Veteran Cult Reporter Don Lattin on Trump, Jim Jones, and Messianic Power

In this episode of LIMINAL NEWS, I'm joined by Patrick McCollum, a global peacemaker and the subject of the new documentary The Man Who Saves the World, directed by Gabe Polsky. Patrick's life defies easy explanation. At 15, he was killed in a motorcycle accident and pronounced dead for more than seven minutes. What he experienced during that near-death encounter set him on a path that would take him far beyond anything he could have imagined. Over the decades, Patrick has lived what he calls "ten different lives": a kung fu master an internationally celebrated jewelry designer for presidents, royalty, and film stars a prison chaplain who counseled Charles Manson and spent years on death row at SanQuentin an advisor to presidents, prime ministers, kings, and revolutionary leaders  a peacemaker in Africa, the Middle East, and beyond  Most recently, Patrick became the central figure in an extraordinary effort to unite Indigenous nations across the Amazon. According to an ancient prophecy shared by elders from more than 300 Indigenous nations, a time would come when someone would help reunite their peoples to stand against the destruction of the rainforest. Patrick agreed to step forward — and over time, helped bring together more than 60 million Indigenous people in a shared commitment to protect the Amazon and sacred lands worldwide. In this conversation, Patrick recounts his journey to meet the Kogi, restoring what they describe as their stolen spiritual inheritance; his deep friendship with Jane Goodall; his belief in seeing every person as sacred — even those we fear or despise — and why, at 75 years old and in declining health, he continues to step forward rather than retreat. We also talk candidly about despair, burnout, the rise of authoritarianism, ecological collapse, and what it means to keep going when the future feels increasingly uncertain. This is a conversation about courage, sacrifice, prophecy, skepticism, and hope — and about what it really means to try to serve something larger than yourself in a time of global crisis. Learn more or support his work: https://patrickmccollum.org/ https://themanwhosavestheworld.com/ ================================== Please subscribe to the LIminal News Substack Newsletter! https://substack.com/@danielpinchbeck Please buy my books! https://tinyurl.com/mrsmtpwv Please join my online seminars and community at THE LIMINAL INSTITUTE: www.liminal.news Instagram:   @danielpinchbeck Official Website:  www.pinchbeck.io/

In this episode of LIMINAL NEWS, I'm joined by journalist and author Don Lattin, who spent decades as the religion beat reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, covering cults, new religious movements, and American spirituality from the inside. We begin with a provocative question: Is Donald Trump functioning as a modern messianic cult leader? Drawing on his firsthand reporting on Jim Jones, Jonestown, and the cult "wars" of the 1970s, Don breaks down the psychological, political, and religious dynamics that define cult leadership — and why so many of those same patterns are visible today. From Christian nationalism and the New Apostolic Reformation to the strange convergence of psychedelics, wellness culture, tech elites, and authoritarian politics, this conversation maps the deeper forces shaping our current moment. We also explore Don's long engagement with psychedelics and religion, including insights from his books "The Harvard Psychedelic Club" and "God on Psychedelics." This is a wide-ranging, unsettling, and deeply informed conversation about belief, power, charisma, and the future of American consciousness. https://www.donlattin.com/ ================================== Please subscribe to the LIminal News Substack Newsletter! https://substack.com/@danielpinchbeck Please buy my books! https://tinyurl.com/mrsmtpwv Please join my online seminars and community at THE LIMINAL INSTITUTE: www.liminal.news Instagram:   @danielpinchbeck Official Website:  www.pinchbeck.io/ #LiminalNews #DonLattin #CultPsychology #Trump #JimJones #ChristianNationalism #Psychedelics #ReligionAndPolitics #Authoritarianism #NewApostolicReformation #PoliticalCults #Consciousness

The real battleground of our time isn't politics or technology — it's the imagination. Filmmaker Ari Kuschnir and embodiment guide Schuyler Brown join me for a deep conversation about AI, storytelling, spirituality, and how we reclaim agency in an age of dystopian futures. The future is being shaped in the imaginal realm — by the stories we consume, the images we repeat, and the futures we're told are inevitable. In this episode of Liminal News, I'm joined by filmmaker and AI storyteller Ari Kuschnir and embodiment guide Schuyler Brown for a wide-ranging conversation about artificial intelligence, creativity, spirituality, and cultural resistance. We explore AI not just as a technical tool, but as an imaginal force — one that can amplify propaganda and despair, or be used to create counter-visions, meaning, and agency. Mastering the Alchemy of AI Storytelling: A six-week live seminar for filmmakers, artists, writers, and cultural creators who want to work with AI consciously, creatively, and ethically — without losing their humanity. The course blends practical AI filmmaking workflows with embodiment practices, ethical inquiry, and storytelling frameworks designed to restore agency and imagination in an age dominated by automation and dystopian narratives. 👉 Learn more and enroll here: https://www.liminal.news/mastering-the-alchemy-of-ai-storytelling GUEST BIOS: ARI KUSCHNIR Ari is a storyteller and visual artist whose viral AI shorts — from TRUMP AYAHUASCA and WE CAN TALK to LOVE FORCE ONE and MAGA BALLROOM 2028 — have reached over 150 million views. Founder of the award-winning production company m ss ng p eces, he specializes in metaphysical stories built with emerging tools, imagining different futures while pushing the boundaries of contemporary storytelling. https://mssngpeces.com https://www.instagram.com/arikuschnir SCHUYLER BROWN Schuyler is a facilitator and creative channel. Former brand strategist and corporate consultant. Focuses on intuitive practice, heart-centered collaboration, and maintaining coherence in chaotic edge-times. Offers embodiment and subtle world practices to keep us human. https://www.artofemergence.com ================================== Please subscribe to the LIminal News Substack Newsletter! https://substack.com/@danielpinchbeck Please buy my books! https://tinyurl.com/mrsmtpwv Please join my online seminars and community at THE LIMINAL INSTITUTE: www.liminal.news Instagram:   @danielpinchbeck Official Website:  www.pinchbeck.io/

In this episode, I'm joined by Frank Schaeffer and Warren Farrell for a deep, unflinching conversation about masculinity, fatherhood, and the growing crisis facing boys and men in modern society. Frank and Warren help me unpack how anger often masks vulnerability, how fatherlessness reshapes culture, and why political polarization is inseparable from unresolved emotional and relational wounds. We talk about masculinity beyond ideology — exploring failure, forgiveness, empathy, parenting, and the search for meaning in a time when old models no longer work and new ones haven't fully emerged. 👤 GUEST BIOS Frank Schaeffer is an author, filmmaker, and cultural commentator whose work explores religion, politics, masculinity, and moral reckoning. The son of evangelical theologian Francis Schaeffer, Frank later became a prominent critic of the religious right and has written candidly about ideology, failure, forgiveness, and grace. His books include "Crazy for God," "Why I Am an Atheist Who Believes in God," and "Portofino." 🔗 https://frankschaeffer.com 🔗 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Schaeffer Dr. Warren Farrell is a psychologist, author, and one of the most influential voices on men's and boys' issues. A former board member of the National Organization for Women (NOW), Warren later focused his work on fatherhood, education, emotional development, and the unintended consequences of cultural change. He is the co-author of "The Boy Crisis" and "When Fathers Win." 🔗 https://warrenfarrell.com 🔗 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Farrell ================================== Please subscribe to the LIminal News Substack Newsletter! https://substack.com/@danielpinchbeck Please buy my books! https://tinyurl.com/mrsmtpwv Please join my online seminars and community at THE LIMINAL INSTITUTE: www.liminal.news Instagram:   @danielpinchbeck Official Website:  www.pinchbeck.io/ #LiminalNews #TheBoyCrisis #FrankSchaeffer #WarrenFarrell #Masculinity #Fatherhood #MenAndBoys #ModernMasculinity #CultureWars #Psychology #MeaningCrisis #Empathy

Are psychic phenomena real—and are science and the humanities finally ready to admit it? In this episode, I speak with Jeffrey Kripal, PhD and Dean Radin, PhD about consciousness, magic, telepathy, UFOs, and why a genuine paradigm shift is already underway. Dean, one of the most prolific researchers in parapsychology, and chief scientist at the Institute for Noetic Sciences, describes how academic institutions—from Harvard on down—are suddenly opening their doors to rigorous studies of psychic phenomena. "The seesaw has turned… we are in the midst of the paradigm shift right now," he tells me. Jeffrey, a leading scholar of religion, explores how UFOs, psychedelics, synchronicities, and anomalous experiences challenge both rigid materialism and religious fundamentalism. He argues that a deeper, more integrated model—dual-aspect monism—is needed to understand what's emerging. https://jeffreyjkripal.com https://www.deanradin.com/ https://noetic.org/ ================================== Please subscribe to the LIminal News Substack Newsletter! https://substack.com/@danielpinchbeck Please buy my books! https://tinyurl.com/mrsmtpwv Please join my online seminars and community at THE LIMINAL INSTITUTE: www.liminal.news Instagram:   @danielpinchbeck Official Website:  www.pinchbeck.io/ #LiminalNews #JeffreyKripal #DeanRadin #Consciousness #PsiResearch #Paranormal #Magic #UFOs #Telepathy #Psychedelics #Philosophy #AIConsciousness #QuantumMind #FutureOfScience #Spirituality

Former tech executive and political writer Mike Brock joins me for one of the most urgent and explosive conversations we've had on the channel — covering Trump's accelerating authoritarianism, the GOP civil war, Silicon Valley's Christian turn, Epstein revelations, and the structural collapse of American democracy in real time. In this new episode of LIMINAL NEWS, I speak with writer and former tech executive Mike Brock, whose recent Substack essays have gone viral for their sharp, insider-level analysis of the American political meltdown. We explore the dizzying speed at which Trump's second-term movement is consolidating power, the internal rebellion within the conservative legal world, the unraveling of the Republican establishment, and why state-level GOP leaders may finally be defecting. Mike dissects the incentives, psychology, and ideology driving both Trumpworld and the Democratic establishment — from "ultra-processed speech" to the death throes of the old party structure. We also dive into Silicon Valley's new fascination with Christian nationalism, Peter Thiel's metaphysics, the collapsing "simulation" of technocratic liberalism, the moral vacuum in American media, and the corrupt machinery behind ICE raids, billionaire protection networks, and the post-democratic executive branch. 🔹 Guest Bio: Mike Brock is a former Silicon Valley executive (most recently on the leadership team at Block) and a writer whose Substack Notes from the Circus explores the breakdown of democratic institutions, Big Tech's cultural influence, and the meaning of power in the digital age. 🔗Mike Brock on Substack: https://substack.com/@mikebrock ================================== Please subscribe to the LIminal News Substack Newsletter! https://substack.com/@danielpinchbeck Please buy my books! https://tinyurl.com/mrsmtpwv Please join my online seminars and community at THE LIMINAL INSTITUTE: www.liminal.news Instagram:   @danielpinchbeck Official Website:  www.pinchbeck.io/ #LiminalNews #DanielPinchbeck #MikeBrock #AmericanPolitics #Authoritarianism #GOPCivilWar #EpsteinEmails #SiliconValley #ChristianNationalism #Trump2025 #Democracy #PoliticalAnalysis #CurrentEvents

Can ancient plant medicines and indigenous traditions help heal our fractured civilization? Daniel Pinchbeck speaks with Roman Hanis—author of Beyond Ayahuasca and co-founder of the Paititi Institute—about his two decades apprenticing with Amazonian elders, bridging Tibetan Buddhism, Jungian psychology, and ecological preservation. In this episode of LIMINAL NEWS, I speak with Roman Hanis, author of "Beyond Ayahuasca" and co-founder of the Paititi Institute for the Preservation of Ecology and Indigenous Culture. For over twenty years, Roman has lived and apprenticed among Andean and Amazonian elders, integrating traditional plant-medicine lineages with Tibetan Vajrayana, Jungian psychology, and Daoist internal alchemy. We explore the deeper meaning of "sacred reciprocity," the illness of forgetfulness that afflicts modern civilization, and what it means to reconnect with the original wisdom of the heart. Roman shares his own healing journey from chronic illness to remission in the rainforest, the founding of his eco-spiritual community, and his vision for uniting ancestral wisdom with modern science through rites of passage, education, and intercultural healing. 🌿 Roman Hanis — https://paititi-institute.org 📘 "Beyond Ayahuasca" - https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Ayahuasca-Unlocking-Evolutionary-Indigenous/dp/1401979599 ================================== Please subscribe to the LIminal News Substack Newsletter! https://substack.com/@danielpinchbeck Please buy my books! https://tinyurl.com/mrsmtpwv Please join my online seminars and community at THE LIMINAL INSTITUTE: www.liminal.news Instagram:   @danielpinchbeck Official Website:  www.pinchbeck.io/ #LiminalNews #RomanHanis #BeyondAyahuasca #Ayahuasca #PaititiInstitute #PlantMedicine #IndigenousWisdom #DanielPinchbeck #Consciousness #Ecology #Psychedelics #SpiritualHealing #AmazonRainforest #TibetanBuddhism #JungianPsychology

This is an audio version of my recent video essay  based on my recent Substack post, "Toxic Empathy: The Supreme Court and the Death of Christian Compassion." I explore how right-wing Christian nationalism has inverted the moral teachings of Jesus—transforming empathy into sin and cruelty into virtue. Drawing on Herbert Marcuse, Joy DeGruy, and the Gospels, I unpack how repression, self-denial, and hierarchy have been sanctified as "tough love." Read the original essay here: https://danielpinchbeck.substack.com/... Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uudg-3tORj0 📚 References & Mentions Eros and Civilization — Herbert Marcuse Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome — Joy DeGruy Toxic Empathy — Allie Beth Stuckey The Sermon on the Mount, Gospel of Matthew Liberation Theology — Gustavo Gutiérrez, Leonardo Boff Meister Eckhart, Christian Mysticism ================================== Please subscribe to the LIminal News Substack Newsletter! https://substack.com/@danielpinchbeck Please buy my books! https://tinyurl.com/mrsmtpwv Please join my online seminars and community at THE LIMINAL INSTITUTE: www.liminal.news Instagram:   @danielpinchbeck Official Website:  www.pinchbeck.io/ #ToxicEmpathy #ChristianNationalism #DanielPinchbeck #LiminalNews #ErosAndCivilization #JoyDeGruy #LiberationTheology #PostTraumaticSlaveSyndrome #MeisterEckhart #Theology #Philosophy #Psychoanalysis #ReligionAndPolitics #CulturalCritique #VideoEssay #evangelism #christiannationalism #christofascism #christianity

I sit down with Ramez Naam—scientist, technologist, and award-winning sci-fi author—to unpack how we arrived at the brink of democratic collapse, and what we can still do to pull back. Ramez and I first met years ago at Burning Man. Since then, he's become one of the most lucid voices connecting climate change, clean energy, technology, and political reform. We talk about the tech industry's dangerous silence, the manipulation of social media, the rise of AI influence operations, and why "everything is downstream from protecting democracy." He also shares hopeful insights about the unstoppable rise of clean energy, how humor and compassion can still bridge divides, and why the fight for the future will be won through both emotional resilience and civic action.  🎙️ Guest Bio: Ramez Naam is a computer scientist, futurist, and former Microsoft program manager. He's the author of The Infinite Resource: The Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet and the award-winning Nexus science-fiction trilogy. His work explores the intersection of technology, climate, and human evolution. 🔗 https://x.com/ramez 🔗 https://rameznaam.com/ ================================== Please subscribe to the LIminal News Substack Newsletter! https://substack.com/@danielpinchbeck Please buy my books! https://tinyurl.com/mrsmtpwv Please join my online seminars and community at THE LIMINAL INSTITUTE: www.liminal.news Instagram:   @danielpinchbeck Official Website:  www.pinchbeck.io/ #RamezNaam #LiminalNews #DanielPinchbeck #Democracy #Authoritarianism #ClimateCrisis #CleanEnergy #TechEthics #AI #FutureOfDemocracy #BurningMan #PoliticalPolarization #SocialMedia #TrumpEra #Futurism

I sat down with Adbusters founder Kalle Lasn to talk about his new book "Manifesto for World Revolution" and his call for a "third crack at world revolution." Lasn reflects on the legacy of Occupy Wall Street and 1968, arguing that real change requires vision, not reaction. We explore his ideas for true-cost markets, meta memes, and a new Bottoms Up Majority Party—a "Third Force" that could redefine politics for the 21st century. Along the way, Kalle explains why activism must move beyond left and right, and why, in his words, humanity needs to "learn how to wobble again." 🎙️ Guest Bio: Kalle Lasn is the founder and editor of Adbusters magazine, known for its groundbreaking campaigns Buy Nothing Day and Occupy Wall Street. A lifelong media activist and cultural provocateur, he has written several influential books including "Culture Jam," "Design Anarchy," "Meme Wars," and "Manifesto for World Revolution." His work continues to inspire global movements for social and ecological transformation. 🔗 https://www.adbusters.org/ ================================== Please subscribe to the LIminal News Substack Newsletter! https://substack.com/@danielpinchbeck Please buy my books! https://tinyurl.com/mrsmtpwv Please join my online seminars and community at THE LIMINAL INSTITUTE: www.liminal.news Instagram:   @danielpinchbeck Official Website:  www.pinchbeck.io/ #LiminalNews #KalleLasn #Adbusters #WorldRevolution #OccupyWallStreet #CultureJam #DanielPinchbeck #ThirdForce #MetaMemes #ClimateCrisis #TrueCostMarkets #GenZActivism #PoliticalChange #EcologicalEconomics #SystemicShift