Decoding the Gurus
133 episodes - English - Latest episode: 22 days ago - ★★★★ - 720 ratingsAn exiled Northern Irish anthropologist and a hitchhiking Australian psychologist take a close look at the contemporary crop of 'secular gurus', iconoclasts, and other exiles from the mainstream, offering their own brands of unique takes and special insights.
Leveraging two of the most diverse accents in modern podcasting, Chris and Matt dig deep into the claims, peek behind the psychological curtains, and try to figure out once and for all... What's it all About?
Join us, as we try to puzzle our way through and talk some smart-sounding smack about the intellectual giants of our age, from Jordan Peterson to Robin DiAngelo. Are they revolutionary thinkers or just grifters with delusions of grandeur?
Join us and let's find out!
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Episodes
Special Episode: Welcome to Weinstein World with special guest David Pizarro
August 27, 2021 16:00 - 2 hours - 112 MBThe Weinstein brothers have been busy bees over the past few weeks/months(!) and it left Matt and Chris with a conundrum. How do they cover them as part of an intro segment without it turning into a five hour podcast? The solution was to make a two hour stand alone special episode purely dedicated to exploring the wonders (and shivering at the occasional horrors) as we try to map the terrain of Weinstein World. To help us navigate the alien geography and provide a 'relatively normal person...
Gad Saad: Oh my Gad, it's the Saadfather!
August 20, 2021 08:00 - 2 hours - 150 MBGad Saad is a Professor of Marketing at Concordia University, author of The Consuming Instinct and, more recently, The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense. Self described as the 'Gadfather' with a podcast called the Saad Truth, he's certainly well versed in puns on his name. But is Prof. Saad the true Godfather of evolutionary consumption as he claims? or is he more of a Fredo, perpetually getting passed over for other Gurufathers? Gad is worried about parasitic br...
Special Episode: Interview with Robert Wright on crackpots, gurus, and modern media ecosystems
August 13, 2021 08:00 - 1 hour - 230 MBThis week we welcome the author, journalist, and podcaster Robert Wright. Robert wrote the popular (and provocative!) book 'Why Buddhism is True' and has hosted many interesting discussions and debates at bloggingheads.tv, which he co-founded. We had a wide ranging discussion that touched on a vast array of topics including: the Weinsteins & their relative crackpot ratings, alternative & Mainstream media ecosystems and how they feed into guruism, what are gurus anyway (and are they all bad)...
Special Episode: Interview with Evan Thompson on Buddhist Exceptionalism
July 30, 2021 04:00 - 1 hour - 179 MBWe class up the podcast this week with another special interview with a philosopher specialising in Asian philosophical traditions, cognitive science, and philosophy of mind. In our discussion with Evan we address the reception and presentation of Buddhism in the West, whether it is accurate to describe it as a mind science, and how 'Buddhist modernism' is related to Buddhist exceptionalism. We also get into debates of the nature of Self and whether Sam Harris is correct to claim that moder...
Carl Sagan: My God, it's full of stars
July 23, 2021 17:00 - 2 hours - 122 MBIn the second instalment of the personal gurus season we take a look at Matt's childhood science guru: the famed astronomer and science communicator Carl Sagan. Sagan's regarded as an intellectual hero amongst skeptics and supporters of science but is the admiration warranted or is this a halo effect enhanced by youthful innocence and the distorting mists of time? Was Matt's first science crush justified? Is Carl as 'right on' as popular sentiment suggests? Join us as we struggle to peer i...
Special Episode: Interview with Daniel Harper on the Far Right & IDW Criticism
July 14, 2021 23:00 - 1 hour - 80.5 MBIn this episode we have an engaging discussion with Daniel Harper host of the anti-fascist podcast 'I Don't Speak German' about his experience covering the Far Right and what constitutes responsible engagement/coverage of various online figures. We cover the role of political perspectives when examining online figures, the use of social media by far right figures, and the use and abuse of political categories. We also cover some potential criticisms with the DTG approach and in so doing ans...
Special Episode: Interview with Amanda Montell on Cultish Linguistics
July 02, 2021 01:00 - 1 hour - 84.5 MBAmanda Montell is an author, linguist, and podcaster with a new book 'Cultish' on "how cultish groups from Jonestown and Scientology to SoulCycle and social media gurus use language" to manipulate followers and cultivate power. In the interview she offers fantastic insights that cover not only guru linguistics but also the social dynamics of modern cults and 'cultish' phenomenon. We learnt a lot from Amanda and hope you will too! Links Amanda's Website Cultish: The Language of Fanatic...
Anthony DeMello: The Bob Ross of Spiritual Gurus?
June 25, 2021 23:15 - 2 hours - 115 MBWell, the hosts have had a good long taste of the culture wars and friends, it is a bitter, bitter draught. As a palette cleanser, we return to a simpler time, a better(?) time... The 1980's! When Chris Kavanagh was young and innocent, running about in short pants with a twinkle in his eye and (I assume) lobbing bricks at RUC armoured vehicles for the craic. At nights he would curl up and listen to CASSETTE tapes of a fellow called Anthony De Mello, while the eyes of Pope Ratzinger would sta...
Special Episode: Interview with Jesse Singal on Quick Fix Psychology
June 18, 2021 05:30 - 1 hour - 69.8 MBAnother week and another extra special interview with journalist, podcaster, and Twitter outrage lightning rod, Jesse Singal. We discuss his new book on Quick Fix psychology, the fallout of the replication crisis, and why we should be skeptical of anyone peddling simple 'one size fits all' solutions to complex social & psychological problems. We have a fun wide ranging discussion covering social media dynamics, the dangers of audience capture, and the goddamn lab leak hypothesis! We also d...
Special Episode: Interview with Tim Nguyen on Geometric Unity
June 11, 2021 23:15 - 1 hour - 66.4 MBDespite promising to leave Weinstein world for an overdue holiday, Matt and Chris have been lured back by a world shattering theory with a cosmic vision of ultimate unity! We are speaking, of course, about Eric Weinstein's revolutionary theory of everything: 'Geometric Unity'. To help uncover the mysteries embedded deep within this scientific Rosetta stone, Matt and Chris are joined by a special guest Tim Nguyen. Tim is a mathematician and the co-author of a recent paper that tried to mathem...
Bret Weinstein & Jordan Peterson: Two gargantuan intellects stare into the abyss
June 04, 2021 06:00 - 3 hours - 178 MBThe big dog of the Intellectual Dark Web, Jordan Peterson, is back! And this hero, this mythical archetype, is welcomed back from his long hiatus by DTG regular, Bret Weinstein . To his credit, Bret does the impossible and makes Jordan seem surprisingly humble and reflexive simply by virtue of comparison. The duo cover a lot of territory, ranging from hot takes about how hospitals probably kill more people than they save (Peterson), the evolutionary modules controlling rape and genocide (W...
Brett Weinstein & Heather Heying: Why are 'they' suppressing Ivermectin, the miracle cure?
May 22, 2021 09:00 - 1 hour - 104 MBThis episode wasn't meant to be about Ivermectin, or Bret and Heather's unique ability to apply an 'evolutionary lens' to understand everything, including virology, epidemiology, immunology and the culture war... but it is..... We meant to make a few topical comments prior to the main episode, but the comments led into some rants, and then with the clips, those rants metastasised into a full-sized episode. So the duo had to travel back in time to record a new introduction, and back again, ...
Michael O"Fallon: The Jacobins are Back..... To Reset..... Everything.... Dun Dun Daah!
May 06, 2021 00:00 - 3 hours - 182 MBJust as the Terror was used by Robespierre and the Jacobins during the French Revolution two centuries ago, fear and draconian control is being used today to usher in... The Great Reset. Or so Michael O'Fallon would have you believe. O'Fallon is the founder of Sovereign Nations, a Christian nationalist organisation that aims to "prepare warriors for the battleground of ideas". He's recently been collaborating with James Lindsay, renowned culture warrior and online troll, to teach us all how...
Gwyneth Paltrow: Crawling with parasites and in need of a cleanse
April 13, 2021 05:00 - 2 hours - 137 MBWho would have thought it, the Hollywood A-lister and founder of the luxury lifestyle brand 'Goop', Gwyneth Paltrow also finds time to host a podcast. Making her a prime target for Matt and Chris, who simply cannot stomach the competition! Fans have the option to join Paltrow in questing for the eternal and well-guarded secrets of health and wellness. But unless you're only after some lip-balm, this total holistic and integrative lifestyle is not going to come cheap! As we learn from her sp...
Special Episode: Sam Harris & Meditation is all you need
April 02, 2021 20:00 - 1 hour - 58 MBSam Harris is a public intellectual who inspires strong reactions both positive and negative. Here, Matt and Chris dip their toes into Sam's introspective universe by analysing a recent 9 minute mini-episode of his Making Sense podcast titled 'Some Points of Confusion'. Sam intended to clear up some recurrent misunderstandings he has observed with maybe as much as 99% audience with this episode. What could be causing such a fundamental error and does he succeed in resolving the confusion? Jo...
Special Episode: Interview with Phrost on Bullshido
March 19, 2021 03:00 - 1 hour - 116 MBMatt and Chris are helped again by a guest in their endless quest to get the bottom of what the Hell is Going On and What It's All About. Phrost describes himself as "the world's most dangeous nerd" and is not only an expert in the fighting arts (like, actual real fighting) but is also no slouch when it comes to combatting bullshit. He identifies as a soldier, a scientist, and as a shill for "Big Reality". And his site bullshido.net as well as his podcast The Art of Fighting BS comes up w...
Ibram X. Kendi: Gurometer Rating (Patreon Preview)
March 11, 2021 23:00 - 46 minutes - 42.2 MBIn this episode we provide a special preview of our usual Patreon content with the follow up discussion and our Gurometer™ scores for Ibram X. Kendi. You can find a summary of all our Gurometer scores thus far available here. Our new subreddit can also be found here.
Ibram X. Kendi: Inside you are two wolves. One of them is racist.
March 05, 2021 23:30 - 2 hours - 149 MBIbram X. Kendi is a Professor of history, director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, and a research fellow at Harvard University. He is also the author of several best-selling and highly influential books on race in America. It seems like everybody has an opinion of Kendi, and when it comes to the online commentariat, those opinions can get pretty hostile. Even among activists and anti-racists, he seems to spark division, with some grouping Kendi together with othe...
Special Episode: Interview with Matthew Remski on Conspirituality
February 20, 2021 17:00 - 1 hour - 92.4 MBToday we talk to Matthew Remski, co-host of the Conspirituality podcast, writer, yoga practitioner, and independent journalist. Matthew is a font of information on the alternative spirituality and health and wellness spheres and he gives Matt and Chris a crash course on the dynamics of those spheres. We discuss a range of topics including the growing overlap between spirituality and right wing politics, the enlightened locker room dynamics of male influencers, the role of invented tradit...
Nassim N. Taleb: Everything these idiots, frauds, and assholes don't understand
February 09, 2021 00:00 - 1 hour - 98.8 MBNassim Taleb, what a mensch. He's got the confidence of a bull in a china shop that has just bought a lycra muscle-shirt and knows it looks great on him. Our guru this week has surveyed the fields of statistics, economics, psychology, actually all of the social sciences, and finds them populated by a gaggle of pale, thin wristed, pocket-protector wearing wimps. Although, he's equally scathing towards COVID-sceptical libertarians, and Matt and Chris (in a totally unbiased manner) find him pr...
Special Episode: Interview with Thi Nguyen, a Gurometer's Guru
January 29, 2021 17:00 - 1 hour - 89.4 MBToday we talk to C. Thi Nguyen, a philosophy professor at University of Utah. He has some excellent insights into the kind of discourse that *feels* like it gives us insight, that wonderful 'aha' moment. Basically, what happens when unscrupulous actors aim to optimise that feeling - putting aside concerns as to whether or not it's the real thing. Thi has previously studied 'moral outrage porn', which is a bit like food porn, but for your emotions. You might say "X-porn" is any material...
Douglas Murray: Can indulgent dinner conversation save OUR civilisation?
January 22, 2021 14:00 - 2 hours - 153 MBDouglas Murray is a British conservative columnist, social pundit, and veteran culture warrior famed for his biting wit and eloquent intellectual speech. But just how much of that is actually down to him having a posh British accent and a tendency to rant about whatever 'bloody' topic he's took a fancy to? Join Matt and Chris for their latest therapy session as they try to process what they've done to their brains by listening to an indulgent and meandering 4.5 hour conversation between Do...
Special Episode: Calibrating the Gurometer
January 08, 2021 23:00 - 1 hour - 74.5 MBChris and Matt take a break from examining the endless stream of Guru galaxy brain takes to offer their own and calibrate their newly minted Gurometer. The Gurometer is composed of 10 key characteristics of guruosity which the decoders will be using to score the Gurus in future episodes. Listeners will learn about important concepts, like science hipsterism and pseudo-profound bullshit, and discover just how bad both Chris and Matt are at segways! Links The Gurometer 'current draft' Goog...
Contrapoints: Making Philosophy Fabulous Again
December 28, 2020 04:00 - 1 hour - 108 MBNatalie Wynn is kind of a big deal. Her YouTube channel Contrapoints explores not only philosophy, but also politics and social issues. Praised by august publications such as the New Yorker and the Atlantic, there's little doubt that she has her finger on the pulse of contemporary internet culture (and its wars). The production values, costumes, and set dressings are all a sight to behold... and completely invisible on this podcast. Nevertheless, armed with a menagerie of alter-egos, Contra...
Special Episode: Entering the Portal
December 18, 2020 19:00 - 1 hour - 80.5 MBChris and Matt take a peak behind the curtain at Guru Community dynamics in the Web 2.0 era in an extended interview with Dan Gilbert, a self described 'Discord creature'. Dan provides insights from his long term participation in Eric Weinstein's 'Unofficial Portal' Discord and reveals the mystery behind the 'mentally unstable' community member! If you ever wanted to learn about the intricate distinctions between Geometric Unity, and Geometric Marginalism or the ill fated outcome of Eric's ...
Scott Adams: Chris and Matt Go to Hell
December 10, 2020 05:00 - 2 hours - 125 MBScott Adams, creator of Dilbert, has since written self-help books like 'Win Bigly' & 'Loserthink' and now hosts his own podcast "Coffee with Scott Adams". In mild-mannered, folksy, and avuncular style, he has a 'simultaneous sip' of coffee, a little chuckle with his listeners, and then they chat about the events of the day and how democracy is a farce and maybe a benevolent dictatorship would be preferable. Scott's fatherly advice is geared towards one thing: undermining your belief that ...
Russell Brand: Spiritual Transcendence and Anarchic Revolution is Praxis
November 21, 2020 08:00 - 2 hours - 115 MBRussell Brand is a hip bohemian Englishman on the path to enlightenment. And he likes the ineffable. Like, a lot. The decoders kinda like him too, despite the fact they really struggle to eff him at all. Really, Matt has no effing idea what he is babbling about most of the time, but Chris, being 'English-adjacent', seems to make a better job of it. Imagine smoking pot and talking big ideas with your precocious college room-mate at 2am in the morning. Now give him some methamphetamine, and y...
Rutger Bregman: Piglets vs. Toddlers
November 07, 2020 08:00 - 2 hours - 123 MBRutger Bregman is a Dutch Historian who wants to tell the world that humans are actually fundamentally kind, hunter gatherer societies contain important wisdom about how to live well, and that collectively we need to cooperate to do something about climate change and economic inequality. So, obviously there was no way Chris and Matt could let these dangerous ideas go unchallenged! Join them this week as they delve into one of Rutger's talks and address Noble Savage myths and other age old d...
Special Episode: Is Eric Weinstein Feynman-Negative?
October 30, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 73.4 MBEric Weinstein has a habit of inserting mini conspiracy laden "audio-essays" at the beginning of his podcast The Portal. The one released this week was impressive even by Eric's standards. So, the duo took took a break from preparing for their next episode on Rutger Bregman to release a Special Bonus Episode, Hot off the press! In the episode you will learn about Seberging, Milgram-negative people, and obscure Russian Penal Codes. You will also learn that the concept of Fake News is actuall...
JP Sears: Get Ultra Spiritual, Resist the Government, and Promote Coronavirus Conspiracies
October 23, 2020 08:00 - 2 hours - 116 MBJP Sears is quite the contradictory figure. He's well known for his YouTube videos mocking alternative health and spirituality, but he also sells natural supplements, and is a life coach / spiritual mentor. He's all about positive thinking and natural supplements, but he's spending most of his time now railing against the mainstream media, the Deep State, and COVID restrictions. As Chris and Matt dig deeper, it becomes clear that JP occupies an interesting place, at the nexus of trenchant l...
Jordan Peterson: The Alchemical Lemon explains the Crystalline Structure of Logos
October 09, 2020 08:00 - 2 hours - 134 MBChris and Matt finally discuss the big kahuna Jordan Peterson by taking a deep dive into his extended 2017 interview on the Transliminal YouTube channel titled 'Ideology, Logos & Belief'. They learn about the alchemical nature of lemons, whether a professional footballer is playing a game or living life, and Jordan Peterson's crystal clear views on the nature of Jesus & his resurrection. Some people will say this episode is too cynical, but it's like... 'No. It isn't, man!' And furthermore...
James Lindsay: The monkey is out of the box and it HATES liberalism
September 23, 2020 08:00 - 1 hour - 110 MBChris and Matt discuss James Lindsay's talk at the Speaking Truth to Social Justice conference held at the ostentatious National Liberal Club, in an episode that will disappoint Lindsay fanboys and haters alike. Blindingly hot takes include, "He's a bit hyperbolic" and "Critical Theory is complicated". They discuss some pretty strong metaphors (or are they analogies?) of Critical Social Justice involving monkeys, viruses, and boxes. Most importantly, the duo establish definitively that, de...
Eric and Bret Weinstein: A Dark Horse Gallops through the Portal
September 09, 2020 08:00 - 3 hours - 181 MBMatt and Chris introduce themselves and the overall concept for the podcast then take a deep dive into an infamous episode of Eric Weinstein's podcast 'The Portal', featuring his brother Bret Weinstein (Episode 19). They cast a critical eye over Eric and Bret's claims that they are fighting back against the 'Distributed Idea Suppression Complex' and alerting the world to one of the greatest untold scientific scandals of the modern era.