RFK Jr is one of the greatest perpetrators of a firehose of falsehoods that we’ve ever covered. The stakes were raised when he was installed as head of America’s public health system. A new longform article in The Atlantic offers an inside look at the history and current thinking of this man, as insightful for what it offers as telling for what it omits. We discuss the role of journalism in an age defined by propaganda.
Show Notes
Scoop: The new #2 at CDC is a top ivermectin prescriber who ended Louisiana’s vaccine-promotion media campaigns
Doctor Critical of Vaccines Quietly Appointed as C.D.C.’s Second in Command
CDC Quietly Turned Off Its Vaccine Search Tool. It’s Not Clear When It’s Coming Back.
The Olivia Nuzzi and RFK Jr. Affair Is Messier Than We Ever Could Have Imagined
RFK Jr. and the Inexplicable Appeal of Repulsive Men
RFK Jr. is overhauling the program that helps preserve Americans' access to vaccines
Why Is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. So Convinced He’s Right?
Nature: Pertussis, A Tale of Two Vaccines
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1:08:18
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1:08:18
Bonus Sample: How Does Andrew Wakefield Keep Getting Resurrected?
Listen to the full episode.
With the CDC recently updating its website with anti-vax propaganda under the direction of RFK Jr, disgraced and disbarred physician, Andrew Wakefield, is back in the news. In fact, Senator Ron Johnson even tweeted out that he deserves an apology. He must be relying on short attention spans, given all the ways Wakefield manipulated the “study” that showed a link between vaccines and autism—even though the study itself found no such proof.
Derek revisits the retracted 1998 study, as well as shows just how much proof exists to the contrary of the CDC’s new page.
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5:53
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5:53
Brief: Black Friday’s Wellness Extravaganza
Derek and Julian survey all of the incredible, life-changing deals going down this weekend in Wellnesslandia.
Show Notes
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
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34:24
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34:24
285: Can Peter Attia Live Forever?
In the wildly popular biohacking and longevity space, Peter Attia is often cited as one of the leading luminaries. His straightforward, science-backed approach seems to cut through the noise in a space dominated by fit bros and wellness grifters who always seem to have a product to sell. But the man who dropped out of residency at Johns Hopkins to found a private clinic focused on longevity has his share of critics, who are a bit suspicious about his self-experimentations—and the millions he makes counseling Silicon Valley insiders about experimental medicine.
This week we take a look at longevity broadly and Attia specifically. Derek kicks off the episode with a recap of his time at Eudemonia Summit, where, among other things, he got to debate another leading biohacker, Dave Asprey, about seed oils. As it turns out, longevity was the top buzzword there as well.
I Went to Eudemonia – a Wellness Summit with the Industry's Top Thought Leaders – Here's What It Was Like
Outlive: A Critical Review
A Review of OUTLIVE
Critiquing Peter Attia
Andrew Huberman and Peter Attia: Self-enhancement, supplements & doughnuts?
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1:11:18
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1:11:18
Bonus Sample: Graeber vs Bannon, Anarchism vs Leninism (Part 2)
This bonus episode is Part 2 of Graeber vs Bannon, Anarchism vs Leninism.
I start in the 1870s with Marx and Bakunin fighting over the joys and traumas of the Paris Commune. Marx sees it as an imperfect but historic prototype of a workers’ transitional state, cut down before it could consolidate power. Bakunin reads it as a betrayal of anarchist principles — too willing to replicate the machinery it meant to overthrow. Out of that conflict comes a rift that still haunts us: should revolution be disciplined, organized, and strategic, or spontaneous, horizontal, and permanently suspicious of institutions?
I explore David Graeber as a hopeful modern anarchist, highlighting his idea of “everyday communism”—the mutual aid and cooperation we already practice—and his vision of Occupy as a revelation of our capacity to act as if we’re free. I contrast this with Marxist-Leninist critiques: the exhaustion of consensus, obstructionism, spectacle without strategy, and the refusal to make demands. A story about my late friend Michael Stone at an Occupy “mic check” shows how openness can invite opportunism. Finally, I contrast No King’s vagueness with MAGA’s fusion of mystical energy and disciplined technocracy—QAnon shamans backed by P2025 architects, vibes condensed to machinery.
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Dismantling New Age cults, wellness grifters, and conspiracy-mad yogis. At best, the conspirituality movement attacks public health efforts in times of crisis. At worst, it fronts and recruits for the fever-dream of QAnon. As the alt-right and New Age horseshoe toward each other in a blur of disinformation, clear discourse, and good intentions get smothered. Charismatic influencers exploit their followers by co-opting conspiracy theories on a spectrum of intensity ranging from vaccines to child trafficking. In the process, spiritual beliefs that have nurtured creativity and meaning are transforming into memes of a quickly-globalizing paranoia. Conspirituality Podcast attempts to bring understanding to this landscape. A journalist, a cult researcher, and a philosophical skeptic discuss the stories, cognitive dissonances, and cultic dynamics tearing through the yoga, wellness, and new spirituality worlds. Mainstream outlets have noticed the problem. We crowd-source, research, analyze, and dream answers to it.
France