Brief: How to Fire a Billionaire

A special Patreon bonus unlocked episode as we enjoy the holidays with our families and friends. Matthew got The Question on the morning after the election. At that moment, he came up with nothing but a hug. But then he chewed on it for days, and came up with eleven things to consider.  So here are some notes for possible conversations with tweens about anxiety, bullies, fascism, friends, mutual aid, and love. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“If you grow up with it, religion is real until you realize it is also imagined. And after a period of disenchantment or even depression that associates imagination with lies, you might then sense that the imagined part was also real, but because it’s imagined, you know you can change it.” Matthew reflects on how Santa becomes more real in the home after the kids know he’s just a story, but a story of unbridled love and causeless generosity they can now participate in telling. Happy holidays, everyone! Show Notes A Christmas Carol: Dedicated to Scrooge, And His Art Collection—McKenzie Wark Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America — Abraham Josephine Riesman Welcome to Neokayfabe—Jodie Reisman  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeffery Tucker is the founder of the MAGA thinktank Brownstone Institute. In 2020, Brownstone published The Great Barrington Declaration, with lead author Jay Bhattacharya—now the nominee for head of the NIH.  Jeffrey’s daughter, Julia, joins Matthew to discuss her dad’s rise through the punditocracy, through decades of fringe libertarian publishing, working for Ron Paul, boosting anarcho-capitalism and crypto, writing for the Epoch Times, and asking such daring questions as: “What’s so wrong about child labour?” Show Notes Patreon: Post-Catholic Music (w/Julia Tucker) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The murder of United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson has set off shockwaves across America. This week we look at the story’s online impact, people mythologizing the alleged killer, its intersection with conspirituality, and the healthcare system in America writ large. Show Notes Jen Gunter on insurance denial for her premature babies' oxygen needs  Exclusive: Luigi's Manifesto - Ken Klippenstein  Savings: Quarter of Americans Have Few, One in 10 Have None | Statista  The Burden of Medical Debt in the United States View of U.S. Healthcare Quality Declines to 24-Year Low MDVIP/Ipsos poll shows Americans are struggling with the healthcare system UnitedHealthcare CEO gunned down in Manhattan sold company stocks just before DOJ probe made public | The Independent  Conservatives Face Backlash From Followers Over UnitedHealthcare Murder - Newsweek  Before fatal subway chokehold, Jordan Neely was on NYC’s list of homeless individuals with dire needs | CNN  Kaiser Study on Health Insurance Satisfaction NIH Debunks Myth that 60% of Bankruptcies are Medical in Nature Luigi Mangione’s Anger Wasn’t Neatly Ideological  Gallup Poll on Health Care Satisfaction Ipsos Poll on Health Care Satisfaction Mental Illness is 13.5 times More Likely In Lone Wolf Shooters  Narcissism, Fame Seeking and Mass Shootings Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The fifth installment of Matthew's Five Big Questions Posed to an Extremely Thoughtful Person.  Dr. Annie Kelly joined us in Episode 61 to lay out her research on the manosphere-to-conspirituality pipeline. Today she joins me to discuss the trouble and joy of balancing extremism research with stories of hope and solidarity. Show Notes Annie Kelly   Vaccine: The Human Story - YouTube Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Extremely online, bearded, Millennial pastors in tailored suits want to repeal women’s suffrage, criminalize gays, and Make America Christian Again. These “TheoBros” even have a guy on the inside: JD Vance. Trump’s Dept of Defense nominee, Pete Hegseth, attends an affiliated church.  Julian tracks their genealogy and ugly ideas, as well as their parallel reactionary theocratic visions wreaking havoc elsewhere in the world today. Stay tuned for conversational reflections and wholesome holiday wishes at the end! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist Talia Lavin joins Derek to discuss her recent book, Wild Faith: How the Christian Right is Taking Over America.  Show Notes Wild Faith: How the Christian Right is Taking Over America Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we ride out the aftershocks of the election and prepare for Trump 2.0, it’s as if nothing is bolted down. Trump’s cabinet appointments signal a disregard for competence or temperament as he seems to prioritize fervent deep state conspiracism and anti-woke aggression in his choices. The chattering classes (both legacy and new media) are on the front lines of having to adapt in real time.  What to do? Double down on anti-fascist resistance, turn the disinformation detection devices up to 11, chart a course for sanguine neutrality, normalize the chaos as the world burns, or maybe give this rag-tag group of billionaire outsiders a chance to move fast and break things—in the hope that some of it was not working anyway?  We look at three different modes of damage control currently ripping through American discourse. Show Notes There’s a conspiracy theory that the CIA invented the term ‘conspiracy theory’ – here’s why 87: The Aubrey Marcus Spectacle 107: An Open Letter to Aubrey Marcus 214: Aubrey Marcus is Totally Not a Cult Leader Winning the Fight for Reproductive Rights in Mexico - Open Society Foundations   Madres de Plaza de Mayo | Learning for Justice  Adweek article on Rogan and MeidasTouch Kash Patel QAnon Appearances Kash Patel Seal Team 6 Endangerment So Marianne Williamson Really is the Peace Candidate—Patreon  “You Feel Like You Are Subhuman”: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza | Amnesty International USA  NLG and Other Legal Groups Send Letter to ICC Urging an Investigation into Potential War Crimes Committed by Israel and US in Gaza under “Operation Protective Edge” Russell Tribunal on Palestine, 2014   Friday 17 November: Twenty thousand Palestinians believed to be killed in Israel’s genocide of Gaza  Campus Protests Led to More Than 3,100 Arrests, but Many Charges Have Been Dropped  Harris campaign rejects claim vice president thinks there is a genocide in Gaza  A Study Reveals CNN and MSNBC’s Glaring Gaza Double Standard | The Nation  Morning Joe: Dems’ Favorite Show, Blatant Pro-Israel Propaganda  The Intercept: Israel-Palestine Coverage  US MSM downplays Amnesty report  TIME on Iranian Foreign Influence Methods Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers in California recently warned that just one mutation in H5N1, the bird flu virus, could make the disease transmissible between humans. While the virus was first identified in 1959 (and became globally significant in 1996), they’re also concerned that increasingly damaging effects of climate change could make us more susceptible to such viruses. The same week, California-based raw milk manufacturer, Raw Farm, was forced to recall its products due to third-party testers discovering it contained H5N1. Derek looks at these converging trends—the wellness-driven fervor over the safety and health benefits of raw milk and the chances of another pandemic—with an investigation into why this matters from a public health perspective. Along the way, he’ll define the three often-confused forms of health in public discourse—individual, population, and public health—and why influencers often confuse them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Exvangelical author Tia Levings joins Matthew to discuss her harrowing memoir of indoctrination, abuse, recovery, and advocacy, The Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy. It’s a wild GenX journey that tells us a lot about the logic of evangelical support for Trumpism, and how those caught within it can see their way clear the gender terror, rape culture, and fantasies of retribution.  Show Notes Tia Levings  This season, Patreon is checking some big things off your wish list Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices