Conspirituality

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The MAHA Chiropractic Hub had a big launch in Washington DC this week, with RFK Jr extolling the benefits of the practice—and promising to redirect research funds their way as his movement attempts to spread chiropractic throughout the American healthcare system. But can back cracks really "reset the entire nervous system," as one MAHA-endorsed speaker claims? Or is the profession just dressing up subluxation theory, which has never been clinically validated, for the modern age?

Derek and Julian discuss the four objectives of the Chiropractic Hub, what this could mean for American healthcare, and how Kennedy is likely helping funnel money earmarked for actual scientific research into this ghost religion. They begin with a brief history of chiropractic.

Show Notes

Subluxation Theory: A Belief System That Continues to Define the Practice of Chiropractic

Chiropractic Vertebral Subluxations: Science vs. Pseudoscience

Subluxation: dogma or science?

Chiropractic subluxation is still "unsupported speculation"

Chiropractic: A Skeptical View

Effect of chiropractic treatment on primary or early secondary prevention: a systematic review

This is how science dies
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The pharmaceutical industry is filled with greedy businessmen getting innocent consumers hooked on their toxic products in order to barely keep them alive. But if you want to actually thrive, an entire array of natural supplements are just a click away.

So goes most every wellness pitch on social media. Mallory DeMille returns to break down the marketing techniques as we dive into the sordid world of supplements and peptide creation, which, in reality, is not dissimilar from pharmaceuticals. In fact, many products use the same manufacturing processes and production plants, as Derek discusses.

In the final segment, Julian revisits Bryan Johnson, the centimillionaire on a quest to live to 200, and what his recent chronic illness diagnosis says about pumping your body filled with experimental drugs.

Show Notes

Bryan Johnson Autoimmune Gastritis Explained

What everyone got wrong about biohacker Bryan Johnson’s viral diagnosis: A medical expert weighs in

What Bryan Johnson’s diagnosis says about the limits of health tracking, longevity medicine
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Matthew considers two registers of painful eulogy: spectacles thrown for elite terrible people, and the music offered for ordinary terrible people, when we can manage it.

Lindsey Graham's death triggered a wave of bullshit from Trump, Harris, Booker, Netanyahu, and Canadian PM Mark Carney — while online ghouls predicted the same fate for Mitch McConnell and Trump.

Where does the elite eulogy reflex come from? Ancient taboo, Thucydides on praise as a function of a rival's removal, and terror management theory on why elites protect their own at the moment of death.

Then we have a music thanatologist's story about playing harp for a dying man nobody liked, and what it teaches about the difference between forgiveness that strengthens ordinary people and deference toward the powerful.
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Graham Platner’s recent 11-minute video, where he announced he was dropping out of his bid for the US Senate, is filled with some of the hallmarks we heard during peak QAnon: there's a deep state conspiracy between powerful politicians and the media to destroy me. The truth, as Derek and Julian cover, is anything but.

They look at Platner’s campaign and, by contrast, another recent incident: two instances of public harassment against Scott Wiener, the progressive state senator from California who recently won a primary to try to replace Nancy Pelosi, and how that intersects with the type of political rhetoric we’re enduring this political cycle.
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Jordan Peterson is back. After a hiatus due to a, well, a whole lot of problems, he’s up for regular posting on his social media channels. We’re going to take a look at what’s happened over the last year or so of his absence, followed by his influence in the so-called manosphere podcast world. Then Matthew will offer a different perspective on podcasting that’s making waves: the Dominican Sisters Open Mic.

Show Notes

Who is looksmaxxing really for?

When Help Is Harm: Health, Lookism and Self-Improvement in the Manosphere

Men Need Better Fitness Role Models
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