Best Joseph Greaves Podcasts (2024)

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75. The Occult Aspects of the Failed State: Livestream w/Anima Noira 1:09:48

2y ago1:09:48

1:09:48

The United States is failing fast, taking many of its most storied institutions with it. As a child of the former Soviet Union, occult artist @AnimaNoira has seen this all before. Watch us discuss magick and decline live tonight! Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glqt06mGrco Sign up for the Failed State Update Newslette…

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74. The King of Stolen Valor and Other Weird Stories w/Oki 53:42

2y ago53:42

53:42

Oki is a Canadian documentarian with a keen eye for unusual subject matter. We spoke to him back in January when he infiltrated a cabal of conspiracy theorists who use hypnosis to "prove" that there is a secret space program operating throughout the universe. His latest doc, The King of Stolen Valor, is a must-see. It is the story of Jonathan "Jack…

1
73. Ravi, Mind Control Victim in Silicon Valley 42:04

2y ago42:04

42:04

Ravi lives in Silicon Valley, he's a former Google employee, and he’s a Targeted Individual. That is, he believes he has been the subject of high-tech surveillance and harassment. Whatever the cause of the trauma he has experienced, the trauma is very real. “I felt like committing a crime” at one point, he says. “I felt like avenging what happened …

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72. Lucien Greaves on the Satanic Temple, fire bombing, modern day witch hunts, and more 1:09:45

2y ago1:09:45

1:09:45

Long-time friend of the show Lucien Greaves will be on FSU tonight. What will be talking about? The arson at the Satanic Temple's HQ? Probably. Sovereign Citizen death threats? Youbetcha. Satanic Panic? That is to be expected. Lucien Greaves on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LucienGreaves Failed State Update on Twitter: https://twitter.com/failedstat…

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71. A Failed Coup and a Failed Reality TV Show with Rocco Castoro and Emily Molli 1:26:59

2y ago1:26:59

1:26:59

We keep hoping that the Trump administration will become old news, but the stories of its incompetence and corruption keep coming. One of our favorites is Seven Days in January, a new podcast about Mark Burnett and Elizabeth Koch's failed attempt to turn the Presidential Inauguration into a reality series for Amazon Studios. According to our guests…

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70. Jack Brewer's UFO Trail (livestream) 1:02:26

2y ago1:02:26

1:02:26

Jack Brewer is a freelance writer with a longtime interest in the UFO genre. He maintains the blog "The UFO Trail," where he posts credible info on incredible topics. Brewer is the author of "The Greys Have Been Framed: Exploitation in the UFO Community," in which he explores how public perception of the UFO phenomenon has been distorted by the int…

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69. Douglas P. Horne on Operation Northwoods and lies the Pentagon tells us 1:07:48

2y ago1:07:48

1:07:48

Douglas P. Horne is a former staffer for the Assassination Records Review Board and the author of several books, including Inside the Assassination Records Review Board. In this episode of Failed State Update, J.G. and Douglas discuss Operation Northwoods, the Pentagon's (very real) plan to down aircraft, blow up ships, or possibly kill American ci…

1
68. Gabriel of Urantia Warns of the Apocalypse… But This Time We're Afraid He Means It 50:49

2y ago50:49

50:49

In Tumacácori, Arizona, a stone’s throw from the U.S. border with Mexico, roughly 85 “destiny reservists” await their fate. They are the followers of Gabriel of Urantia. Born Anthony J. Delevin in Pittsburgh in 1946, Gabriel’s life work is a community known as the Global Community Communications Alliance (GCCA). They live in a compound in the deser…

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67. Failed State (Cult) Jukebox with Mark Jacobson (Pale Horse Rider) and Shy Boyz 1:32:44

2y ago1:32:44

1:32:44

We had so much fun doing the Failed State Jukebox a few weeks ago that we thought we'd try it again. Thanks to my (Lenny's) terrific administrative skills, J.G. Michael wasn't on the call. But don't worry, he'll be back next week! With author and journalist Mark Jacobson as our guide, we prevailed through 90 minutes of cult music, including: Talias…

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66. Daniel Muessig, "real-life Saul Goodman" going to prison 2:11:14

2+ y ago2:11:14

2:11:14

Daniel Muessig is a Pittsburgh folk hero, mostly because of his over-the-top ad for his law practice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_iaugcJW7Q Any day now he will go to prison for five years for conspiring to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana and possession of marijuana. He was busted by an FBI task force who ID'd him through a wiret…

1
65. Edward Ahmed Mitchell on the Private Surveillance of Muslim-Americans 41:45

2+ y ago41:45

41:45

In this episode of Failed State Update, J.G. Michael speaks with Edward Ahmed Mitchell, Deputy Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations about a scandal involving CAIR's Ohio chapter and a right-wing outfit called the Investigative Project on Terrorism. There is evidence that IPT has been spying on Muslim-American activists and working …

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64. Failed State Jukebox with Charles Ochelli and J.G. Michael 1:00:33

2+ y ago1:00:33

1:00:33

Failed State Jukebox is a regular item on the Failed State Update website where we look at dystopian pop music. Usually, it's far-right or conspiracy-themed, which is both disturbing and hilarious. These are fun articles, but there's a point to them. The right-wing culture industry tells us something about a sector of the American public usually ig…

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63. Fuck A War with Eric Draitser, J.G. Michael 42:56

2+ y ago42:56

42:56

Russia has invaded Ukraine, and what more is there to be said, besides: Fuck war and fuck imperialism. (Well, there is a little more than that to be said, and J.G. Michael has Eric Draitser on the show to say it.) Eric Draitser is an independent political analyst and host of CounterPunch Radio. You can find his exclusive content including articles,…

1
62. Wayne Madsen on Alex Jones, Tucker Carlson, and the Fascist Fourth Reich 1:15:42

2+ y ago1:15:42

1:15:42

Wayne Madsen is an investigative journalist, the author of twenty-one books, and the publisher of The Wayne Madsen Report. His latest book is The Rise of the Fascist Fourth Reich: The Era of Trumpism and the New Far-Right. Stories about Wayne Madsen on Failed State Update: "Did Wayne Madsen uncover a 2016 ‘Stop the Steal’ Plot?" "Wayne Madsen on th…

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JG and Lenny stop by the Ochelli Communications Worldwide Studio 58:30

2+ y ago58:30

58:30

On February 10, Failed State Update co-hosts Joseph L. Flatley and JG Michael appeared on The Ochelli Effect live to discuss current events, conspiracy theories, JFK, Ozzy Osbourne, and more. Unfortunately, someone messed up the recording of the after-show that we did (that person being Joseph L. Flatley), but we do have the show itself here for yo…

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61. the CIA, FBI, UFOs and NICAP... and Jack Brewer 1:08:34

2+ y ago1:08:34

1:08:34

What do UFOs, the CIA, the conflict in Ukraine, and the Philadelphia Experiment have in common? Tune in to find out! Jack Brewer writes "The UFO Trail", a blog dedicated to publishing credible info on incredible topics. Brewer's research interests include the UFO subculture, the intelligence community, and related social dynamics, and he's here to …

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60. The Finders: The Movie featuring Boys' Bible Study (the podcast) (BONUS EPISODE) 1:01:28

2+ y ago1:01:28

1:01:28

In this episode of Failed State Update, Joseph L. "Lenny" Flatley goes toe-to-toe with the hosts of the Boys' Bible Study podcast. The Bible Boys, as we like to call them, wade deep into the murky waters of the Christian pop culture industry, reviewing the weirdest and most interesting independently produced films with a certain message. Since that…

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59. Spencer Sunshine on Oath Keepers, militias, and left antisemitism 1:21:49

2+ y ago1:21:49

1:21:49

You're in for a treat! For this edition of Failed State Update: The Podcast, J.G. Michael interviews author and extremism expert Spencer Sunshine on the Oath Keepers' role in January 6, the militia movement in general, and what happens when antisemites infiltrate leftist politics. Also, Joseph L. Flatley tells you about his recent reporting on sove…

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58. Alfred W. McCoy: To Govern the Globe: World Orders and Catastrophic Change 1:06:28

2+ y ago1:06:28

1:06:28

Regular listeners of Failed State Update are in for a real treat. Our guest, Alfred W. McCoy, is an American historian and educator. Currently the Fred Harvey Harrington Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, he specializes in the history of the Philippines, foreign policy of the United States, European colonization of Southea…

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57. John Zerzan: When We Are Human 53:29

2+ y ago53:29

53:29

Is the United States collapsing, or is all of civilization collapsing? To explore that question we bring you John Zerzan, an anarchist and primitivist author whose work has been compared to Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, of all people. His books offer an alternative vision of history that focuses on the destructive nature of technology. And more importan…

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56. Tom Mellett on Arthur Young, Pseudoscience (or not), and the Cult of UFO Twitter 44:48

2+ y ago44:48

44:48

Tom Mellett is a retired high school teacher of math and physics who delights in trolling UFO Twitter and Facebook because their emotional maturity is at a 9th grade level (as he puts it). He is also a cat butler in Los Angeles. We got on the phone after my story "The New Intergalactic Cold War" caused a (quite brief) firestorm on Twitter last week…

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55. Sherry Shriner’s Deadly Anti-New World Order Online Doomsday Cult 53:47

2+ y ago53:47

53:47

Anthony Russo is the author of Dragged Into the Light: Truthers, Reptilians, Super Soldiers, and Death Inside an Online Cult, and for the next fifty-three minutes we'll discuss his book about Sherry Shriner, an online cult leader in rural Ohio who preached a bizarre combination of reptilian conspiracies, orgone energy pseudoscience, and discredited…

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54. Havana Affair (feat. the CIA, crickets, and conspiracy theorists) 51:30

3y ago51:30

51:30

Havana Syndrome is back in the news. On the one hand, it's clearly a psychogenic illness that's being misdiagnosed as the result of commie death rays. On the other hand, by treating it as an attack by America's enemies, politicians can use it to help further their foreign policy objectives. Which side do you think the media is going to take? Robert…

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53. R. Kelly Found Guilty Of Racketeering And Sex Trafficking 52:27

3y ago52:27

52:27

REPOST: After decades of accusations and a weeks-long federal trial, R. Kelly has been found guilty of charges including sexual exploitation of a child, bribery, racketeering and sex trafficking that will put him in prison from 10 years to life. I figure now is as good a time as any to repost this interview with journalist Jim Derogatis, who did as…

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52. The Lyndon LaRouche Cult of Intelligence w/Marley Clements 59:11

3y ago59:11

59:11

The subject of political cults continues with Marley Clements, a writer, producer, and documentary filmmaker whose work includes Active Measures (2018) and QAnon: The Search for Q (2021). Her company Bunker Crew Media is responsible for the Kremlin File podcast. Kremlin File: https://pod.co/kremlin-file Erica Duggan on Lyndon LaRouche & the Mysteri…

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51. MOVE (the cult) w/former member Kevin Price (3/3) 1:49:23

3y ago1:49:23

1:49:23

MOVE is a radical Black communal organization founded in 1972 in Philadelphia, best known for the 1985 firebombing in which 11 members (including 5 children under the age of 14) were murdered by law enforcement. These days, the group lives on as a "political cult," as former member Kevin Price reveals in his blog, Leaving MOVE. In part one of the s…

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50. MOVE (the cult) w/former member Kevin Price (2/3) 42:05

3y ago42:05

42:05

MOVE is a radical Black communal organization founded in 1972 in Philadelphia, best known for the 1985 firebombing in which 11 members (including 5 children under the age of 14) were murdered by law enforcement. These days, the group lives on as a "political cult," as former member Kevin Price reveals in his blog, Leaving MOVE. In part one of the s…

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49. MOVE (the cult) w/former member Kevin Price (1/3) 59:55

3y ago59:55

59:55

MOVE is a radical Black communal organization founded in 1972 in Philadelphia, best known for the 1985 firebombing in which 11 members (including 5 children under the age of 14) were murdered by law enforcement. These days, the group lives on as a "political cult," as former member Kevin Price reveals in his blog, Leaving MOVE. In part one of the s…

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48. New Age Grifter: Joshua Lilly (preview) 17:43

3y ago17:43

17:43

Joshua Lilly is a former follower of Gabriel of Urantia, the subject of my book New Age Grifter. He’s also something of a “fan favorite,” so — due to popular demand — I am giving him an (almost 2 hours long!) episode of the FAILED STATE UPDATE podcast to tell us about his life and times in (and out of) a religious cult. This is a preview of an epis…

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47. New Age Grifter: The True Story of Gabriel of Urantia 13:05

3y ago13:05

13:05

New Age Grifter is the story of Gabriel of Urantia, a self-proclaimed holy man who currently presides over a spiritual community (some call it a cult) in the desert of Southern Arizona. In a fenced-in compound, three generations of the Global Community Communications Alliance soak in Gabriel's teachings as they wait for the end of the world. My boo…

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46. The Socioeconomics of Cults and QAnon 43:41

3y ago43:41

43:41

Less than a week until my book NEW AGE GRIFTER: THE TRUE STORY OF GABRIEL OF URANTIA AND HIS COSMIC FAMILY is released, and to get you in the mood I'm sharing a conversation that I had today on, of all things, the YouTube Grassroots #YangGang Show. We discussed the book a little bit, as wells things like: "What is the difference between conspiracy …

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45. Buckland Museum of Witchcraft & Magick Director Steven Intermill 43:57

3y ago43:57

43:57

Raymond Buckland founded The Buckland Museum of Witchcraft and Magick in 1966. After visiting the late Gerald Gardner and his collection on the Isle of Man, Raymond was inspired to start a collection of his own. While working for British Airways, he was able to acquire many of the artifacts in this collection from all around the world. He initially…

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44. Danny Casolaro and the Surveillance State 33:52

3y ago33:52

33:52

Joseph Daniel Casolaro (everyone knew him as Danny) was a journalist who died in Martinsburg, West Virginia, thirty years ago this August. He was in town working on a book tentatively titled The Octopus, which promised to tie together damn near every conspiracy theory of the decade: including the October Surprise, Iran-Contra, and the FEMA concentr…

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43. Lucien Greaves on multiple personalities, TikTok, and conspiracy therapists 34:26

3y ago34:26

34:26

A story crossed my desk recently: "Inside TikTok’s booming dissociative identity disorder community" (Input Magazine, July 6). The author, Jessica Lucas, looks at the unique world of social media influencers with multiple personalities. While it provides a unique look at a fascinating subculture, it does not portray the truth about Dissociative Ide…

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42. Satan Goes to the Mind Control Convention 10:03

3y ago10:03

10:03

My book Satan Goes to the Mind Control Convention: Manchurian Candidates, Recovered Memories, and the Dark Side of Conspiracy Culture is finally available as an audiobook! From the back cover blurb: Satan Goes to the Mind Control Convention looks at the role that conspiracy theories play in American life and the current political climate. The audio…

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41. What to expect from President Biden (feat. War and Corruption) 55:57

3+ y ago55:57

55:57

In the first half of this episode, I speak with Branko Marcetic, a staff writer for Jacobin magazine and a 2019-2020 Leonard C. Goodman Institute for Investigative Reporting Fellow at In These Times. He is the author of Yesterday's Man: The Case Against Joe Biden. After the flip, I speak with Jeremy Kuzmarov, J.P. Walker assistant professor of hist…

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40. Payday Report w/Mike Elk 52:09

3+ y ago52:09

52:09

It's the big FOUR-OH! and today I'm speaking with Mike Elk, labor reporter and the founder (in 2016) of Payday Report, a crowdfunded news agency focusing on labor and union news. In this interview we talk about the importance of independent media, getting past the over-intellectualization of left-labor reporting, and the shocking reality of sexual …

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39. Lucien Greaves on that NY Mag whitewash of dangerous pseudoscience 1:02:41

3+ y ago1:02:41

1:02:41

The notion of "repressed memories" has been widely discredited, yet it stubbornly persists—on trash TV, in poorly researched self-help books, and now on New York Magazine's website. In this episode of Failed State Update, Lucien Greaves, the co-founder of The Satanic Temple, breaks down "The Memory War" by Katie Heaney, a weird example of pro-consp…

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38. Mark Jacobson: QAnon, crisis cults, LSD cults, and more 1:08:59

3+ y ago1:08:59

1:08:59

The return of Mark Jacobson. We expand on our previous conversation to talk about the zeitgeist. We get into QAnon, the Ghost Dance, and of course, Bill Cooper. Mark Jacobson on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/palehorseriderbook/ Pale Horse Rider music video by William Cooper (the rapper): https://youtu.be/Mp5pSU5jYC0 Joseph L. Flatley website…

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37. Mark Jacobson, author of Pale Horse Rider 45:02

3+ y ago45:02

45:02

We are living in a time of unprecedented distrust in America… Faith in the government is at an all-time low, and political groups on both sides of the aisle are able to tout preposterous conspiracy theories as gospel, without much opposition. “Fake news” is the order of the day. This book is about a man to whom all of it points, the greatest conspi…

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36. Jared Yates Sexton dissects the face of contemporary fascism (repost!) 1:28:07

3+ y ago1:28:07

1:28:07

Jared Yates Sexton has been an important voice decrying the little Hitler in the White House (for one more week) and the future, not-so-little Hitlers that are on the horizon if we don't wise up quick. His message is more important than ever, so I'm reposting two of his appearances here in case you missed 'em the first time... Check out Jared's Bou…

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35. Stuart Schrader / Badges Without Borders: How Global Counterinsurgency Transformed American Policing (repost) 57:38

3+ y ago57:38

57:38

Stuart Schrader is a Lecturer/Assistant Research Scientist in Sociology at Johns Hopkins University and the author of Badges Without Borders: How Global Counterinsurgency Transformed American Policing. In this episode of Failed State Update, we talk about the little-understood facts that the United States is an empire, and that what our police do a…

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34. Vincent Bevins / The Jakarta Method (repost) 58:24

3+ y ago58:24

58:24

Clearly, the American Empire is clocking out — it's anybody's guess whether it will go with a whimper or with a bang, but it seems likely that we'll know the answer to that question relatively soon. But what did it take to forge this empire in the first place, and how can it be that so many Americans are unaware that this imperium even exists? In t…

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33. Barbarians at the Capitol Gates w/William Arkin and Vincent Scotti Eirene 52:08

3+ y ago52:08

52:08

So, we couldn't go a week into the new year without a constitutional crisis... I'm disappointed in us, but I'm not surprised. In order to help understand what the hell exactly happened, I spoke to William Arkin, veteran national security reporter and prolific author. He's been on top of this story from the very beginning (indeed, from before the be…

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32. Get Thee Behind Me, Santa w/Doomsday Prophet Pastor Harry Walther 53:49

3+ y ago53:49

53:49

I didn't set out to present a Christmas episode of this podcast, but when the talk got around to the harmful nature of the Santa Claus myth, I knew I had a timely program. Pastor Harry Walther is the founder of The Church of Philadelphia-Internet and host of Doomsday Talk Radio. I met him in 2012 while filming a series of videos for The Verge about…

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31. Conversation with a Targeted Individual 36:22

3+ y ago36:22

36:22

There is an internet community of people that call themselves Targeted Individuals. These people claim that they're being surveilled and harassed by the U.S. government or other unknown entities. Sometimes this activity is called "gangstalking" because, unlike traditional stalking, the harassment involves teams of people. Fears of gangstalking seem…

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30. State of Emergence(y) w/Antero Alli 1:07:22

3+ y ago1:07:22

1:07:22

Are we living in a failed state? And if so, so what? Between the environment, pandemic, and everything else that 2020 has given us, I think it's probably high time that we look at ourselves in the mirror and decide what's really important. And if you're of a spiritual or metaprogrammatical bent, you could probably learn a thing or several from Ante…

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29. The Real Story Behind Oliver Stone's JFK w/Fred Litwin 46:23

3+ y ago46:23

46:23

If you know anything about the assassination of JFK, the odds are good that you learned it from Oliver Stone. Even if you haven't seen JFK (1993), the claims made in the film — claims made by the likes of homophobic New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison and antisemitic conspiracy theorist Fletcher Prouty — have kind of seeped into the mainstre…

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28. JFK, Oswald, Norman Mailer, Jim Hougan, and Lawrence Schiller. And Me 1:16:30

3+ y ago1:16:30

1:16:30

By its very nature, the intelligence community holds more sway over this country than we will probably ever know. This reality—which has played a key role in transforming the United States into a Failed State—has its origins in the Cold War and the establishment of the Central Intelligence Agency in 1947. Norman Mailer was one of the most insightfu…

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27. Paranoids' Game Night! 1:07:50

3+ y ago1:07:50

1:07:50

In this action-packed episode of FAILED STATE UPDATE, I break out a certain conspiracy theory-themed trivia board game ("Conspiracy Theory" by Neddy Games) and host an action-packed competition between four fascinating dudes. Come for the conspiracy questions! Stay for the learned discursions! With internet celebrities Joseph Matheny, JG Michael an…

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