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. HACE 1 DÍA

    A Sense-Making Odyssey, Part 1: Jordan Peterson, John Vervaeke & Jordan Hall

    Join Matt and Chris as they enter an intellectual labyrinth of recursive sensemaking featuring the combined insights of Jordan Peterson, John Vervaeke, and Jordan Hall. You will learn about many, many deep and complex concepts and puzzle over definitions of conscience, the vertical hierarchy, value, normativity, goals & ideals, quests, the ultimate unifying meta-narrative, self-sacrifice, and touchstones. With frequent excursions into a wild assortment of biblical stories, Platonic philosophy, Jungian psychology, Martial Art stances, and much, much more! This is a voyage through the refracted and refracting philosophical frameworks of three contemporary sensemaking powerhouses. So get your oars ready and prepare your mind to taste the Dialogos, vis-à-vis Moses... Sources A Dialogue So Dangerous, It Just Might Bring You Wisdom | John Vervaeke and Jordan Hall | EP 532

    2 h y 15 min

  2. 29 AGO · CONTENIDO EXTRA

    Supplementary Material 36: Comedy Cults, Toxic Mould, and WW2 Revisionism

    We risk contamination with toxic mould, endure distressing initiation rituals to a comedy cult, and ponder if the narratives we have received about the Nazis have enough nuance. The full episode is available to Patreon subscribers (2 hours, 21 minutes). Join us at: https://www.patreon.com/DecodingTheGurus Supplementary Material 36 00:00 Introduction and an Intervention 01:59 Tomatoes, Holidays, and Hollywood Remakes 06:15 AI x Indulgent People 06:41 AI Chatbots and Delusional Gurus 10:46 Sir Robert Edward Grant and the Architect  12:26 Critiquing the Critics 13:31 Eric Weinstein engages with Dialogos with his silicon friend Grok 22:25 Tim Nguyen details the Distributed Weinstein Suppression Complex 24:20 Sabine Hossenfelder's Google Doc 27:10 2+2 Discourse and a surprise appearance from Kareem Carr 29:34 Chris's 10 Tips for Sabine 34:39 Coffeezilla does more Anomaly Hunting on Epstein Videos 37:50 Conspiracy Chat 39:58  Ghislaine Maxwell's potential deal  42:29 Thoughts on the Elephant Graveyard's Video on the Joe Rogan Comedy Cult 49:45 Details vs Vibes 52:46 Rogan's Fact-Checking and Comedian Dynamics 54:54 The Rogan Anti-Human Tech Elite Conspiracy Theory 59:40 Master Geniuses vs. a bunch of dickheads who like the same stuff 01:03:55 Lex Friedman and the Role of Softball Interviews 01:06:28 Conspiracy Theories vs. Real Conspiracies 01:15:51 Overall thoughts on the Elephant Graveyard Video Essay 01:19:18 Ana Kasparian thinks the Jews knew about 9/11 01:22:21 Jordan Peterson's Health and Mould Toxicity 01:24:24 Good Fungus vs Bad Mould 01:26:08 Bespoke Medicine and American Individualism 01:29:57 Streamers saying Stupid Things: Taylor Lorenz on DSA Nazis 01:33:08 Populist anti-vaccine rhetoric in Japan! 01:35:58 Bill Maher and Andrew Huberman discuss the problems with medicine 01:38:40 Chris Rufo and Right Wing Outrage over the Cracker Barrel logo 01:42:31 The War on Christmas in Australia 01:44:35 Jonathan Pageau's revisionist World War II symbolism 01:48:29 Pageau's Postmodern Narratives 02:03:32 Finding the Balance between Nazism and Liberalism 02:14:02 Random Shoutout 02:15:45 Matt's Cognitive Decline and Professor Archetypes Sources Article on Sir Robert Edward Grant and The ArchitectEric talking with his silicon friend @grokEric waxing lyrical about Grok and praising Elon for his unique insightsTim Nguyen — Physics Grifters: Eric Weinstein, Sabine Hossenfelder, and a Crisis of CredibilitySabine vindicates herself in a Google DocKareem Carr thinks Sabine’s document is great!a href="https://x.com/skdh/status/1956285611255493013?utm_source=chatgpt.com"...

    46 min

  3. 19 AGO · CONTENIDO EXTRA

    Supplementary Material 35: Cult Leaders, Gurus, and Evil Economists

    We face a disciplinary crisis as the twin pillars of Game Theory and Gurometry are called into question. The full episode is available to Patreon subscribers (1 hour, 35 minutes). Join us at: https://www.patreon.com/DecodingTheGurus Supplementary Material 35 00:05 Introduction   01:52 Matt's Apology 06:55 Just Life... 12:34 Matt's Foodie Corner  14:01 Dedunking Dan Richards finds Sabine 16:37 Sabine cultivates parasocial defenders 18:16 Ana Kasparian gets deeper into ZOG conspiracies 24:44 Gary vs Game Theory 40:26 Support the Channel to Save the World 47:10 Bryan Johnson and Methylene blue 51:52 Scientific Cosplay Online 53:51 Keith Rainiere and Sensemaking Parallels 54:57 High IQ YoungHoon Kim tweets about proof of God 56:19 Guru and Cult Leader Parallels 01:01:13 The Validity of the Gurometer in Question?!? 01:03:03 Hacking Social Heuristics 01:07:38 Cult Leaders vs Secular Gurus 01:12:33 Anti-Democratic moves by Trump 01:15:03 Dan Carlin on Trump 01:18:30 Streamers Talking Nonsense: Hasan on ISIS 01:21:24 Ideological Fixation and Motivated Conspiracism 01:27:22 Outro Sources The Cushendun Sea Caves from Game of ThronesKingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is Boosting TourismDeDunking: Eric Weinstein's Theory — Real Physicist vs Pseudo PoserAna Kasparian tweeting about the “Zionist Occupied Government”Gary’s Economics: Game Theory is BrokenCritical Reddit thread on Gary’s Game Theory videoHenrich, J., McElreath, R., Barr, A., Ensminger, J., Barrett, C., Bolyanatz, A., ... & Ziker, J. (2006). Costly punishment across human societies. Science, 312(5781), 1767–1770.The Selfish Gene, Chapter 12: Nice Guys Finish First (Richard Dawkins)High IQ YoungHoon Kim tweets about proof of GodI was Jordan Peterson’s strongest supporter. Now I think he’s dangerousDan Carlin’s tweet about TrumpBBC: National Guard troops appear in Washington DC as mayor rejects Trump's 'authoritarian push'Nathan Baker: Keith Raniere, Ringleader of NXIVM Sex Slave Cult, Interviewed by Allison Mack, Top Cult...

    30 min

  4. 18 AGO

    Naval Ravikant: Predictable Polemics and Empty Aphorisms

    In this watery simulation of an episode, Matt and Chris uncover the true purpose of Scott Adams’ existence: not to shape reality, but to provide training data for future AIs working on plumbing-related problems. Somewhere in a cosmic server farm, Scott is endlessly confronted with blocked drains, dripping faucets, and municipal water conspiracies, while his “insights” fuel the next generation of household maintenance bots. Against this surreal backdrop, Naval Ravikant enters the scene — investor, tweeter, self-styled philosopher, and, in practice, just another discourse surfer riding the waves of online conspiracism. The conversation opens with a familiar chorus of right-wing talking points, drifts into feverish speculation about lawfare, censorship, and “imported voters,” and finally winds down in the dim light of dorm-room metaphysics, where slogans like “happiness is a choice” are served up as if they were profound insights. Naval presents himself as a detached sage, offering a boutique blend of political commentary and Daoist-tinged wisdom. In reality, he delivers little more than predictable polemics and recycled aphorisms. Imagining himself a great man of history dispensing lyrical truths in tweet-sized form, he produces nothing that rises above the usual culture-war debris. The posture is Buddha-with-a-smartphone; the reality is a credulous tech elite mistaking his own Twitter feed for a philosophy seminar. What follows is Elon-as-Ben-Franklin fanboying, Trump rebranded as a “bottom-up” leader of the people, and a level of self-congratulation so thick it could be used to terraform Mars. By the end, you may find yourself nostalgic for the leaky pipes in Scott’s simulation — at least they produce real water... Sources Modern Wisdom (Chris Williamson): 44 Harsh Truths About The Game Of Life - Naval Ravikant (4K)Real Coffee with Scott Adams: Conversation with Naval Ravikant

    3 h y 9 min

  5. 9 AGO

    Exploring the Manosphere with James Bloodworth

    In this episode, we immerse ourselves in the potent juices of the manosphere with British journalist and author James Bloodworth. James recently published Lost Boys: A Personal Journey Through the Manosphere and takes us on a whirlwind tour of various misogynistic and anti-feminist subcultures, including pickup artists, incels, and the blue, red, and black pill communities. Drawing on his personal experiences and research, James discusses the appeal and dangers of the manosphere, touching on themes such as insecure masculinity and the commodification of social interactions. We also get into some joyful political implications and consider the role of social media in spreading these messages. One for all the family! Links Lost Boys - Journey into the ManosphereJames' SubstackThe Guardian – Journey into the Manosphere – Review of Lost BoysProspect Magazine – Matthew Goodwin, Reform and the politics of resentment – Bloodworth’s recent article on Matt Goodwin

    1 h y 20 min

  6. 6 AGO · CONTENIDO EXTRA

    Supplementary Material 34: Giants, Grifters, and Google Eyed Loons

    We drown in waves of ideological fluidity as the gurusphere continues to crash all around us. Supplementary Material 34 00:00 Introduction 01:26 Irish Stew and Dog Exercise Report 03:45 A new 276 IQ Genius 11:47 Fresh and Fit Antisemitism 16:51 Are things getting dumber? 21:22 Asmongold on the Epstein Files 24:53 Epstein Conspiratorial Discourse helps Ghislaine Maxwell 29:00 Vinay Prasad resigns from his MAGA position 31:17 Eric Weinstein is the Architect of the Great Reset! 32:37 Google Eyed Loons vs. Willing Apparatchik 36:40 The Young Turks are joined by... Scott Adams 38:51 Ana Kasparian sits down with Tucker Carlson 44:46 Jimmy the Giant enters the arena 46:11 Jimmy the Giant meets Konstantin Kisin 57:12 Debating the Middle Class YouTube Grifters 01:06:15 The Gurusphere Grift 01:08:16 Jimmy the Giant reflects on his performance 01:11:16 Discourse standards for Research 01:15:05 Jimmy defends his criticisms 01:22:27 Jimmy the Giant deletes his videos and apologises to Konstantin 01:28:04 The Call to Action to support the Grand Mission 01:32:32 Separating Issues from Support of Influencers 01:37:13 Jimmy the Giant explains how the Elites created Wokeness 01:47:16 Woke Wars and Psyops 01:49:33 The Right Wing Media Outrage Ecosystem 01:55:26 False Consciousness and the Billionaires 02:02:47 AI limitations and Hallucinations 02:07:08 Post Hoc-Reasoning in AI and People 02:14:22 Outro The full episode is available for Patreon subscribers (2hrs 16 mins). Join us at: https://www.patreon.com/DecodingTheGurus Sources Younghoon Kim: World’s Highest IQ Score (276) Scientifically Documented in New Academic PreprintFresh and Fit idiots being giggly anti-semitic and praising HitlerJoanne Freeman: The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil WarGhislaine Maxwell moved to Federal prison camp in TexasComment on the move from Prison ConsultantPoor Vinay Prasad – The Disgraceful Campaign Against a Top FDA OfficialEric responds to accusations that he is the mastermind behind the Great ReplacementTYT’s The Conversation: Scott Adams Reflects on Life after his Terminal Cancer DiagnosisAna Kasparian on the Tucker Carlson showClips from now deleted Triggernometry video: He Called me a Grifter… it didn’t go so wella href="https://x.com/KonstantinKisin/status/1950086996845568460" rel="noopener noreferrer"

    49 min

  7. 30 JUL

    A Return to Gary World

    In this exhausting deep dive, Matt and Chris take a break from counting their billionaire stipends to devote (what some might call) an inordinate amount of time to Gary Stevenson’s recent appearance with a challenging interviewer: Tomás from Despolariza. They grapple with the indeterminacy of Schrödinger’s Gary, who oscillates between being an economic and mathematical genius revealing what THEY don’t want you to know on YouTube, and a pragmatic but selfless political activist who oversimplifies complex problems and sacrifices nuance (and himself) in the name of urgent reform. Despite insisting that he hates fame and has no desire to promote his best-selling book or be a popular YouTuber, Gary takes the time to remind us all of how often he’s recognised on the street and precisely how many millions of views his channel racks up each month. These are depressingly familiar guru tropes, as are his sweeping claims that you can’t trust politicians, economists, academics, journalists, the media, his old colleagues… or even graphs. Gary’s core message that growing inequality is economically and politically unsustainable is an important one. And his ability to communicate the stakes of that problem to a large audience could be beneficial. So the criticism lies not with his stated goals but with the guru-tastic packaging and unwillingness to deal with complexity. Luckily, there is a solution... Gary. Only he and his YouTube channel can save your grandchildren from abject poverty and Nigel Farage. And if you doubt him, just look at how many millions he made for himself and the bank with his uncanny predictions… or those monthly viewer stats. Oh, and did we mention he has an elite education from LSE? Links #89 GARY STEVENSON - Economics, Trading, Inequality, Wealth, Populism, Tax, Depolarize.Zucman, G. (2015). The hidden wealth of nations: The scourge of tax havens. In The hidden wealth of nations. University of Chicago Press.Francis-Devine, B. (2025). Income inequality in the UK. House of Commons Library.Francis-Devine, B. (2025). Wealth in Great Britain. House of Commons Library.

    3 h y 41 min

  8. 25 JUL

    Mini Decoding: Sabine's Contrarian Outrage- How Dare You Criticise Eric!

    In this mini-decoding, Matt and Chris examine Sabine Hossenfelder's recent fervent defence of Eric Weinstein and her sharp rebuke of his critics, including Sean Carroll. Sabine suggests that Eric poses a genuine threat to the physics establishment and that he is terrifying them by exposing their weak points. Moreover, according to Sabine, Geometric Unity, Eric's homegrown Theory of Everything, is on par with String Theory, if not better, since it wastes less money! This episode takes a critical look at those claims and Sabine's own heated rhetoric and performative outrage, examining how her defence of Eric aligns with a broader online anti-science contrarian ecosystem. So join us as we ponder whether Sabine is a brave, truth-telling rebel challenging a stagnant scientific orthodoxy and defending an honest man who is under attack for simply daring to question the powers that be... or whether she is just another contrarian YouTuber pandering to anti-science sentiment, defending fellow influencers, and playing the game of algorithm-driven clickbait outrage. Links - Sabine Hossenfelder: Physicists are afraid of Eric Weinstein -- and they should be - Sabine Hossenfelder: Do we need a Theory of Everything? - Decoding the Gurus: Sabine Hossenfelder: Science is a Liar ... Sometimes - Professor Dave Explains: Sabine Hossenfelder Joins the Eric Weinstein Damage Control Parade - Sabine cheers on Bryan Johnson on Twitter - Tim Nguyen discusses Sabine's response on Twitter - Dr. Brian Keating: What Is A Theory of Everything? Featuring Sabine Hossenfelder, Lee Smolin, & Eric Weinstein

    59 min
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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!

Información

  • Creador
    Christopher Kavanagh and Matthew Browne
  • Años de actividad
    2020 - 2025
  • Episodios
    200
  • Clasificación
    Explícito
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 Christopher Kavanagh and Matthew Browne
  • Mostrar sitio web
    Decoding the Gurus

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