Best Umbreit Podcasts (2024)

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

15d 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
Bonus Sample: Let's Talk About Gary Brecka 5:54

12m ago5:54

5:54

"Human Biologist" and life coach Gary Brecka's star rose after biohacking UFC President Dana White's health. Yet Derek has a few questions this week: Is someone with a degree from a chiropractic college qualified to talk about seed oils, GMOs, depression, tinnitus, fluoride, detoxifying through water fasts, and diet plans? Is it concerning that his…

1
Deep Cut: On Belief 55:19

8h ago55:19

55:19

A Deep Cut from our Patreon archive (July 2023) What do we mean when we say that we believe something? When the QAnon Shaman got dressed on the morning of January 6, he put on his red, white, and blue face paint, his postmodern quasi-Native American horned fur hat, and grabbed the spear to which he had attached an American flag. In performance mode…

1
203: Is This a Joke? (w/Neal Brennan) 1:05:53

1d ago1:05:53

1:05:53

Neal Brennan has upped the artistic ante in stand-up comedy. In Netflix specials like "3 Mics and Blocks" he’s explored loneliness, isolation, and the mental health fallout of growing up the youngest of 10 in a Catholic family with an extremely unwell father. In the process he’s made some of the great mysteries of family pain and inner turmoil more…

1
Bonus Sample: The Dark Sun, The Red Cow, and The End of Days 6:01

4d ago6:01

6:01

Tensions between Israel and Iran escalated as supernaturally-charged conspiracy theories about the solar eclipse flooded the internet. And so Julian searched for answers about the mysterious “red heifer.” What is so special about a red cow? Might its discovery and ensuing journey from Texas to Jerusalem have played a role in the October 7 attacks? …

1
Brief: Yoga Teacher’s Survival Guide (w/Theo Wildcroft & Harriet McAtee) 42:19

6d ago42:19

42:19

Matthew is joined by Theo Wildcroft and Harriet McAtee, co-editors of The Yoga Teacher's Survival Guide: Social Justice, Science, Politics, and Power (Singing Dragon Publications), a volume of essays from 16 yoga world contributors. Three yoga culture critic nerds get into the weeds of how wellness workers and yoga teachers survive and navigate a p…

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

8d 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

11d 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

13d 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
Bonus Sample: Project 2025's Disdain for Public Education 6:50

20d 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

22d 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

24d 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
Bonus Sample: The GOP Thinks Food Stamps Are the Real Problem 7:17

25d 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

29d 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

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

29d 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

1M 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

1M 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

1M 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
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

2M 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

2M 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
Bonus Sample: How to Stamp Out Racists (and more) 6:36

2M 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

2M 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

2M 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…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Umbreit Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

1
Conspirituality

Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, Julian Walker

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

1
Bonus Sample: Let's Talk About Gary Brecka 5:54

1
Deep Cut: On Belief 55:19

1
203: Is This a Joke? (w/Neal Brennan) 1:05:53

1
Bonus Sample: The Dark Sun, The Red Cow, and The End of Days 6:01

1
Brief: Yoga Teacher’s Survival Guide (w/Theo Wildcroft & Harriet McAtee) 42:19

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

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

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

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

1
Brief: The High Cost of Wellness 44:33

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1
Bonus Sample: Ketamine Soul Mates 5:21

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

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

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

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

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

Quick Reference Guide