E126. Julian Walker On The Overlap Between Magical Thinking And Conspiracy Theories

Julian Walker is a yoga instructor, writer, and co-host of the podcast Conspirituality. He and Bridget discuss the growing overlap between new age spirituality and conspiracy theory culture in the last few years, how QAnon-influenced ideas started to take hold in the yoga space, the growing trend of anti-intellectualism and shying away from science, the difference between freshman skepticism and healthy skepticism, and why he’s committed to the principle that politics should be boring. Julian talks about growing up in South Africa amid the dismantling of apartheid and the perspective it gave him about reality bubbles, authoritarianism, propaganda, and what a charismatic candidate that arouses a passionate response in their followers means in a society. They talk empathy, morality, purity, cults, gurus, political stability, and why we should give people the benefit of the doubt in conversation rather than going from zero to calling them a Nazi in two seconds.