(Yes, the long awaited Conspirituality podcast has finally arrived.) Hosted by three former yoga instructors, Conspirituality Podcast came from the intersection of Covid denialism within the wellness industry. Derek Bere is an American reporter with a history with psychedelics. Mathew Remski is a Canadian cult survivor, and Julian Walker is a musician from South Africa who immigrated to the United States. All three have been a part of the wellness scene, so they speak as discerning former followers.
The tern Conspirituality itself has a shady origin (see episode 123 for their full discussion) but it fits in multiple ways. Wellness influencers peddling conspiracy theories like my products work so well, a super powerful THEY have suppressed all the evidence which is why you can’t find any neutral sources of information to back up my claims. Conspirituality also works as a combination of con artist and spiritualist.
This podcast speaks to a group that I think is larger than most people realize—those who think there is something to alternative medicine, have valid critiques of the medical system, but don’t think that all illness (and by extension the world’s problems) can be solved with meditation and yoga postures.
Conspirituality does in depth investigations into influencers of the conspiritualist world—yoga masters who were sexual predators, or groups that exploited unpaid or lower paid labor, influencers pushing product that have no science behind them that isn’t paid, and anti-vaxer nonsense. They also examine how ideas spread in the digital age, the weaknesses in our systems that are being exploited. Experts on the show include reporters who have done in depth reporting on high demand groups or misinformation, and academic researchers. A Swan song series of episodes was originally on Patreon then released into the main feed goes into the roots of the Satanic Panic. This looked in depth at Teal Swan, who is an influencer claiming Satanic ritual abuse. Deeper investigation into the roots of satanic abuse allegations lead to books like Michelle remembers and Courage to Heal. The return of the Satanic panic makes that a highly relevant issue to look into. As a pagan, dismantling how the nonsense was spread and misjustice occurred is timeless. It is necessary to know what happened before to work to prevent it from happening again.
What shocked me is Consprituality has managed to drop a weekly episode since the podcast began in 2020. Every other podcast I have listened to had some sort of season break or hiatus. They also have a weekly Patreon episodes and will do briefs on a specific topic (that can be more than an hour). I think Conspirituality has been able to keep going because of the way the three hosts split up duties. Julian is focused on international politics, conservative Christianity, and white supremacy. Mathew is focused on high demand groups and influencers, while Derek tends to focus on sport and medical research. Not all three host each episode, so they split research, writing, and interview duties. The downside is I had a huge backlist to go through, which is why this review took so long.
Main episodes range from 45 minutes to two plus hours, with an average of a little less than 90 minutes that includes commercials.
Listening can be difficult, because they bust some myths deeply held in the alternative sphere, like the origins of yoga as we know it today from Hindu nationalism. They also unflinchingly analyze the wellness influencer to Qanon pipeline—and talk about the weakness in wellness that lead to the funnel. They also make valid critiques of leftist and progressive spaces in the US. Even the left wing in the USA has an unhealthy individualist streak which makes actually passing legislation and policy difficult. (Although that is another rant). Julian is my favorite, but that might be because I have a hard time telling Mathew and Derek apart by their voice.
My main critique is their website could use some updating. I wasn’t able to search find specific episodes I was looking for, and scrolling through the list takes forever. There were some episodes released on the Stitcher feed before Stitcher went bust that I couldn’t find on the website. However, I am not sure if that was because I couldn’t find it or because it isn’t posted on the site. This also makes me feel a little like reading Mother Jones, when I think I need an anti-depressant after one of their deep dives. But I highly recommend this podcast to anyone interested in dismantling conspiracy theories.