Dr. Theodora Wildcroft joins us again to take us through the basics of contemporary Religious Studies. She discusses how the discipline approaches issues of ritual, value, meaning, charisma, and role-playing, while also leading us through the process by which objects, places, and people become sacred. Spoiler: it’s more about what we do than what we believe.

Wildcroft also dissects the chronic problem of conspiritualists weaponizing myths of rebellion and recovery.

Matthew gives a brief rundown on the trainwreck of Mikki Willis’s “Plandemic 2,” and also talks about the Q-map as an artistic (if delusional) landscape of comfort and connection. Derek contemplates the chemicals we don’t question while putting onto or inside of our bodies, while Julian homes in on one particular chemical: the pyramid scheme propped up by Big Essential Oil.

Show Notes

The QAnon map

How to spot a conspiracy theory – Expert guide to conspiracy theories part one

Mandala Offering – Ring Set Version

Lotsawa House: Mandala Offering

Deep State Mapping Project

Was Lewis Carroll a Pedophile? His Photographs Suggest So

Travis View on Twitter

2019 Plastic Surgery Statistics Report

Risk Associated with Bee Venom Therapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Class Action: Young Living ‘Nothing More Than an Unlawful Pyramid Scheme’

Multi-Level Vaccine Refusal

Very simplistic visual example of how conspiracy theories can become transnational

Deconstructing the placebo effect and finding the meaning response

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