Conspirituality – Details, episodes & analysis

A decade ago, JP Sears built a large following poking fun at yogis and wellness types with his “ultra spiritual life” videos. Then Covid came and Sears took a hard right turn. In fact, he credits the pandemic with “opening his eyes” to many of the world’s problems—in his eyes, that means Anthony Fauci, vaccines, and transgender “ideology.” Sears is one of the very first people we covered on this podcast six years ago, and was one of the influencers we featured in our 2023 book about the wellness-to-right-wing radicalization pipeline. Turns out he’s turned again, this time into a flavor of Christian nationalism with an antisemitic bend. Lately, Sears has been pumping out tons of Israel commentary, even turning against his former favorite president, Donald Trump. In fact, a number of right-wing influencers have soured on Israel. Is Sears sniffing out opportunities again? How is he balancing legitimate critiques of the genocide with blatant antisemitic rhetoric? And how does he fit into the growing diagonalism occurring in the right-wing attention economy? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to the full episode Influential right-wing pundit turned celebrity conspiracy-peddler, Candace Owens, just visited Russia for the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. While at “Russia’s Davos” she marvelled at the cleanliness and beauty of Moscow, explained that Americans were never given any real reason why Putin invading Ukraine was bad, and deflected questions about her potential presidential run. She’s not alone. MAGA has increasingly found a warm place in its heart for Vladimir Putin and other strongman dictator-types (like Viktor Orban). Owens rubbed shoulders with accused sex traffickers, the Tate Brothers, fake martial artist and aging film star, Steven Segall, Trump’s head of the Commission of Fine Arts, and representatives of the Taliban, North Korea, Iran, and China. In this reimagining of Russia—the same “evil empire” of GOP patron saint, Ronald Reagan—the post-Soviet dictatorship is poo-pooed as a danger to European democracies by a growing cadre on the right. Figures like Owens, Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Tim Pool, Nick Fuentes, and Marjorie Taylor Green all oppose US support for Ukraine and involvement in the war in Iran. In another interesting turn, they now also all oppose US support for Israel—which makes for some strange diagonalist bedfellows with certain figures on the left, like Hasan Piker.  Julian unpacks this story. Stay tuned for claims that Carlson and Green have been less harmful to Gaza than Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as for erstwhile left-wing pundit Ana Kasparian’s come-to-Jesus moment on Owens’ show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Across continents and centuries outsider poets have made a bold stand for the life of the body, contemplative ecstasy, sexual liberation, and the sacredness of nature, often in the face of religious and political repression.  From Rajasthan to New York, Ancient Persia to London, and Swansea in Wales to Balkh in Afghanistan, ecstatic poets have broken taboos around sex, death, gender, social caste, and religious dogma. In a follow-up to last week’s interview with Britt Hartley of No-Nonsense Spirituality, Julian reflects on how poetry has always lit up his inner world as a form of embodied spirituality that transcends religious frameworks or supernatural metaphysics. He shares favorite pieces that span 800 years and three continents from Mirabai, Walt Whitman, Mary Oliver, Kabir, David Whyte, Dylan Thomas, and Rumi, along with stories from their lives, and his own. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this year, a spate of news stories told of chatbot users travelling through the looking-glass right into Conspirituality. Paranoid conspiracies, spiritual awakenings, even falling head-over-heels in love with the simulated personalities of large language models like ChatGPT. Could AI have finally crossed the threshold into autonomous sentient consciousness? Could it be that chatbots were anointing new prophets—or, conversely, that very special users were awakening their very special friends via the power of love and illuminating dialogue? Step aside, QAnon, the code behind the screen is illuminated by God! Sadly, some of these stories trended very dark. Suicides, attempted murder, paranoid delusions, spouses terrified of losing their partners and co-parents to what looked like spiritual and romantic delusions. For this standalone installment of his Roots of Conspirituality series, Julian examines this strange new phenomenon, then takes a detour into Ancient Greece and the oracle at Delphi to show that everything old is actually new again—just dressed up in digital technology. Show Notes I Married My Chatbot FTC Complaints Against OpenAI for Chatbot Psychosis AI Spiritual Delusions Destroying Human Relationships Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Social media has been filled with clips of Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee for mayor of NYC. He's been proving quite the foil for Andrew Cuomo's attempt to upset Zohran Mamdani. But who is this man, exactly? Derek and Julian discuss. Show Notes 16 Cats, 320 Square Feet and One Long-Shot Candidate for Mayor 7 Takeaways From the Final N.Y.C. Mayoral Debate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tech billionaire Peter Thiel is no cuck philanthropist. The co-founder of Palantir is leading his company at the bleeding edge of mass surveillance, facial recognition, predictive policing, and AI-assisted warfare. He also fancies himself a political player, responsible for funding his protege, JD Vance, to a heartbeat away from the presidency. Considering this CV, the announcement that Thiel would give a series of four lectures on the AntiChrist was puzzling.  Why would a tech-bro with a notoriously awkward and inarticulate speaking style hold forth on religious prophecy? Or would this be a coming out party, where he would finally confirm his alliance with Satan? Now that the lectures have happened, we can finally tell you—and later, we’ll frame it in the context of Thiel’s mentor, René Girard. Show Notes Inside tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s off-the-record lectures about the antichrist It Kind of Seems Like Peter Thiel Is Losing It Battling to the End: Conversations with Benoît Chantre: René Girard I See Satan Fall Like Lightning: René Girard “A Geometry of Desire: René Girard’s Mimetic Theory, Part 1.”: John Ganz “The Iron Triangle: René Girard’s Mimetic Theory, Part 2.”: John Ganz “Escaping the Kingdom of Futility: René Girard’s Mimetic Theory, Part 3.”: John Ganz “The Cure for Envy: René Girard’s Mimetic Theory, Part 4.”: John Ganz Know Your Enemy Ep 87, featuring John Ganz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to the full episode on Patreon After attending the No Kings rally in Portland on Saturday, Derek shares some thoughts about the week leading up to the nationwide protests. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen Miller is once again making headlines for saying the quiet part out loud. Derek and Julian look into this strange little man from Santa Monica. Show Notes Stephen Miller: Understanding the man who became ‘Trump’s brain’ through his Chronicle opinion column ‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat What Stephen Miller Was Like in High School - Charles Gould Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ICE is on the loose in our cities, acting with seeming impunity. They've repelled from Black Hawk helicopters, thrown journalists and protestors to the ground, and belligerently refused to unmask, provide identification, or present warrants for the people they're kidnapping. Among the social media videos documenting this despicable stormtrooper behavior came the image of a priest being hit in the head and knocked to the ground by a pepper ball shot from an ICE building rooftop. We've homed in on this disturbing moment to ask if what we'd seen so far had not crossed a red line for the American public, what does it mean to shoot at a priest protesting injustice in prayer? Show Notes Surge in U.S. Concern About Immigration Has Abated Portland’s ‘War Zone’ Is Like Burning Man for the Terminally Online DC Churches to Trump: Stay Out of Our Parking Lots Religious protesters say ICE threatens religious freedom in Chicago  In LA, faith leaders protest to stand up for the detained and keep the peace Chicago Pastor Sues Trump Admin After Allegedly Being Shot by ICE Agents Federal lawsuit brought by Black et al against Noem and DHS  Evangelical Pastor Doug Pagitt on Christian Nationalism  Exclusive: The Churches Fighting Back Against ICE  Religious leaders offering communion to detainees turned away at Broadview ICE facility Bishop Rojas on rise in ICE raids: ‘It is not of the Gospel of Jesus Christ' Religious leaders offering communion to detainees turned away at Broadview ICE facility Signs of Faith Against Fascism: An Interview with Eric MartinPaul Elie: Daniel Berrigan was a fierce critic of the United States. He was also a great American. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey everyone… special drop today: the inaugural episode of Matthew’s new side project, Antifascist Dad Podcast.  Matthew sits down with songwriter Nathan Evans Fox to talk about kinship, Appalachia, and the viral hymn that’s resonating across communities. Nathan shares the roots of his concept of yallidarity—solidarity rooted in labor, joy, food, music, and taking care of one another. They discuss the myths and realities of Appalachia, the erasure of labor history, and the dangers of “bootstrap” individualism. Nathan tells about his upbringing in fringe charismatic churches, the connections between charismatic Christianity and Trump-style politics, and how faith traditions can nurture resilience—or be co-opted by empire. They dig into Nathan’s viral “Hillbilly Hymn”: why the cops disappear when Jesus returns, why kinship always beats bootstraps, and how to imagine an abolitionist future that doesn't erase culture but reorients it toward joy, justice, and care.All theme music by the amazing www.kalliemarie.com. Show Notes Everything Nathan Evans Fox Gaza Sumud flotilla: How Israel breaks international maritime law | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera Gaza-bound flotilla rejects Israeli claims of Hamas funding | Euronews Contact Restored with Global Sumud Flotilla after Israeli Interference - Palestine Chronicle The Sabbath Year and the Year of Jubilee Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices