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Conspirituality

Conspirituality

By: Derek Beres Matthew Remski Julian Walker
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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.© 2023 Conspirituality Philosophy Science Social Sciences
Episodes
  • 301: Gen X Meets the Manosphere

    301: Gen X Meets the Manosphere
    Mar 26 2026
    Did we all need a streaming manosphere documentary? Many did. Did we need one made in the GenX stop-and-mug slacker analysis-avoiding style of Louis Theroux? Debatable. Today we review Theroux’s Inside the Manosphere: its aesthetic mimicry of manosphere style, a potential ethics issue, how monetizing misogyny interacts with the gigwork incentives of OnlyFans, how all the bravado covers for legitimate fears, but only pays out at the top. Many Mexican Americans this past week were devastated to learn that a hero of the UFW and the broader Chicano Movement, Cesar Chavez, was a coercive serial abuser and pedophile. I say many: because many women knew, connected and informed by a whisper network dating back over decades, and maintained by the pressure to not degrade the status and gains of the movement itself. Off the top today, we look at the influence of the Synanon cult on Chavez’s tactics. Show Notes Cesar Chavez, a Civil Rights Icon, Is Accused of Abusing Girls for Years Oregon institutions reckon with removing Cesar Chavez’s name following sexual abuse report From streets to murals, the erasure of Cesar Chavez is fast underway in California Inside the Manosphere: Louis Theroux opts for superficial spectacle over serious scrutiny Myron Gaines releases private call with Louis Theroux after revealing he tried to get footage removed from doc My Family's Story Is Proof That Documentaries Need Ethical Standards Beyond "The Staircase": What happens when the documentary ends with subjects "left with the bill"? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 13 mins
  • Bonus Sample: The New Age Muslim Apocalyptic Prophet

    Bonus Sample: The New Age Muslim Apocalyptic Prophet
    Mar 23 2026
    From a repurposed orphanage in the North of England, Abdullah Hashem tells his audience in five languages, across two satellite TV companies, and multiple social media channels that he is the successor of Jesus and Mohammed, the “one true Pope” for Christians. In his carefully staged and ominously lit “basilica,” he lectures to his 200 residential followers (who emulate his idiosyncratic fashion style) about angels, aliens, reincarnation, and a planet where giant rabbits keep humans as pets. Oh and all about the coming apocalypse and his divinely chosen role in it. Who is this American-Egyptian cult leader? Hashem grew up in Indiana, and got his start in college making documentary films debunking cult leaders and UFO hoaxes. Some time in his early twenties he went full conspiritualist, made an eight-hour film about esoteric knowledge, Quranic-prophecy, the Illuminati, and the End Times. He moved to Egypt and declared himself the Mahdi—a messianic figure from Islamic eschatology. Former members tell of bizarre loyalty tests, financial exploitation, and other forms of abuse. Meanwhile Hashem broadcasts that the fall of the Iranian theocracy clears the way for his ascension into his divine appointment as philosopher king. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    8 mins
  • Brief: The Book Men Actually Need

    Brief: The Book Men Actually Need
    Mar 21 2026
    There's been talk about the "male loneliness epidemic" for years. Yet what about women? Derek reviews economist Corinne Low's recent book, Having It All, in light of this question, contrasting it with Scott Galloway's recent self-help book for men. The contrasts between the books couldn't be clearer. Show Notes Having It All: What Data Tells Us About Women's Lives and Getting the Most Out of Yours Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    30 mins
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