Best Derek Beres Podcasts (2024)

1
202: Steve Hassan and the Trans Cult Conspiracy Theory 1:22:09

11h ago1:22:09

1:22:09

“Cult expert” Steve Hassan has been publicly concerned with the complex sociology of trans youth since 2020. We track that interest back to his communications with gender critical activists in 2017, who reached out to him because they believed that his cult theory could shed light on what they believed were nefarious aspects of the trans awareness …

1
Bonus Sample: Long Haul Stories: Matthew Stillman 7:40

4d ago7:40

7:40

Following up on our Long COVID episode with Tara Haelle, Matthew will be expanding the Listener Stories portfolio with stories from listeners about navigating Long COVID. Why? Because there’s nothing like a mysterious disease, denied by some, stigmatized by others, and politicized by multiple interests, that will bring a person closer to the appeal…

1
Brief: A History of the Gay Right (w/Neil Young) 43:50

6d ago43:50

43:50

Matthew is joined by historian Neil J. Young, co-host of the excellent Past Present Podcast, to talk about his new book: Coming Out Republican: a History of the Gay Right. Young’s riveting storytelling shows how, beginning in the aftermath of WWII, many American gay men—born into socially conservative and religious families from which they had stru…

1
201: Librarians Are Not Groomers (w/Heath Umbreit) 1:17:42

8d ago1:17:42

1:17:42

When Moms For Liberty attacks libraries with demands to ban books about MLK Jr and age-appropriate sex education, and claims that librarians are grooming their children into the trans agenda, they’re enacting the worst forms of neo-fascist bullying. But they’re also paradoxically defending a troubled American legacy against a librarian culture atte…

1
44. The New Science of Ice Bathing | Brad Schoenfeld 39:54

10d ago39:54

39:54

The science of ice bathing has been evolving a lot in the last few years. Brad Schoenfeld is a PhD in physiology and hypertrophy (literally building muscle) who just completed a metastudy analysis that showed that ice bathing after working out could kill the muscle gains. Read more on his blog post about it here:https://www.lookgreatnaked.com/blog/…

1
Bonus Sample: Project 2025's Disdain for Public Education 6:50

11d ago6:50

6:50

Project 2025 is the libertarian conservative Heritage Foundation’s systematic governance plan for the next Republican president. The 920-page plan aims to implement the "unitary executive theory," which would give all of the power of the US government to the executive branch—Donald Trump, if he wins in November. Derek and Julian read the chapter on…

1
Brief: The High Cost of Wellness 44:33

13d ago44:33

44:33

A common sentiment in wellness spaces is that people turn to alt-med practices due to the exorbitant costs of American healthcare. While the latter is certainly true, Derek and Julian discuss why a lot of products and services in wellness land is really just another form of extractive capitalism. Head to factormeals.com/conspirituality50 and use co…

1
200: Rogan-Rufo Reality Check 1:08:56

15d ago1:08:56

1:08:56

This week we take stock of the full entrenchment of the Mirror World, where conspirituality influencers bask in the rays of confident delusion. After a little stage-setting on the heterodox mediasphere, we open with a snapshot of conspirituality Valhalla as we listen in on Joe Rogan and Chris Rufo talking about unhoused people as though they are ch…

1
43. What's Wrong with Huberman's Science? | ft Dr. Andrea Love 57:07

16d ago57:07

57:07

So maybe you don't care about what happens in Andrew Huberman's personal life. So long as his science checks out, what's the harm? Well, I hate to break it to you but his science doesn't really check out either. From cherry-picked results to quack "protocols" Huberman frequently overextends his knowledge and starts shilling pseudoscience. This week…

1
Bonus Sample: The GOP Thinks Food Stamps Are the Real Problem 7:17

18d ago7:17

7:17

Project 2025 is the libertarian conservative Heritage Foundation’s systematic governance plan for the next Republican president. The 920-page plan aims to implement the "unitary executive theory," which would give all of the power of the US government to the executive branch—Donald Trump, if he wins in November. This week, Derek and Julian investig…

1
Brief: Woman, Life, Freedom (w/Negin Shiraghaei) 34:29

20d ago34:29

34:29

The death of Mahsa Jina Amini at the hands of the Islamic Republic’s “morality police” in September 2022 lit a fuse on a fervent global protest movement. Jina’s crime was wearing an “improper” headscarf in public. The slogan, “Woman, Life, Freedom,” which first emerged in the fight for Kurdish equality, was used by thousands of brave, defiant women…

1
Brief: Yes, Huberman’s Behavior Matters 27:57

20d ago27:57

27:57

In response to Kerry Howley’s meticulous reporting on the deceptions of Andrew Huberman in New York Magazine, Huberstans around the world are braying that the man’s private life has nothing to do with his virtue as a science communicator. Not so, we argue in this brief. Deception in one mirrors deception in the other, and there is no private life f…

1
42. The Skeleton Business's Murderous Legacy 57:32

21d ago57:32

57:32

At its height, the bone factories in Calcutta exported more than 60,000 anatomical skeletons a year to medical programs all over the world. Most of the bones had been looted from graves and burning ghats. Still, anatomy processors made millions of dollars stealing and then exporting those bodies abroad. Today, those hundreds of tons of human remain…

1
199: Inside Anti-Abortion Christian Nationalism (w/Rob Schenck) 1:12:39

22d ago1:12:39

1:12:39

Reverend Rob Schenck spent 30 years on the front lines of the Evangelical war against Roe V. Wade. He blockaded abortion clinics, screamed at women in crisis, used fetal remains as political props, and helped wage a covert war of moneyed influence over federal officials to end abortion access. Now, in a return to his deeper religious commitments, h…

1
Bonus Sample: Conspirituality and the Imaginary Children (Series Intro) 8:22

25d ago8:22

8:22

In this series of audio essays, Matthew will examine how children as symbols—but not persons with their own internal lives—are at the center of conspirituality anxiety and discourse. There are two types of imaginary child in conspirituality. One is an object of dread. The other is an idol of aspiration. In the realm of dread we have fetuses murdere…

1
Brief: Unmasking Jay Shetty (w/John McDermott) 29:33

28d ago29:33

29:33

Former monk turned spiritual influencer to the stars, Jay Shetty, has amassed 15 million followers on Instagram. He’s interviewed Michelle Obama, Kim Kardashian, and Kobe Bryant on his popular podcast. Shetty has received accolades from Gwenyth Paltrow and Ellen Degeneres. He even officiated J Lo and Ben Affleck’s wedding. Yet when LA-based writer …

1
198: Holy Food (w/Christina Ward) 1:06:30

29d ago1:06:30

1:06:30

Does God have a recipe? That’s the first line of the blurb of Holy Food: How Cults, Communes, and Religious Movements Influenced What We Eat: An American History by independent food historian, Christina Ward. Ward’s survey of American religious groups and cults through the foods they grow, source, and prepare leads into an in-depth discussion about…

1
41. How Sholto David took on a $1.7 Billion Pharma Behemoth 50:53

1M ago50:53

50:53

How many scientific papers are rotten with fake data? It turns out a lot more than you might think. Even some of the most well-respected medical institutions in the world have been caught out making things up in what should have been life-saving cancer research. Citizen sleuth, David Sholto came on the show today to talk about his role in unmasking…

1
Bonus Sample: Ketamine Soul Mates 5:21

1M ago5:21

5:21

Dolphins, drugs, new age music. Isolation tanks as a portal into other dimensions. True love and fake aliens. Julian shares a personal love story from the nineties that intersects with the work of prolific scientist, inventor, and psychonaut, John C. Lilly. The belief that we can contact extraterrestrial civilizations, which are waiting to usher hu…

1
Brief: RFK Jr Hijacks the “Crisis in Masculinity” (w/Natalia Petrzela) 31:14

1M ago31:14

31:14

Masculinity, in all its wounded and preening anxiety, is the perennial currency of American populism. America’s foremost public historian on fitness and education, Natalia Petrzela, returns to the pod to discuss her recent study, with Ilyse Hogue, of the appeal RFK Jr. has with young men, and what progressives can learn from it. Show Notes Bio – Na…

1
197: Psychic Surgery (feat Brad Abrahams) 1:07:01

1M ago1:07:01

1:07:01

The “healer” mutters prayers, flutters his hands over the patient’s belly, then rubs his fingers close to her navel. A stream of what looks like blood shoots out from between his fingers. After a few more finger wiggles, he appears to pull several bloody cocktail shrimp out of an invisible incision. The patient is healed. Of something. Welcome to “…

1
40. Why did the USA pay $500 Billion to Nigerian Hackers? | ft. Jack Rhysider of Darknet Diaries 1:06:05

1M ago1:06:05

1:06:05

Why did the US Government give $500 billion to Nigerian hackers? What is Pig butchering? How will artificial intelligence change the the way hackers operate? What is the future of cyber warfare? These are all true stories from the dark side of the internet.Today I had the opportunity to talk with Jack Rhysider--the amazing host of the podcast Darkn…

1
Bonus Sample: How to Stamp Out Racists (and more) 6:36

1M ago6:36

6:36

At what point do you tune someone out and no longer consider them worth considering? Is their entire catalog of thought defined by one encounter you don’t like? Multiple encounters? If you disagree with someone on one point, do you write them off entirely, or can you consider other points of agreement? What if your initial encounter with a thinker …

1
Brief: The God Pivot: Rogan, Brand, & Huberman 35:08

1M ago35:08

35:08

Being a chaos agent is exhausting. The internet never ends. It’s so abstract, groundless. At some point, all of your content seems stale and redundant. All the conspiracy theories, outrage farming, and dietary supplements seem boring; your manic salesmanship starts to feel hollow. Maybe you’re also wondering about whether you’ve sold your soul, or …

1
196: Julian Goes to the New Age Expo! 1:15:13

1M ago1:15:13

1:15:13

For 22 years, astrologers, channelers, and UFO enthusiasts have run booths next to crystal healers, purveyors of esoteric books and pseudoscience products, and paranormal enthusiasts at Los Angeles’s Airport Hilton. More recently, this event—the Conscious Life Expo—has increasingly featured speakers spouting red-pilled conspiracy theories about COV…

1
39. Gurus, Gatekeepers, and the Conspirituality Wellness Cult with Derek Beres of the Conspirituality Podcast 1:09:20

1M ago1:09:20

1:09:20

This week the author and hose of the Conspirituality podcast, Derek Beres joins me to talk about the strange axis between spirituality, wellness and conspiracy theories that have taken over the internet. We don't pull any punches in this conversation, touching on the rise of anti-vaccine conspiracies, lizard people, coffee enemas, and how the neuro…

1
Bonus Sample: “There Are Worse Things Than Dying” 5:56

2M ago5:56

5:56

This is a newly favorite mantra that RFK Jr is using on the presidential stump. The subtext, uttered in the shadow of a pandemic that this guy did what he could to minimize and bypass, carries a lot of American spiritual—or maybe pseudospiritual—baggage. Digging into what he means and what his demographic hears when he says “There are worse things …

1
Brief: The CPAC Pope and the Icicle Babies (w/ Brad Onishi) 43:37

2M ago43:37

43:37

Brad Onishi of Straight White American Jesus sits down with Matthew to analyze the debut of “America’s Bishop,” Joseph Strickland, on the CPAC stage, where he blessed MAGA Christian Nationalism with his purple finery and endless torrent of anti-choice bafflegab. Strickland—removed as Archbishop of Tyler, Texas in November by the ultra-woke Pope Fra…

1
195: Long COVID (w/Tara Haelle) 1:14:12

2M ago1:14:12

1:14:12

In the early days of the pandemic, most of the cultural focus was on the necessity of quarantine measures and the distinction between mild and severe COVID infections. Yet by May 2020, some were experiencing the phenomenon of long COVID. Now understood as a post-acute infection syndrome, patients suffering from it have endured mockery, stigmatizati…

1
38. The Night Hag: Sleep Paralysis in the Age of Insomnia 1:22:54

2M ago1:22:54

1:22:54

Have you ever woken up while you were dreaming, only to find that you couldn't move a muscle? Or, perhaps even more terrifying: have you woken up and felt a deep weight on your chest and sensed that an evil creature was pushing down on your chest? That, my friend, is the night hag--another name for sleep paralysis. I recently had a chance to chat w…

1
Bonus Sample: Through the Looking-Glass 6:06

2M ago6:06

6:06

After going undercover at the Conscious Life Expo, Julian examines the weird synchronicities between himself and his mirror-world doppelganger, the eccentric Rhodesian conspiritualist, Sacha Stone. Close in age and born in the same African country, both white men got involved in New Age spirituality as aspiring rock musicians in their twenties. How…

1
Brief: The “Super Reasonable” Dr. Vinay Prasad 38:27

2M ago38:27

38:27

A contrarian doctor “just asking questions.” Super reasonable. Certainly not anti-vax, just a regular guy who grievance-mongers about quarantine measures and mocks people afraid of long Covid. Vinay Prasad cuts a different type of figure on the conspiracy-influencer stage. He fits right in with his pal, the charismatic guru-esque Dr. Zubin Damania,…

1
194: The Power Worshippers (w/Katherine Stewart) 1:10:41

2M ago1:10:41

1:10:41

January 6, 2021. MAGA hats, tactical gear, American flags, poles turned into clubs. Another flag appears: white, with a blue corner square containing a red Latin cross. Another that proclaims “Jesus is King.” If you’re agnostic or atheist, you might get that old familiar feeling. Horror at the irrational devotion, nausea at the toxic masculine viol…

1
Bonus Sample: Your Gut Isn't Leaking 6:31

2M ago6:31

6:31

The Cleveland Clinic's website states that leaky gut is a "hypothetical condition." Yet Cleveland Clinic physician, Mark Hyman, claims that leaky gut is at the foundation of autism, depression, cancer, diabetes, and much, much more—and has solutions to sell you. Derek investigates the manipulative and contradictory world of functional medicine. But…

1
Brief: Plandemic Takes the Promenade 29:38

2M ago29:38

29:38

An anti-vax, COVID-grievance, climate-science denying, communism panic-generating film by Mikki Willis just won “Best Documentary Feature” at the Santa Monica International Film Festival. Julian attended the festival in order to track how Willis’s latest paranoid pseudomentary, “Plandemic 3: The Great Awakening,” was platformed at this annual fete …

1
193: Speaking Truth to GOOP (w/Dr Jen Gunter) 50:39

2M ago50:39

50:39

When she’s not talking to her angel guides, Christiane Northrup says that taking Vitamin D is better than the HPV vaccine for preventing cervical cancer. When Kelly Brogan isn’t denying germ theory, she’s telling thousands of women in her online programmes to stop taking not only their SSRIs, but also birth control and Tylenol. When Naomi Wolf isn’…

1
Bonus Sample: Living in the Enema Times 5:40

2M ago5:40

5:40

Selling enemas to replace psych meds, or treat cancer, or cure autism is some dangerous shit. But Matthew has a tingling sense that the wellness enema craze promises more than false health benefits. Perhaps the coffee might be an artisanal distraction from a more existential promise: a ritual of cleansing and muscular control for a world that feels…

1
Brief: The Culture Warrior to Wellness Pipeline (w/Dax-Devlon Ross) 40:50

2M ago40:50

40:50

Wellness influencers are quite capable of inventing and spreading health misinformation. When it comes to culture war issues, however, they're incapable of generating original thoughts. So it shouldn't surprise anyone that they simply parrot talking points created by the likes of Chris Rufo and Bari Weiss, especially when it comes to their uninform…

1
37. Captured by Pirates 57:19

2M ago57:19

57:19

In 2011 the journalist Michael Scott Moore was on assignment in Somalia on an assignment to document the spread of piracy in the Gulf of Aden. Just before he took a flight home, gunman stopped his car and forced him to get out. This was the beginning of 977 days in captivity. I had the opportunity to speak with Moore before he left for Somalia on h…

1
192: Coffee is Your Friend, Not Your Enema (feat Mallory DeMille) 1:01:39

2M ago1:01:39

1:01:39

This episode has been brewing for some time. This week we ask: which hole is coffee really supposed to go in? Because, in the contrarian and conspiratorial wellness world, a growing number of influencers advocate for your morning java to go where the sun doesn't shine. If that's not alarming enough, they claim coffee enemas will treat autism, cance…

1
Bonus Sample: The GOP Takeover of Media 6:13

2M ago6:13

6:13

Project 2025 is the libertarian conservative Heritage Foundation’s systematic governance plan for the next Republican president. The 920-page plan aims to implement the "unitary executive theory," which would give all of the power of the US government to the executive branch. This week, Derek and Julian investigate the chapter on US media agencies …

1
Brief: Deep Church Conspiracy (w/David Lafferty) 45:24

3M ago45:24

45:24

From the Supreme Court to Project 2025, reactionary Catholics are on the frontlines of this year’s war on democracy. Many of them bend the knee to an Italian redpilled Vatican diplomat: Cardinal Carlo Maria Viganò. Who is this guy, and who let him onto the internet? In 2018, Viganò rebranded Pizzagate for Catholics, by accusing Pope Francis and his…

1
191: Extremely Online (w/Taylor Lorenz) 52:24

3M ago52:24

52:24

The internet has changed not only how we communicate with each other, but how we understand the world. All technologies reorient how we navigate the world. This one just feels, at times, so disorienting—especially if you are, like the three of us today, extremely online. That’s the title of Washington Post columnist Taylor Lorenz’s recent book. Tay…

1
Bonus Sample: The Plan to Dismantle Health Care 6:54

3M ago6:54

6:54

Project 2025 is the libertarian conservative Heritage Foundation’s systematic governance plan for the next Republican president. The 920-page plan aims to implement the "unitary executive theory," which would give all of the power of the US government to the executive branch. This week, Derek and Julian break down the dystopic chapter on the Depart…

1
Brief: New Year, Same Old Conspiritualists 45:31

3M ago45:31

45:31

Do people radicalized into conspiracism or cults ever admit their errors? When the prophecy fails and evidence shows they were wrong, do they come clean or double-down? Julian checks in on some of the legacy conspiritualists profiled in our book—Russell Brand, Dr. Christiane Northrup, Mikki Willis, JP Sears, and Lorie Ladd—to see what their online …

1
190: Females Drive Evolution (w/Cat Bohannon) 1:10:22

3M ago1:10:22

1:10:22

Science evolves, often through fits and starts. Yet for most of medical history, there’s been one consistent theme: most science has been conducted on male bodies. And this has created a range of problems for women. Thankfully, says Cat Bohannon, that’s changing. As more women and BIPOC are entering the STEM fields, we’re undergoing a renaissance i…

1
Bonus Sample: Post-Catholic Music (w/Julia Tucker) 6:43

3M ago6:43

6:43

Julia Tucker is a professional church organist in Savannah, Georgia. She grew up homeschooled in a TradCath home presided over by a father who is now a minor celebrity on the reactionary right. In this Listener Story, she discusses her long strange trip out of Catholic revanchism, the unexpected freedoms of homeschooling, sneaking around in sacrist…

1
Brief: Being Muslim Amidst the Wars (w/Dr. Taslim Alani-Verjee) 46:59

3M ago46:59

46:59

Dr. Taslim Alani-Verjee joined us last January for a Brief on Jordan Peterson’s professional status as a shitposting registered psychologist. She returned for Episode 141 on whether it makes sense that the Canadian Medical Assistance in Dying act is fuelling conspiracy theories about state neglect. Today she returns, as a psychologist and as a prac…

1
189: Leftists Who Turn Right (w/Jeff Sharlet) 57:04

3M ago57:04

57:04

Nothing will stop Republicans from lining up behind Trump. But the left? It's in crisis. Fragmented. Perhaps in times of great flux fascists reflexively double-down while progressives slide into a cloud of self-doubt. There, strange bedfellows are sometimes found in the dark. To help us understand this territory—what it is and how to navigate it—we…

1
Bonus Sample: Swamp Creatures 6: Leonard Leo, Judicial Kingmaker 9:05

3M ago9:05

9:05

Control the Court. Overturn Roe. Funnel anonymous donations and shady gifts. Deregulate for Jesus. Roll back the cultural clock. Celebrate. Rinse and Repeat. Leonard Leo’s libertarian Catholic agenda has made him a preeminent power-broker in right-wing American politics. He’s reshaping society while enjoying the pipeline of cash and influence that …

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