Conspirituality
Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, Julian Walker
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Feb 16, 2026 • 5min
Bonus Sample: Mark Carney’s Secular Catholicism
A deep dive into how Catholic faith shaped an influential economist's thinking. The conversation traces a spiritual challenge from Pope Francis to economic proposals. It highlights borrowing of Marxist concepts to diagnose market failings and explores policy tools aimed at steering capitalism toward collective purpose.
18 snips
Feb 14, 2026 • 20min
Brief: Mark Carney’s Nice But Canada Sells Arms to ICE
A critique of polished liberal optics that mask deeper complicity with U.S. enforcement. Exploration of Canadian firms supplying arms, surveillance tech, and contracts to ICE. Examination of new border legislation and historical roots of exclusionary policy. Discussion of export law loopholes and political maneuvering that preserves the status quo.
79 snips
Feb 12, 2026 • 58min
295: The Attia Files
A deep dive into Peter Attia's numerous appearances in the Epstein files and what that network reveals. Discussions probe media defense strategies and corporate fallout. Conversations explore the role of wellness and elite social circles in legitimizing powerful people. The show traces layers of involvement and warns about a resurgence of conspiracy-driven cultural panic.
Feb 9, 2026 • 6min
Bonus Sample: Armed Struggle
A tense look at calls for armed protest and neighborhood militias after recent killings. A historical tour of armed struggle in South Africa and Northern Ireland raises questions about effectiveness and cost. Personal memories of bombings and trauma underscore the human stakes. The piece weighs nonviolent mass action against militant alternatives without giving policy prescriptions.
24 snips
Feb 7, 2026 • 23min
Brief: MAHA is a Supplements Grift
A deep dive into new bills pushing insurance to cover supplements and to shield homeopathic makers from liability. Discussion of state-level legislation in West Virginia and Texas and the political strategy behind pushing alt-med into mainstream care. Examination of industry ties, the $70 billion supplement market, and how deregulation could benefit supplement manufacturers.
12 snips
Feb 5, 2026 • 1h 4min
294: ICE Resistance
They unpack the fallout from recent killings linked to ICE and how public outrage reshapes protest tactics. They examine propaganda that dehumanizes opponents and gaslights witnesses. Religious leaders and scripture are debated as sources of both solidarity and justification. On-the-ground resistance in Portland, filming tactics, escalation risks, and debates over nonviolent versus armed protection are highlighted.
Feb 2, 2026 • 6min
Bonus Sample: An Ode to Curiosity
A love letter to curiosity that starts with serendipitous bookstore discoveries and why aimless browsing sparks new interests. It contrasts that joyful curiosity with social media’s quick certainty when confronting strange content. The episode examines a viral video labeled as AI to show how rushing to judgment spreads misinformation. It ends with a plea to pause, investigate, and learn before reacting.
18 snips
Jan 31, 2026 • 37min
Brief: Did MAHA Put MAGA In Power?
Dr Jonathan Howard, neurologist and psychiatrist at NYU Langone who tackles medical misinformation, returns to dissect MAHA’s role in empowering MAGA. He explores how doctors lent credibility, media laundered disinformation, and influencers flirt with dangerous "natural experiments." The conversation calls for documenting enablers and confronting the real harms of letting preventable diseases return.
26 snips
Jan 29, 2026 • 58min
293: Trump and Fascist Dementia
They debate observable signs of cognitive and physical decline in a powerful political figure. They trace the shift from psychoanalytic speculation to clinicians calling out possible dementia. They compare cult leader breakdowns and follower defenses. They survey dementia types, emerging treatments, prevention, and racial disparities in diagnosis and care.
Jan 26, 2026 • 6min
Bonus Sample: Simone Weil: We Have Obligations Before We Have Rights
A deep dive into Simone Weil’s claim that obligations come before rights. Discussion of how obligations spring from shared existence and vulnerability. Connections between Weil’s personal clarity and her critique of liberal rights discourse. Excerpts from The Need for Roots highlight the tension between duties and abstract rights.
