Strange billboards have been popping up all over Los Angeles featuring disgraced Theranos founder, Elizabeth Holmes, and an unidentified man listing a new URL—one that redirects to the Theranos website. Against all odds, the brand is back, with a wellness twist, as the new founder is directly courting MAHA. Derek and Julian dive in.

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We catch up on three figures this week.

First is Bari Weiss, who's trying to sell her upstart media org, The Free Press, to Skydance for a reported $250 million, just days after the network's merger with Paramount was approved and they said bye-bye to Stephen Colbert.

Then we talk about RFK Jr's continued dismantling of our public health system, as well as an interesting lawsuit filed by the very nonprofit he founded.

Finally, we look into Texas state representative and Presbyterian pastor-in-training, James Talarico, and discuss his viral moment on Joe Rogan.

Show Notes

Anti-vaccine group that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. founded files lawsuit against him over vaccine safety task force

RFK Jr. to Oust Advisory Panel on Cancer Screenings, HIV Prevention Drugs

Was Colbert Cancelled for Trump?

Bari Weiss in Talks with Skydance for $250M

Billionaires Back Anti-Woke “University.”

James Talarico Delivers Sermon Against Christian Nationalism 

James Talarico Questions Republican Bill Forcing Ten Commandments To Be Displayed In Classrooms 

Joe Rogan Experience #2352 - James Talarico 

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MAHA hates petroleum-based food dyes. Yet, as Derek unpacks, many of the main influencers in this movement monetize products synthesized by the same exact chemical process.

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Mehdi Hasan's recent Jubilee appearance has blown up—and so has criticism of the entire media operation. Derek and Julian discuss the value and pitfalls of this format, contrasting the far-right participants sitting across from Hasan from another recent episode, when atheists went to battle with Jordan Peterson.

Show Notes

1 Progressive vs 20 Far-Right Conservatives (ft. Mehdi Hasan)

Jordan Peterson vs 20 Atheists

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Jeffrey Epstein’s name is being screamed into the headlines again. The late and former self-described best-friend of Donald Trump's highly suspicious 2019 death following his arrest for child sex trafficking has been a loose thread for both rabid conspiracists and the reality-based community.

Now that prominent conspiracy personalities are in the highest positions in America's law enforcement agencies, the QAnon faithful have been expecting all the damning details about the Democrat cabal to emerge. But that's not what's happened.

Now Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, and Dan Bongino are in the collective hot seat as MAGA demand answers, while some appear to be colluding with Donald Trump in their own Deep State cover-up.

CORRECTION: Matthew misstated the Virginia Guiffre was allegedly assaulted by Prince Philip. The allegation is against Prince Andrew, who is still alive and can still be tried.

Show Notes

Why is MAGA so obsessed with the Epstein files?

Trump can't stop MAGA from obsessing about the Epstein files

Why do Trump's MAGA followers care so much about the Epstein files?

Republicans are split over the Trump administration’s handling of Epstein files

How Trump spent years stoking dark theories, and why he’s facing Epstein case blowback now

'We want justice done': Christianity Today calls to see the Epstein files

146: The Reality of Online Child Abuse (w/Håkon Høydal) — Conspirituality 

Online child sexual exploitation: A statistical profile of police-reported incidents in Canada, 2014 to 2022 

Woman who accused Donald Trump of raping her at 13 drops lawsuit

Perversion of Justice: Jeffrey Epstein | Miami Herald  

Perversion of Justice – HarperCollins

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On the horizon: a new liberal-center manosphere, yearning to reach out to the young men poached by Trumpism, but offering what, exactly? 

Professor Scott Galloway and Anthony Scaramucci are earnest and charming in their way, and they have Trump’s number. But with their new project, Lost Boys podcast, they’re stuck in a paradox. They know enough to admit that the capitalist logic that made them both multi-millionaires is fickle, cruel, and misogynist. They know it’s beating up everyone, including young men. But they can’t imagine any other way of organizing society. So what do they offer? Nostalgia for the 1980s, self-help tips.

In this two-part series, Matthew looks at why the Lost Boys project is deceptively attractive. Liberal, libertarian, or even reactionary parenting can affect an earnest emotional bond through overtones of spiritual honesty. But all the empathy is impotent when it defaults into an apologetics for the very systems that make us suffer. 

Part One looks at the overall liberal manosphere politics of Lost Boys, including the evidentiary claims put forward by their premier guest Richard Reeves, who Galloway calls his “Yoda” on the subject of how men are doing these days.

Part Two goes into a granular reading of Episode 7 of Lost Boys, where the guest is Deirdre Scaramucci, Anthony’s partner. Together, the trio discloses a ton about their ambivalent GenX childhoods and their current parenting experience, including how they rationalize losing emotional control.

Show Notes

Lost Boys - Podcast 

Anthony Scaramucci Called Me to Unload About White House Leakers, Reince Priebus, and Steve Bannon | The New Yorker 

Politics for men - by Richard V Reeves

Richard Reeves? : r/AskFeminists

Right Diagnosis, Wrong Prescription: Richard Reeves' Of Boys and Men | Institute for Family Studies

Collapse Feminism by Alice Cappelle | Penguin Random House Canada 

Communism | David Graeber

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On the horizon: a new liberal-center manosphere, yearning to reach out to the young men poached by Trumpism, but offering what, exactly? 

Professor Scott Galloway and Anthony Scaramucci are earnest and charming in their way, and they have Trump’s number. But with their new project, Lost Boys podcast, they’re stuck in a paradox. They know enough to admit that the capitalist logic that made them both multi-millionaires is fickle, cruel, and misogynist. They know it’s beating up everyone, including young men. But they can’t imagine any other way of organizing society. So what do they offer? Nostalgia for the 1980s, self-help tips.

In this two-part series, Matthew looks at why the Lost Boys project is deceptively attractive. Liberal, libertarian, or even reactionary parenting can affect an earnest emotional bond through overtones of spiritual honesty. But all the empathy is impotent when it defaults into an apologetics for the very systems that make us suffer. 

Part One looks at the overall liberal manosphere politics of Lost Boys, including the evidentiary claims put forward by their premier guest Richard Reeves, who Galloway calls his “Yoda” on the subject of how men are doing these days.

Part Two (drops Monday on Patreon) goes into a granular reading of Episode 7 of Lost Boys, where the guest is Deirdre Scaramucci, Anthony’s partner. Together, the trio discloses a ton about their ambivalent GenX childhoods and their current parenting experience, including how they rationalize losing emotional control.

Show Notes

Lost Boys - Podcast 

Anthony Scaramucci Called Me to Unload About White House Leakers, Reince Priebus, and Steve Bannon | The New Yorker 

Politics for men - by Richard V Reeves

Richard Reeves? : r/AskFeminists

Right Diagnosis, Wrong Prescription: Richard Reeves' Of Boys and Men | Institute for Family Studies

Collapse Feminism by Alice Cappelle | Penguin Random House Canada 

Communism | David Graeber

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Body image is a phenomenon that has long simmered below the surface of the wellness industry. We’ve spent years covering the hard and soft eugenics that inform so many physical and spiritual practices, and how the notion of an ideal self persists and, as we get into today, grown in the online world. 

Just as shaming and skewed body perceptions proliferate in the comments sections and fitfluencer podcast world, so have opportunities for meaningful conversations. One such venue is the wildly popular debate and discussion shows hosted by Jubilee Media. They’ve somehow managed to tow the line between heartfelt sharing and outright clickbait, for better and worse.

We look at a few recent episodes that deal directly with body image issues, from being jacked and bro’d up to the challenges of obesity and eating disorders, and discuss how Jubilee is walking such a precarious tightrope.

Show Notes

Anorexia vs Obese | Middle Ground

Is Being Fat A Choice? Fit Men vs Fat Men | Middle Ground

Is Being Fat A Choice? Fit Women vs Fat Women | Middle Ground

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Protest slogans are designed to pack a punch. They communicate potent emotions and persuasive ideas to the public while galvanizing activist allies. At 5 '11, wearing an elegant hijab over jet-black hair, Nerdeen Kiswani cuts an elegant figure. “From the river to the sea,” she cries, and the loyal group around her repeats it back, loudly. “Palestine will be free!” Again the repeated phrase comes back. “You are my amplifier,” she tells them. 

Even while delivering her speech, the crowd loudly shouts each phrase after she says it. “We need allies who are gonna help us to reach a victory, not allies who are gonna tell us to be non-violent!”

Those at the front are holding up a long banner spread out in front of them that reads, “Globalize the Intifada.” Kiswani is the founder and chair of a Brooklyn-based group called Within Our Lifetime—which split off from other anti-Zionist groups she felt were not radical enough.

“We don't want no two-state, we want '48!” 

She's performed this activist role many times on New York streets: in front of a memorial installation for the Nova music festival; at the campus protests in 2024, where she told the students, “we must escalate!” She's taken credit for popularizing the slogan “globalize the intifada” since 2021. When NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani was asked how he felt about it, he first struggled to answer, then said “it's not language I use.” His fellow candidate and ally, Brad Lander, said it was hard not to hear it as meaning “open season on Jews.” Mamdani has been pictured on social media alongside Kiswani and her inner circle. 

At least six men affiliated with Within Our Lifetime have ended up with jail sentences for hospitalizing Jews after planning and then bragging about violence in exposed private chats—even in public posts. The group was booted from Instagram (180k+ followers) when they posted New York City maps showing the locations of specific corporate, government, and Jewish organizations. The phrases, "Blood on their Hands," "Know your Enemy" and "Globalize the Intifada" were emblazoned above and below the maps.

"Intifada, intifada! Long live the intifada," Kiswani chanted close to Wall Street, outside the Nova music festival memorial, dedicated to the 378 civilians killed and 40 abducted. Dancing and drumming, protestors in the crowd chanted back, set off flares, and unfurled Hamas and Hezbollah flags.

Julian takes a deep dive into this controversial group in the context of an unfolding genocide in Gaza, and the long history of conflict, conquest, and religious extremism in the region. He asks fervent supporters of Israel, "How much do you know about the Nakba?" and pro-Palestine loyalists, "How much do you know about Hamas?"

Show Notes

NYT Profile on Nerdeen Kiswani

Kiswani Tweets About Using "globalize the intifada" since 2021

Kiswani Speaks At Columbia Encampment on Wedding Day

Columbia Group Influenced by WOL To Support Armed Resistance

Kiswani Wears Button Showing Hamas Spokesman

Hamas and Hezbollah Flags At NYC Nova Memorial Protest 

Within Our Lifetime Posts Maps To IG

6 Charged in Antisemitic Mob Beating In Times Square

Sadaah Masoud Sentenced to 18 Months for 3 Antisemitic Assaults

Hamas Leaders Live in Luxury

Hamas Financial Network

Hamas Gunmen Hunt Down Fatah Rivals

Zohran Mamdani with WOL

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In 1898, British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace published a pamphlet entitled, "Vaccination a Delusion; Its Penal Enforcement a Crime." This work became the foundation of the modern anti-vax movement. Derek discusses how even though vaccination science is constantly evolving, the rhetoric of people like RFK Jr is just rehashing old and outdated ideas.

Show Notes

Vaccination a Delusion; Its Penal Enforcement a Crime

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