Russian Nationalism — a heady mix of Eurasianism, Russian Cosmism with esoteric and occult beliefs — is reflected in the Putin regime's information warfare.

In recent episodes we covered a diverse range of topics, from longtermism to libertarian exit, to Bucky Fuller. But what do these things have in common, and what does it all mean?

Dave is joined by Joe Szimhart who helps unpack the details behind Eurasianism, Russian Cosmism, and many other syncretic religious and occult ideas at the heart of Russia's war on the West. The picture helps provide a framework for better understanding what's going on, how to respond, and why this conflict is difficult to resolve.

This episode is long and packed with information — you may find that it's useful to listen more than once to pick up on all the details. Feel free to send questions for future episodes to [email protected].

Follow Joe on Twitter at @jszimhart, and Dave at @davetroy.

Relevant books and papers:

Mysteries of Eurasia by Jafe Arnold

Russian Nationalism: Imaginaries, Doctrines, and Political Battlefields

Books Instead of Lineage: Mystic Underground in the USSR (1960s–1980s)

Don’t Immanentize the Eschaton: Against Right-Wing Gnosticism

Keywords: Syncretism, Eurasianism, Cosmism, Noosphere, Putin, Noocracy, Anton Vaino, Nooscope, Gnosticism, System 1 and 2 thinking, Völkisch Occultism, Russian Orthodox Church, Shambhala, Atlantis, Yuzhinsky Circle, Alexander Dugin, Yuri Mamleev, Psychotronics, Initiation, Libertarian Exit, Ayn Rand, Galt's Gulch, Hyperborea, Thule Society, Vril, Hitler, UFOs, Guenon, Fascism, Evola, Gurdjieff, Ahnenerbe, Tsiolovsky, Chizevsky, Fyodorov, Vernadsky, Teilhard De Chardin, Eduoard LeRoy, Gaia, Lovelock, Margulies, Sagan, Theosophy, Anthroposophy, Hare Krishnas, Hindu Nationalism, Gandhi, Nehru, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Marilyn Ferguson, Aquarian Conspiracy, Stepanov, Harmonic Convergence, Jose Arguelles, Birth 2012, Michael Beckwith, NESARA/GESARA, QFS, QAnon, The Event, Eschaton, Eschatology, Immanentize, Omega Point, Kurzweil, Russia 2045, Transhumanism.

Buckminster Fuller was a designer, inventor, thinker, and a true American original. Alec Nevala-Lee is the author of a new detailed and deeply honest biography of Fuller, "Inventor of the Future: The Visionary Life of Buckminster Fuller."

Dave talks to Alec about Bucky's life, the unusual cast of characters he attracted, and starts to get into some questions that help inform why Bucky's outsized personality might have attracted people who later went on to become attracted to various kinds of disinformation campaigns — a topic we'll explore in some later episodes.

Follow Alec on Twitter at @nevalalee — and buy the book wherever books are sold.

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/59571984-inventor-of-the-future

Keywords: Buckminster Fuller, Bucky Fuller, Inventor of the Future, Alec Nevala-Lee, Margaret Fuller, Geodesic Dome, Tensegrity, Gurdjieff, Roerich, Montreal Expo, Spaceship Earth, EPCOT, Bare Maximum, Dymaxion, 4D, Trim Tab, Robert Kiyosaki, Critical Path, Synergetics, Grunch of Giants, Werner Erhard, est training, John Denver, Ellen Burstyn, The Hunger Project, Stewart Brand, Whole Earth Catalog, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos

The idea of leaving society to start up a new one isn't exactly new... history is full of people leaving to go start new countries. But the idea became especially fashionable in 20th century America and was jump-started as a reaction to the counterculture in the 1960's, and given new life by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs in the 2000's.

Dave talks with Raymond Craib, professor of history at Cornell University, about his new book "Adventure Capitalism: A History of Libertarian Exit from the Era of Decolonization to the Digital Age" which covers the upsurge in these ideas in the 60's to today, and their connection to everything from Brexit to Seasteading.

Learn more about Ray Craib's work on Twitter (@raycraib) and at his Cornell faculty page:

https://history.cornell.edu/raymond-b-craib

Adventure Capitalism (Book):

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/57700808

Keywords: Libertarian exit, libertarianism, Murray Rothbard, Friedrich Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, Milton Friedman, Michael Oliver, Werner Stiefel, New Atlantis, Tonga, Minerva Reefs, Abaco, Bahamas, Mitchell WerBell, Andrew St. George, Phoenix Foundation, Azores, New Hebrides, Vanuatu, Stefan Mandel, Mondragon, David Duke, Bayou of Pigs, Peter Thiel, Seasteading, Joe Quirk, Patri Friedman, Balaji Srinivasan, Nick Land, Curtis Yarvin, Mencius Moldbug, Urbit, Hans-Herman Hoppe, James Dale Davidson, William Rees Mogg, Jacob Rees Mogg, Brexit, Sovereign Individual, Longtermism, Effective Altruism, Honduras, ZEDEs, Charter Cities, Liz Truss, Shankar Singham, Barbara Kolm, Mises Institute.

The New Apostolic Reformation is a Christian movement that most people have never heard of, but it has an out-sized influence in American, and even global, politics and culture. Bruce Wilson has been researching and writing about religion and its influence on politics and culture for decades, and Jennifer Cohn has been working to document threats to democracy and election integrity. They join Dave to discuss the NAR, what it is, where it came from, and the risks it may pose to pluralistic democracy.

Read more:

Underreported And Massive Theocratic Movement Joins Forces With Michael Flynn And Roger Stone by Jenny Cohn

Fighting Demons, Raising The Dead, Taking Over The World by Bruce Wilson

Twitter: @brucewilson @jennycohn1

Keywords: New Apostolic Reformation, NAR, Charismatic, Pentecostal, Christian, right, libertarian, libertarianism, WCF, World Congress of Families, Peter Wagner, Lance Wellnau, Lauren Boebert, Jim Garlow, John Eastman, Seven Mountains, Dominionism, apostolic governance.

Most people have never heard of "Longtermism." Long term? That sounds like it might be a pretty good thing. But many critics are suggesting that it is a dangerous philosophy, with many societal and social risks connected with it. And it's also been adopted by many wealthy and influential people, including Elon Musk.

In this episode Dave sits down with Émile Torres, a philosopher at Leibniz University in Hannover, Germany. Torres has been a leading critic of longtermism and its related philosophy of so-called "Effective Altruism," and has written multiple essays on why it may be one of the most dangerous secular belief systems.

For more info: https://longtermism-hub.com

Follow Émile Torres: https://twitter.com/xriskology

Keywords: Longtermism, Bostrom, Musk, Lesswrong, Effective Altruism, Computronium, Phil Torres, William MacAskill, Leverage Research, Paradigm, Peter Thiel, Libertarianism, seasteading.

Amy Westervelt is an investigative journalist, radio reporter, and podcast storyteller who has been tracking the oil and gas industry's climate denialism for over twenty years. Her podcast series, "Drilled" and "Rigged" tell the story of how the oil industry and big business have used influence to shape public discourse, perception, and regulation. Dave talked with Amy about the history of Big Oil's deceptive practices, and what, if anything, we can do about it going forward.

Learn more about Amy's work at https://criticalfrequency.org

Keywords: oil, gas, climate, fascism, drilled, rigged, influence, Exxon, Mobil, Ivy Ledbetter Lee, Edward Bernays, PSYOPs, military intelligence, Herb Schmertz, Valdez, oil spills, environment, climate, warming, denialism, cults, public relations, Edelman, arctic, Putin, drilling, Ukraine.

For the last five years, Nate Mook has led World Central Kitchen, the ground-breaking humanitarian charitable organization founded by award-winning chef José Andrés. Helping to build the organization from scratch to over $400 million in projected 2022 revenues, Nate has been on the front lines of relief efforts around the world for years. And for the last six months, he's been in Ukraine helping to feed people reeling from Vladimir Putin's disastrous invasion. First on the Polish border, and then on the front lines in the east, Nate offers an invaluable first-hand perspective about what's really going on there, and what we might expect next.

Dave and Nate are old friends, having produced TEDxMidAtlantic together in Washington D.C. since 2009 — which is how Nate met José and began his journey with World Central Kitchen. They sat down together in Washington D.C. on August 16, 2022, while Nate was in town, before starting his next mission.

Read more about Nate and World Central Kitchen in the Washington Post here.

Keywords: Nate Mook, José Andrés, World Central Kitchen, TEDx, Washington D.C., Ukraine, Gen. Milley, Amy Klobuchar, Lviv, Kherson, Kharkiv, Kiyv, Zaporizhia, Putin, Ukraine, war, humanitarian, food, relief, charity.

People talk about "horseshoe theory," but where does it come from? The idea of a "red-brown alliance" has been part of political discourse for decades, and plays up on the notion that the very far left and very far right have common interests in countering the status quo. Alexander Reid Ross is a geographer and political historian who has written about this phenomenon extensively. Tracing it back to its roots, he also has documented instances of where he has observed this in his own activism — which has sometimes earned him criticism. Dave talks with Alex about the history of this phenomenon and what we can do about it going forward.

More info: https://alexanderreidross.net

Keywords: Red-brown alliance, communism, fascism, Guenon, Dugin, Rene Girard, Bakunin, Yockey, Sorokin, Ilyin, Occupy, Horseshoe theory, dirtbag left, Willis Carto, David Icke, David Duke.

David Kertzer is the Pultizer-prize winning author of several books, including several about the rise of fascism in Europe and its interface with the Catholic Church. His latest book, The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler, chronicles the complex history of the Church during World War II. Dave talks with Kertzer about his research, much of which was only possible because of new archival material released by the Vatican in 2020, and what this important history means for us today as we grapple with a global resurgence of Fascism and right-libertarianism.

Buy the book:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60098361-the-pope-at-war

Keywords: Mussolini, Hitler, Kertzer, Pope Pius XII, Pope Pius XI, Pope Francis, Pope John Paul II, Catholic Church, Fascism, World War II, Italy, History, Capitalism, Communism, P2, CIA, gold, Roosevelt, Nazis

What if January 6th was... all about gold?

Sure, it sounds improbable at first, but since last year, Dave has been digging into the improbable backstory that got us here. From goldbugs to the "I AM" cult to libertarianism, crypto, and QAnon, this story has it all.

In this episode, Dave continues his conversation with Hamilton Fish, editor of The Washington Spectator, which published his piece, "Paranoia on Parade: How Goldbugs, Libertarians and Religious Extremists Brought America to the Brink." Dave and Hamilton discuss the process for developing this story and some of the things they learned in reporting it.

Keywords: New Deal, Libertarianism, gold, goldbugs, Roosevelt, John Birch Society, Jack Singlaub, Philippines, Michael Flynn, QAnon, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Reagan, anticommunist, Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Koch, Council for National Policy, CNP, Newsmax, Sovereign Individual, Agora Publishing, James Dale Davidson, William Rees-Mogg, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Technocracy, Occupy, Federal Reserve, National Association of Manufacturers, American Legion, American Liberty League, Silver Legion, "I AM", fascism, Moonies, VFW, QAnon, Brock Pierce, Steve Bannon, Ron Paul, Oathkeepers, January 6, Freedom School, Robert LeFevre, Hunt Brothers.

Read "Paranoia on Parade" at Washington Spectator:

https://washingtonspectator.org/paranoia-on-parade/