingTheGurus Supplementary Material 43 00:00 Introduction and Banter Allotment 01:23 The Hypocrisy of the Defenders of Western Civilisation 10:07 An Optimistic Take? 17:02 Scott Adams' Controversial Legacy 18:43 Scott Alexander's Rationalist Eulogy for Scott Adams 32:31 A Final Tribute to Scott Adams 33:43 Andrew Gold's Interview with a Racist 39:02 Fair Play for being a Racist 41:17 Comparing Follower Counts and Audience Makeup 44:40 Racism and Xenophobia Discussion 49:07 Securing the Future of Our People... 01:00:01 LawTubers and Grifting 01:00:48 Legal Mindset 01:06:02 Antifa Woke Women are Hunting Legal Mindset 01:07:41 A man of Christ 01:09:16 A Red-Blooded American 01:12:35 Woke White Women and Antifa Paranoia 01:13:55 Electro Gym Work and Pygmy Hippo Love 01:18:47 Antifa Paranoia 01:26:36 The True Masculine Renegade YouTuber 01:32:32 Concluding Thoughts and Farewell Links Peter Boghossian complaining about public attention to the Greenland situationMike Cernovich’s tribute: “Scott is loved because he’s devoted his life to service to humanity”In full: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum (Davos)Scott Alexander’s eulogy to Scott AdamsColeman Hughes on Scott Adams at The Free PressAndrew Gold – Heretics: “I Confront Britain’s Biggest Racist”Liam Tufts: “Would You Let Your Kid Date a Black Person?” | Steve Laws sparks a heated debateLegal Mindset: “Free Kaya, Punish Hasan” (Fast Facts)Rob’s Media: Idiot Influencers – Legal Mindset (Go East channel background)

    22 min

  5. 23 GEN

    Scott Galloway, Part 2: Peak Masculinity

    We return for Part 2 of our Scott Galloway deep dive, where the vibes remain strong, the confidence unwavering, and the relationship with empirical evidence increasingly… decorative. Returning to our Modern Wisdom safari, we continue navigating the forbidden terrain of men, masculinity, and male suffering: a topic so dangerous that it requires constant ritual disclaimers, whispered caveats, and the occasional nervous glance around the bar to make sure we can take out the other men if necessary. We cover Scott's outline of his masculine Third Way: rejecting both the Right’s “Bring Back the Fifties” masculinity and the Left’s “Men Are the Problem” framework, in favour of a solution that might be described as Stern Dad Who’s Also Nice About It. Prepare to thrill at proposals of mandatory national service, kindness as a masculine superpower, and the radical idea that young people might benefit from not being economically crushed. Things get spicier when we’re told what women really want and learn about the adaptive skill check of the female orgasm. Chris Williamson unveils a prepared essay on What Men Want which proves to be a moving piece of therapeutic slam poetry that somehow manages to combine manosphere grievance mongering with woke therapy talk. We learn how what men really just want to be told is “you are enough" and should be kind for kindness sake, but also should optimise their friend group such that they can properly signal their high mate quality and train hard enough to take out all other males in the bar. Finally, we hit peak Decoding Mode as Scott’s statistics begin to escalate: boys are ten times more likely to kill themselves, father absence turns sons into inmates, daughters into promiscuous approval-seekers, and nearly every claim is delivered with total confidence and minimal concern for effect sizes, confounds, or whether the study actually exists. Decorative scholarship is in full bloom. We do our best as two hyper-masculine men to separate reasonable concerns about boys, mentorship, and social policy from hyperbolic factoids, pop-psych inflation, and the familiar habit of smuggling moral arguments in under the banner of “what the science says.” Bring your hunting knife and stoic daily diary. Take your testosterone injection. And get ready for some man talk! Links Modern Wisdom: The War On Men Isn’t Helping Anyone - Scott GallowayThe Diary of a CEO: Scott Galloway: We’re Raising The Most Unhappy Generation In History! Hard Work Doesn't Build Wealth Academic papers/Sources ReferencedCulpin, I., Heuvelman, H., Rai, D., Pearson, R. M., Joinson, C., Heron, J., … Kwong, A. S. F. (2022). Father absence and trajectories of offspring mental health across adolescence and young adulthood: Findings from a UK-birth cohort. Journal of Affective Disorders, 314, 150–159.Dekker, M. C., Ferdinand, R. F., van Lang, N. D. J., Bongers, I. L., van der Ende, J., & Verhulst, F. C. (2007). Developmental trajectories of depressive symptoms from early childhood to late adolescence: Gender differences and adult outcome. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48(7), 657–666.Angelakis, I., Austin, J. L., & Gooding, P. (2020). Association of childhood maltreatment with suicide behaviors among young people: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA network open, 3(8), e2012563-e2012563.Zhang, L., Wang, P., Liu, L., Wu, X., & Wang, W. (2026). Different roles of child abuse and neglect on emerging adult's nonsuicidal self-injury and suicidal ideation: sex difference through emotion regulation. Current...

    3 h 9 min

  6. 8 GEN · CONTENUTI EXTRA

    Supplementary Material 42: Chimpanzee Testicles, Home Alone Statistics, and Influencer Research

    We dig deep into the online world to DO OUR OWN RESEARCH and return with horrors never dreamt of by man. The full episode is available to Patreon subscribers (1 hour, 23 minutes). Join us at: https://www.patreon.com/DecodingTheGurus Supplementary Material 42 00:00 Introduction 11:13 Rogan and Shane Gillis on Nick Fuentes vs Piers Morgan 17:49 Jimmy Carr's Physics Insights 24:00 The comedian shuffle 25:12 Andrew Huberman teams up with Goop! 30:41 Huberman injects his dog with testosterone. 32:09 Bryan Johnson and the secret longevity of the penis 35:41 The Science Behind Huberman's Careful Product Endorsements 39:48 The Statistics of Home Alone 41:22 Bryan Johnson's Love Tweet 46:24 Bryan Johnson's horrible treatment of his ex-fiancée 51:30 Andrea Botez and Influencer Health Research 57:41 Bespoke Treatments with Medical AIs 01:04:28 Self-Research, Stock Picking, and Gambling 01:07:47 Health Systems and their imperfections 01:12:37 Doing Your Own Research... 01:17:38 Matt's Content Recommendations 01:20:45 Outro Links NYT – How Trump Fixed On a Maduro Loyalist as Venezuela’s New LeaderTriggernometry – “A Revolution is Coming!” – Jimmy CarrGQ – How Andrew Huberman, Goop Kitchen Collaborator, Is Staying Healthy in 2026Vanity Fair – Why Bryan Johnson, Dave Asprey, and the Other Longevity Bros Are Obsessed With PenisesLuis Batalha – Tweet on the “Home Alone” paperBryan Johnson – “Love” tweetAndrea Botez – Hearing Loss Update...

    35 min

  7. 4 GEN

    Scott Galloway, Part 1: On Men

    We return to the podcast circuit in 2026 to examine Scott Galloway: NYU professor, prolific podcaster, and, more recently, part-time life coach for struggling young men. Joining him on an episode of Modern Wisdom with Chris Williamson, we are invited into one of the few remaining forbidden conversational spaces: men, masculinity, and men’s problems. You may have been misled by the relentless popularity of Joe Rogan, Modern Wisdom, The Tucker Carlson Show, Triggernometry, The Diary of a CEO, Huberman Lab, and several dozen adjacent properties into thinking these topics are already discussed at length on a near-weekly basis. Alas, this turns out to be a dangerous illusion. In reality, even mentioning men’s issues requires an extended ritual acknowledgement of women, failure to perform which risks immediate cancellation. Braving these cultural headwinds, we wade into manly dialogue about masculinity, sex differences, and male malaise. Along the way, we ponder the intricacies of culture war evolutionary psychology, anthropological wars over Man the Hunter, optimised dosages for manly whingeing, and whether making boys learn French verb conjugations qualifies as a human rights abuse. So get your notebooks ready for some important notes from two of the most masculine men in the modern male podcasting space. Men... Links Modern Wisdom: The War On Men Isn’t Helping Anyone - Scott GallowayThe Diary of a CEO: Scott Galloway: We’re Raising The Most Unhappy Generation In History! Hard Work Doesn't Build Wealth Academic papers ReferencedChanges in gender-based hiring bias (large meta-analysis): Schaerer, M., Du Plessis, C., Nguyen, M. H. B., Van Aert, R. C., Tiokhin, L., Lakens, D., … Gender Audits Forecasting Collaboration. (2023). On the trajectory of discrimination: A meta-analysis and forecasting survey capturing 44 years of field experiments on gender and hiring decisions. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 179, 104280.Epidemiology of alcohol use disorder by marital status (US, NESARC-III): Grant, B. F., Goldstein, R. B., Saha, T. D., et al. (2015). Epidemiology of DSM-5 Alcohol Use Disorder: Results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions III. JAMA Psychiatry, 72(8), 757–766.Protective effects of marriage on life expectancy (US Medicare sample): Jia, H., & Lubetkin, E. I. (2020). Life expectancy and active life expectancy by marital status among older US adults: Results from the US Medicare Health Outcome Survey (HOS). SSM – Population Health, 12, 100642.Widowhood and well-being (contrary to claims of increased happiness): Adena, M., Hamermesh, D., Myck, M., & Oczkowska, M. (2023). Home alone: Widows’ well-being and time. Journal of Happiness Studies, 24(2), 813–838.Meta-analysis of the widowhood effect on mortality (men and women): Shor, E., Roelfs, D. J., Curreli, M., Clemow, L., Burg, M. M., & Schwartz, J. E. (2012). Widowhood and mortality: A meta-analysis and meta-regression. Demography, 49(2), 575–606.Marriage and life satisfaction across the life course (multi-country): Mikucka, M. (2016). The life satisfaction advantage of being married and gender specialization....

    2 h 51 min

  8. 25/12/2025

    The Replication Crisis Christmas Quiz w/ Mickey Inzlicht & Dave Pizarro

    In this festive descent into methodological despair, Chris and Matt convene a secret cabal of elite psychology podcasters within the Decoding Cloister, operating under the distant yet reassuring gaze of Arch-Wizard Paul Bloom, whose role is largely ceremonial but nonetheless morally binding. Joining them are Dave Pizarro (Very Bad Wizards) and Michael Inzlicht (Two Psychologists Four Beers, emeritus), for what can only be described as an end-of-year audit of social psychology’s moral character. What follows is a mixture of intense hubris, disciplinary self-loathing, and revolutionary insights, delivered via one of the most sadistic Christmas quizzes ever devised. The quiz format allows the episode to do what psychology does best: create the feeling of measurement while hovering dangerously close to intuition. Alongside the quiz, we engage in some meta-commentary and sensemaking reflections on audience capture and the state of psychology-themed podcasts in 2025. In other words, it’s Christmas, so naturally everyone is discussing perverse incentives, damaged reputations, and the slow moral corrosion of institutions. So join us, won’t you? For the first International Congress on Psychology-Themed Podcasting and Gurus… Links Mickey's SubstackMickey's Work and Play LabTwo Psychologists Four BeersVery Bad WizardsUhlmann, E. L., Pizarro, D. A., & Diermeier, D. (2015). A person-centered approach to moral judgment. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(1), 72-81.Ovsyannikova, D., de Mello, V. O., & Inzlicht, M. (2025). Third-party evaluators perceive AI as more compassionate than expert humans. Communications Psychology, 3(1), 4. References Alter, A. L., Oppenheimer, D. M., Epley, N., & Eyre, R. N. (2007). Overcoming intuition: Metacognitive difficulty activates analytic reasoning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136(4), 569–576.Aarts, H., & Dijksterhuis, A. (2003). The silence of the library: Environment, situational norm, and social behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(1), 18–28.Zimbardo, P. G. (1973). On the ethics of intervention in human psychological research: With special reference to the Stanford Prison Experiment. Cognition, 2(2), 243–256.Resnick, B. (2018, June 13). The Stanford Prison Experiment was massively influential. We just learned it was a fraud. Vox.Festinger, L., Riecken, H. W., & Schachter, S. (1956). When prophecy fails. University of Minnesota Press.a...

    1 h 30 min
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Descrizione

An exiled Northern Irish anthropologist and a hitchhiking Australian psychologist take a close look at the contemporary crop of 'secular gurus', iconoclasts, and other exiles from the mainstream, offering their own brands of unique takes and special insights. Leveraging two of the most diverse accents in modern podcasting, Chris and Matt dig deep into the claims, peek behind the psychological curtains, and try to figure out once and for all... What's it all About? Join us, as we try to puzzle our way through and talk some smart-sounding smack about the intellectual giants of our age, from Jordan Peterson to Robin DiAngelo. Are they revolutionary thinkers or just grifters with delusions of grandeur? Join us and let's find out!

Informazioni

  • Creatore
    Christopher Kavanagh and Matthew Browne
  • Anni di attività
    2020 - 2026
  • Puntate
    230
  • Classificazione
    Contenuti espliciti
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Christopher Kavanagh and Matthew Browne
  • Sito web del podcast
    Decoding the Gurus

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