Decoding the Gurus Podcast Por Christopher Kavanagh and Matthew Browne arte de portada

Decoding the Gurus

Decoding the Gurus

De: Christopher Kavanagh and Matthew Browne
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An 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!Copyright 2025 Christopher Kavanagh and Matthew Browne Ciencia Ciencias Sociales
Episodios
  • Supplementary Material 36: Comedy Cults, Toxic Mould, and WW2 Revisionism

    Supplementary Material 36: Comedy Cults, Toxic Mould, and WW2 Revisionism
    Aug 29 2025

    We risk contamination with toxic mould, endure distressing initiation rituals to a comedy cult, and ponder if the narratives we have received about the Nazis have enough nuance.

    The full episode is available to Patreon subscribers (2 hours, 21 minutes).

    Join us at: https://www.patreon.com/DecodingTheGurus

    Supplementary Material 36

    00:00 Introduction and an Intervention

    01:59 Tomatoes, Holidays, and Hollywood Remakes

    06:15 AI x Indulgent People

    06:41 AI Chatbots and Delusional Gurus

    10:46 Sir Robert Edward Grant and the Architect

    12:26 Critiquing the Critics

    13:31 Eric Weinstein engages with Dialogos with his silicon friend Grok

    22:25 Tim Nguyen details the Distributed Weinstein Suppression Complex

    24:20 Sabine Hossenfelder's Google Doc

    27:10 2+2 Discourse and a surprise appearance from Kareem Carr

    29:34 Chris's 10 Tips for Sabine

    34:39 Coffeezilla does more Anomaly Hunting on Epstein Videos

    37:50 Conspiracy Chat

    39:58  Ghislaine Maxwell's potential deal

    42:29 Thoughts on the Elephant Graveyard's Video on the Joe Rogan Comedy Cult

    49:45 Details vs Vibes

    52:46 Rogan's Fact-Checking and Comedian Dynamics

    54:54 The Rogan Anti-Human Tech Elite Conspiracy Theory

    59:40 Master Geniuses vs. a bunch of dickheads who like the same stuff

    01:03:55 Lex Friedman and the Role of Softball Interviews

    01:06:28 Conspiracy Theories vs. Real Conspiracies

    01:15:51 Overall thoughts on the Elephant Graveyard Video Essay

    01:19:18 Ana Kasparian thinks the Jews knew about 9/11

    01:22:21 Jordan Peterson's Health and Mould Toxicity

    01:24:24 Good Fungus vs Bad Mould

    01:26:08 Bespoke Medicine and American Individualism

    01:29:57 Streamers saying Stupid Things: Taylor Lorenz on DSA Nazis

    01:33:08 Populist anti-vaccine rhetoric in Japan!

    01:35:58 Bill Maher and Andrew Huberman discuss the problems with medicine

    01:38:40 Chris Rufo and Right Wing Outrage over the Cracker Barrel logo

    01:42:31 The War on Christmas in Australia

    01:44:35 Jonathan Pageau's revisionist World War II symbolism

    01:48:29 Pageau's Postmodern Narratives

    02:03:32 Finding the Balance between Nazism and Liberalism

    02:14:02 Random Shoutout

    02:15:45 Matt's Cognitive Decline and Professor Archetypes

    Sources

    • Article on Sir Robert Edward Grant and The Architect
    • Eric talking with his silicon friend @grok
    • Eric waxing lyrical about Grok and praising Elon for his unique insights
    • Tim Nguyen — Physics Grifters: Eric Weinstein, Sabine Hossenfelder, and a Crisis of Credibility
    • Sabine vindicates herself in a Google Doc
    • Kareem Carr thinks Sabine’s document is great!
    Más Menos
    46 m
  • Supplementary Material 35: Cult Leaders, Gurus, and Evil Economists

    Supplementary Material 35: Cult Leaders, Gurus, and Evil Economists
    Aug 19 2025

    We face a disciplinary crisis as the twin pillars of Game Theory and Gurometry are called into question.

    The full episode is available to Patreon subscribers (1 hour, 35 minutes).

    Join us at: https://www.patreon.com/DecodingTheGurus

    Supplementary Material 35

    00:05 Introduction

    01:52 Matt's Apology

    06:55 Just Life...

    12:34 Matt's Foodie Corner

    14:01 Dedunking Dan Richards finds Sabine

    16:37 Sabine cultivates parasocial defenders

    18:16 Ana Kasparian gets deeper into ZOG conspiracies

    24:44 Gary vs Game Theory

    40:26 Support the Channel to Save the World

    47:10 Bryan Johnson and Methylene blue

    51:52 Scientific Cosplay Online

    53:51 Keith Rainiere and Sensemaking Parallels

    54:57 High IQ YoungHoon Kim tweets about proof of God

    56:19 Guru and Cult Leader Parallels

    01:01:13 The Validity of the Gurometer in Question?!?

    01:03:03 Hacking Social Heuristics

    01:07:38 Cult Leaders vs Secular Gurus

    01:12:33 Anti-Democratic moves by Trump

    01:15:03 Dan Carlin on Trump

    01:18:30 Streamers Talking Nonsense: Hasan on ISIS

    01:21:24 Ideological Fixation and Motivated Conspiracism

    01:27:22 Outro

    Sources

    • The Cushendun Sea Caves from Game of Thrones
    • Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is Boosting Tourism
    • DeDunking: Eric Weinstein's Theory — Real Physicist vs Pseudo Poser
    • Ana Kasparian tweeting about the “Zionist Occupied Government”
    • Gary’s Economics: Game Theory is Broken
    • Critical Reddit thread on Gary’s Game Theory video
    • Henrich, J., McElreath, R., Barr, A., Ensminger, J., Barrett, C., Bolyanatz, A., ... & Ziker, J. (2006). Costly punishment across human societies. Science, 312(5781), 1767–1770.
    • The Selfish Gene, Chapter 12: Nice Guys Finish First (Richard Dawkins)
    • High IQ YoungHoon Kim tweets about proof of God
    • I was Jordan Peterson’s strongest supporter. Now I think he’s dangerous
    • Dan Carlin’s tweet about Trump
    • BBC: National Guard troops appear in Washington DC as mayor rejects Trump's 'authoritarian push'
    • Nathan Baker: Keith Raniere, Ringleader of NXIVM Sex Slave Cult, Interviewed by Allison Mack, Top Cult...
    Más Menos
    30 m
  • Naval Ravikant: Predictable Polemics and Empty Aphorisms

    Naval Ravikant: Predictable Polemics and Empty Aphorisms
    Aug 18 2025

    In this watery simulation of an episode, Matt and Chris uncover the true purpose of Scott Adams’ existence: not to shape reality, but to provide training data for future AIs working on plumbing-related problems. Somewhere in a cosmic server farm, Scott is endlessly confronted with blocked drains, dripping faucets, and municipal water conspiracies, while his “insights” fuel the next generation of household maintenance bots.

    Against this surreal backdrop, Naval Ravikant enters the scene — investor, tweeter, self-styled philosopher, and, in practice, just another discourse surfer riding the waves of online conspiracism. The conversation opens with a familiar chorus of right-wing talking points, drifts into feverish speculation about lawfare, censorship, and “imported voters,” and finally winds down in the dim light of dorm-room metaphysics, where slogans like “happiness is a choice” are served up as if they were profound insights.

    Naval presents himself as a detached sage, offering a boutique blend of political commentary and Daoist-tinged wisdom. In reality, he delivers little more than predictable polemics and recycled aphorisms. Imagining himself a great man of history dispensing lyrical truths in tweet-sized form, he produces nothing that rises above the usual culture-war debris. The posture is Buddha-with-a-smartphone; the reality is a credulous tech elite mistaking his own Twitter feed for a philosophy seminar.

    What follows is Elon-as-Ben-Franklin fanboying, Trump rebranded as a “bottom-up” leader of the people, and a level of self-congratulation so thick it could be used to terraform Mars. By the end, you may find yourself nostalgic for the leaky pipes in Scott’s simulation — at least they produce real water...

    Sources

    • Modern Wisdom (Chris Williamson): 44 Harsh Truths About The Game Of Life - Naval Ravikant (4K)
    • Real Coffee with Scott Adams: Conversation with Naval Ravikant
    Más Menos
    3 h y 9 m
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Wonderfully entertaining and insightful, as well as excessively verbose!
I adore the conversations.
I also appreciate not having to do my own research.

Thurough assessments

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Chris and Matt are carrying hammers trying to Whack-A-Mole all the gurus coming out of their misinformed, self-indulgent, self-aggrandizing, conspiratorial podcast holes. The hosts are approaching the topics in good faith. If you are interested in understanding how gurus build their cult-like following, and the techniques they use to manipulate their listeners, then the boys have you covered. The main critique I have for the podcast is that it's a tad bit too long at times. If you don't find the topics interesting, they have funny accents.

A much needed podcast in the age of gurus.

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Two ignorant rambling researchers think its hilarious to treat serious issues like gender dysphoria with toxic and immature mockery. What right do they have to causually cissplain (with a known transphobic Helen Lewis) anything to anyone? Do they realise what it's like to grow up confused about identity. Do they talk about the mental and physical abuse perpetrated by others on the LGBTQIA+ community or the unacceptable suicide rates? No. They just compare fighting for human decency and rights of every individual to the despicable orthodoxy of churches that believe in superbeings who created the earth and let all their disciples get away with pedophilia! They just pretend they are objective because their whole life has revolved around an insecure, fragile, colonial biased paradigm. Brainwashed and self-delusional. They think they are objective because they mock those hate crime mongers from the IDW. That childish sarcasm and laughter when talking about Peterson and the ilk, and then that vomit inducing feeling sorry/not sorry for being 'meanies' is nothing more than acting as apologists for those criminal misogynists and supporting hate speech. Barely able to listen to an older one on Ibram X Kendi but it is obvious they have a major issue with critical race theory, anti-racism and the BLM movement. I will issue a formal complaint about this podcast and hope you will do the same.

Toxic bigotted juveniles must be muted

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