Conspirituality

Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, Julian Walker
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  • SPIRITUALITY
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Conspirituality
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Dismantling New Age cults, wellness grifters, and conspiracy-mad yogis. At best, the conspirituality movement attacks public health efforts in times of crisis. At worst, it fronts and recruits for the fever-dream of QAnon. As the alt-right and New Age horseshoe toward each other in a blur of disinformation, clear discourse, and good intentions get smothered. Charismatic influencers exploit their followers by co-opting conspiracy theories on a spectrum of intensity ranging from vaccines to child trafficking. In the process, spiritual beliefs that have nurtured creativity and meaning are transforming into memes of a quickly-globalizing paranoia. Conspirituality Podcast attempts to bring understanding to this landscape. A journalist, a cult researcher, and a philosophical skeptic discuss the stories, cognitive dissonances, and cultic dynamics tearing through the yoga, wellness, and new spirituality worlds. Mainstream outlets have noticed the problem. We crowd-source, research, analyze, and dream answers to it.

  1. 2 HR. AGO

    Brief: Anti-Social Media (w/Renee Diresta)

    When asked if he thought Mark Zuckerberg’s effective ending of fact checking was in response to threats that he would “put him in jail for a very long time,” Trump replied, “Probably. Yeah, probably.” A week later, TikTok voluntarily disabled their app for users, then put up an announcement saying that Trump was going to bring them back.  Julian talks to digital disinformation expert Renee Diresta about the massive Big Tech realignment with MAGA, which now means Meta, X, and TikTok may become more like TruthSocial. If fact checking is biased, content moderation is censorship, and combating foreign propaganda is anti-free speech, where does that leave us now? Show Notes If you Give A Mouse a Cookie: Renee Diresta Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    29 min

  2. 2 DAYS AGO

    242: Executive Disorder

    What the ever loving f**k. That’s our intro today. But we do have a structure. Julian’s going to review the Executive Order chaos, including the pardoning and deputizing of fascist street gangs. Derek’s going to explain what the ever loving fuck it means for health agencies to turn off access to health data. And I’ll look at two Xtian responses to fascism: one hypocritical and one poetic… but maybe toothless. Show Notes Freed Capitol riot ringleaders regroup - and vow 'retribution' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    56 min

  3. 5 DAYS AGO

    Bonus Sample: 1950’s Alien Yoga

    Full episode available here. The alien from Venus in George King’s head said: “Prepare yourself. You are to be the voice of interplanetary parliament.” It’s 1952 and the Englishman has been meditating deeply. Eight days later, a famous yogi from India materializes to explain what’s going on. These experiences became the basis for the Aetherius Society—an organization that still has 35 chapters around the planet today. They claim the world’s governments are covering up their communication with a spiritually enlightened galactic federation, so as to maintain control over humanity. If that sounds like 2020 red-pilled Instagram grift, you’re right! Everything old is new again. Julian’s series, The Roots of Conspirituality, a history of new age conspiracism, is now conveniently organized under the “Collections” tab at the top of our Patreon page. Each episode is self-contained—but listen from the start if you want to trace the journey from the 1840’s “burned over region” of the American North East to today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    6 min

  4. 6 DAYS AGO • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    1950’s Alien Yoga

    The alien from Venus in George King’s head said: “Prepare yourself. You are to be the voice of interplanetary parliament.” It’s 1952 and the Englishman has been meditating deeply. Eight days later, a famous yogi from India materializes to explain what’s going on. These experiences became the basis for the Aetherius Society—an organization that still has 35 chapters around the planet today. They claim the world’s governments are covering up their communication with a spiritually enlightened galactic federation, so as to maintain control over humanity. If that sounds like 2020 red-pilled Instagram grift, you’re right! Everything old is new again.

    43 min

  5. JAN 25

    Brief: Patients Before Profits

    On Jan 10, the Oregon Nurses Association launched the largest healthcare strike in Oregon state history. Some 5k frontline caregivers from 8 Providence hospitals and 6 clinics have been holding the line in freezing temperatures as they fight for basic rights that their employer—a Catholic nonprofit healthcare system whose C Suite members make millions of dollars every year—refuses to give them. Derek discusses why such strikes, and unions in general, are so important as the new administration takes office. He breaks down some of Providence’s past legal problems, discusses his own experience as a Providence patient, and talks to some of the nurses on the strike line. Show Notes Dr Jennifer Lincoln Oregon Nurses Association Resources for striking healthcare professionals It's Time for Providence to Put Patients Before Profits  Providence, striking Oregon health workers remain apart on key issues They Were Entitled to Free Care. Hospitals Hounded Them to Pay. Hospital System to Refund Poor Patients Who Were Entitled to Free Care Wealthiest Hospitals Got Billions in Bailout for Struggling Health Providers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    34 min

  6. JAN 23

    241: Unravelling The Telepathy Tapes

    One of the top podcasts in the world—even beating out Rogan for a few hours—is popularizing a well-meaning intervention for non-speaking autistic people. Unfortunately, that intervention happens to be a proven failure, and may set autistic and disability rights discourse back by decades.  Filmmaker Ky Dicken’s The Telepathy Tapes podcast delves into the world of Facilitated Communication, in which non-speaking people are believed to miraculously gain access to complex written language after lives of silence. According to Dickson, non-speaking people can also gather in transdimensional spaces and channel spiritual knowledge. But there’s a problem. Every controlled test shows that the messages produced through letterboards and iPads are coming from the facilitators—not the non-speaking persons. In this episode, Matthew interviews experts in pseudoscience and autism, including Janyce Boynton, a former (now dissident) practitioner of Facilitated Communication who explains how seductive and promising it was to practice, but how it ultimately steals agency and dignity from the autistic client. And... this is also a story about parents dealing with crushing levels of unpaid and invisible labour. They are already doing miraculous work. A fantasy is no replacement for true support and recognition. Show Notes Podcast About 'Telepathic' Autistic Children Briefly Knocks Joe Rogan Out Of No. 1 Spot   Ky Dickens Director | Filmmaker  Facilitated Communication—what harm it can do: Confessions of a former facilitator MD25438 - Powell, Diane Hennacy, MD - OR License Verification - 01/12/2025 11:07:47 AM  The Telepathy Tapes: Separating Science From Pseudoscience In Autism Communication  Stolen Voices: Facilitated Communication Devalues Autism | Psychology Today Canada Multiple method validation study of facilitated communication: II. Individual differences and subgroup results - PubMed   The Telepathy Tapes Prove We All Want to Believe "The Telepathy Tapes" is Taking America by Storm. But it Has its Roots in Old Autism Controversies.  Mixed Messages: Validity and Ethics of Facilitated Communication | Disability Studies Quarterly  Is There Science Behind That? Facilitated Communication  Controlled Studies — Facilitated Communication Served people with severe communication impairments — Obit for Rosemary Crossley More Doubts over Disability ‘Miracle’  Katharine Beals Jonathan Jarry MSc - Science Communicator   FCisNotScience - YouTube — Janyce Boynton’s awesome YouTube channel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1h 16m

  7. JAN 21

    Relief Project #7: Sam Adler-Bell

    The seventh installment of Matthew’s Five Big Questions Posed to an Extremely Thoughtful Person.  Sam Adler-Bell is a journalist, political theorist, and co-host of one of Matthew’s favourite podcasts, Know Your Enemy—a show about the American right. They discuss the normalization of genocide, the stark comforts of Freud and Janet Malcolm, the relief of DW Winnicott, how we can’t avoid playing the role of our own mothers, and also good advice from his dad, a labour lawyer who knows something about long, uncertain, but always worthwhile battles for the common good.  Show Notes Sam Adler-Bell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    33 min

  8. JAN 20

    Bonus Sample: Calling Out Bullsh*t

    Twitter Files journalist Alex Berenson recently published two articles claiming that Moderna covered up a child's death from a Moderna Covid booster trial—and the FDA is complicit. Children’s Health Defense then hosted him on their TV program to learn more about this outrageous scandal. Do Berenson's claims hold up? All Derek did was click on the links in his own article to discover the "truth." He looks at this phenomenon through the lens of the 2020 book, Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World. Show Notes Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World Alex Berenson’s article Children’s Health Defense interview The Lancet study on Covid vaccination in children Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    4 min
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Hosts & Guests

4
out of 5
1,811 Ratings

About

Dismantling New Age cults, wellness grifters, and conspiracy-mad yogis. At best, the conspirituality movement attacks public health efforts in times of crisis. At worst, it fronts and recruits for the fever-dream of QAnon. As the alt-right and New Age horseshoe toward each other in a blur of disinformation, clear discourse, and good intentions get smothered. Charismatic influencers exploit their followers by co-opting conspiracy theories on a spectrum of intensity ranging from vaccines to child trafficking. In the process, spiritual beliefs that have nurtured creativity and meaning are transforming into memes of a quickly-globalizing paranoia. Conspirituality Podcast attempts to bring understanding to this landscape. A journalist, a cult researcher, and a philosophical skeptic discuss the stories, cognitive dissonances, and cultic dynamics tearing through the yoga, wellness, and new spirituality worlds. Mainstream outlets have noticed the problem. We crowd-source, research, analyze, and dream answers to it.

Information

  • Creator
    Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, Julian Walker
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2025
  • Episodes
    708
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2023 Conspirituality
  • Show Website
    Conspirituality
  • Provider
    Derek Beres

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