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Conspirituality

Conspirituality

Written by: Derek Beres Matthew Remski Julian Walker
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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.© 2023 Conspirituality Philosophy Science Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Bonus Sample: Conspirituality in the Age of Hyperpolitics

    Bonus Sample: Conspirituality in the Age of Hyperpolitics
    Aug 10 2026
    Listen to the full episode Matthew applies Anton Jäger's Hyperpolitics—a theory of extreme politicization without institutional consequence—to conspirituality and to his own political biography. Continuing a mini-series begun with "Conspirituality Viewed Through Neofeudalism and Vectoralism," Matthew traces Jäger's periodization (mass politics, postpolitics, antipolitics, hyperpolitics) through his own life: his grandparents' union halls and church auxiliaries, the "collective amnesia" of the 1990s, his years in cults and the reformist Toronto yoga world, and the pivot from brick-and-mortar ashram cults to digital influencer cults during COVID. Drawing on Jäger's proposal that renewal must be sought in sites of social reproduction, Matthew wonders about a hypothetical "Care Labour Compact," or organizing unpaid caregiving labor into durable political power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    6 mins
  • Brief: The Ceuta Crisis Great Replacement Conspiracy

    Brief: The Ceuta Crisis Great Replacement Conspiracy
    Aug 8 2026
    Last week, around 72,000 migrants flooded from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. What really happened? Was a local girl abducted, never to be seen again? Did the Moroccan border guards step aside (or even collaborate) in an organized operation? Right-wing politicians and pundits were quick to crank up the moral panic machine. This is what open borders look like! They’re heading for our country next. Donald Trump said it was nothing compared to what would happen in the US if Democrats win the mid-terms. Then came the conspiracy theories. Was Morocco retaliating against Spain for a recent deal with their enemy, Algeria? Were America and Israel behind it as punishment for Spain’s socialist prime minister being staunchly pro-Palestine and refusing to support the war in Iran? For a few magical days, right- and left-wing conspiracy theorists spread overlapping versions of the Great Replacement Theory. Julian dives into the diplomatic complexities, ideological contradictions, and historical twists to make sense of relations between Spain, Algeria, Morocco, Western Sahara, and Israel to ask: are there any good guys or is it colonizers all the way down? Show Notes AP Fact Checks Unsubstantiated Ceuta Claims The Far Right Is Distorting Ceuta The Real Story Behind Ceuta How X Turned Ceuta Crisis into A Global Antisemitic Conspiracy Theory in 72 Hours Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    32 mins
  • DROP: Who Killed Charlie Kirk? (w/Brandy Zadrozny)

    DROP: Who Killed Charlie Kirk? (w/Brandy Zadrozny)
    Aug 7 2026
    Support the podcast MS NOW senior reporter Brandy Zadrozny spent 10 months tracking the conspiracy theories that evolved online in the wake of the death of Charlie Kirk. She joins Derek to discuss what her investigation found. Show Notes Deep End: Who Killed Charlie Kirk? Charlie Kirk’s murder case has a conspiracy theory problem Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    32 mins
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