In this medium-decoding episode, Matt and Chris turn their attention to an unlikely venue for cutting-edge theoretical physics: Piers Morgan Uncensored. There, Eric Weinstein, renegade genius and uber guru, squares off with Sean Carroll, an actual physicist and popular science communicator, in what might generously be called a “debate.”

Eric brings his usual mix of personality-focused historical revisionism, intentional technobabble, and performative outrage, complete with a conspiratorial tale of how physics was hijacked in 1983 by a single lecture (that Eric was naturally present at) and how Eric is the unacknowledged creator of Seiberg-Witten equations. Sean Carroll, meanwhile, does his best to explain in simple terms how scientific research works, what is lacking in Eric's 'theory', and why appearing on podcasts is not a replacement for publishing papers and peer review.

Expect to hear one academic earnestly trying to summarise complex scientific topics, while one culture war celebrity / professional podcast guest decries how he has been constantly maligned, silenced, misunderstood, and generally ignored by the mainstream scientific establishment. And just when you think it is all over, prepare to be astounded by Piers Morgan's ultimate argument for God...

Sources

• Piers Morgan Uncensored: “Don’t Talk About Physics Fight Club” Eric Weinstein vs Sean Carroll Science SHOWDOWN
• Eric's Geometric Unity paper
• Tim Nguyen & Theo Polya's Response to Geometric Unity
• Curt Jaimungal: Eric Weinstein's Theory of Everything "Geometric Unity" Explained
• Decoding the Gurus: Mick West & Eric Weinstein: UFO Tango

We enter the ontological in-between to try and spin up our paradigms to understand the next stage in relationship technology, the horrific damage of modern medicine, how Lucifer connects with wokeness, and the joys of bonding over outgroup hate. This one is a doozy...

Supplementary Material 28

00:00 Introduction - On Dogs and Dough

04:37 Next Required Reading: The Buddhism Book!

07:50 Jordan Peterson, James Lindsay & Woke Lucifer

15:06 Aubrey Marcus' Sensual Sensemaking

34:10 Jordan Hall's Sensemaking Origin Story

39:09 Bret and Heather discuss cancer cures

44:10 The Miracle Cure of Ivermectin

46:07 Bret denounces ALL of modern medicine

49:26 Community Notes has Fallen to Goliath!

50:11 Theo Von, GSP, and the conspiratorial hell world

58:04 Dan Bongino gets what he deserves

01:05:57 Scott Adams has prostate cancer

01:07:20 Joe Biden's Cancer and Taylor Lorenz's Edgy Responses

01:09:13 Does Joe Biden hate affordable health care?

01:13:31 Hasan joins the fray

01:19:36 Genetically Modified Skeptic denouncing outrage mongering and radicalisation

01:22:38 The totally hinged Zei Squirrel

01:24:25 Owen Jones vs Zei Squirrel

01:27:15 Unmasked by the Subreddit

01:31:42 The Heterodox Social Science Conference 2025

01:33:16 Stephen Pinker making bad choices

01:37:03 Jordan Peterson gets OUTRAGED over Harvard

01:41:13 The Anti-Establishment Two-Step

01:47:13 Outro

The full episode is available for Patreon subscribers (1hr 47 mins).

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

Sources

- Next Required Reading- Buddhism: A Journey through History

- Jordan Peterson: When the Right Goes Too Far | Dr. James Lindsay | EP 544

- Jordan Peterson: A Dialogue So Dangerous, It Just Might Bring You Wisdom | John Vervaeke and Jordan Hall | EP 532

- Bret and Heather discussing cancer treatments

- Bret denounces all of modern medicine and conspiracy hypothesises about community notes

- Aubrey Marcus: A New Pattern Of Sacred Relationship Emerges | Vylana, Alana Beale, Dr. Marc Gafni

- The Hill: Patel, Bongino dismiss Epstein conspiracy theories: ‘He killed himself’

- Genetically Modified Skeptic: The Alt-Right Pipeline Almost Got Me. Here’s Why It Failed

- Taylor Lorenz's Biden cancer tweet

- Vice: Joe Biden: It Would Be an Insult to My Dead Son for Everyone to Have Healthcare

- The Biden campaign ad

- The Heterodox Social Science Conference 2025

- Jordan Peterson: Reaction to Harvard: Scam? | Dr. Jordan B. Peterson | EP 545

Fresh from unbuckling their seatbelts on the Gliding Guru luxury jet and mooring the show’s mega-yacht, our decoders are feeling an unexpected surge of empathy for their last decoding subject, Gary Stevenson. It turns out that a bit of jet-lagged decadence really hones one's sensitivity to wealth inequality. Or maybe it’s just the natural response to voluntarily subjecting yourself to the truly insufferable world of the All-In podcast.

That's right, this week you can vibe to the philosophical musings of a couple of Silicon Valley moguls, Chamath Palihapitiya, David Sacks, Jason Calacanis, and David Friedberg or as they call themselves: the Dictator, the Rainman, the Moderator, and the Sultan (yes, really).

Revel in their tales of private jets, $500K club memberships, and their noble quest to cut food stamps while engaging in hyper-elitist MAGA cheerleading. Plug in for a first-class tour through cognitive dissonance, private-jet populism, and your regular prescription of alternative media grievance mongering and conspiracy hypothesising.

Perfect for anyone who enjoys listening to the top 0.01% share their insights and deep connection with the common man's struggles. Enjoy... because we certainly did not!

Sources

• All-In Podcast: Trump's First 100 Days, Tariffs Impact Trade, AI Agents, Amazon Backs Down
• All-In Podcast: Trump wins! How it happened and what's next
• All-In Podcast: The Great Tariff Debate with David Sacks, Larry Summers, and Ezra Klein
• All-In Podcast Website

We exercise our ethnographic muscles as we revel in the esoteric dynamics of Australian Pool Culture, the mysteries of Eric Weinstein's theories as revealed by Curt Jaimungal, and the contradictions of MAGA cultists.

Supplementary Material 28

00:00 Matt's Ethnography of Australian Swimming Culture

06:19 Pool Etiquette and Social Dynamics

08:46 Mutual Humiliation and Blackmail

08:51 Reciprocal Humiliation

12:01 Patreon Question of the Week

13:37 Curt Jaimungal explores Geometric Unity

19:12 The Weinsteinian Iceberg

26:38 Eric's Response to Curt

28:40 A potential doomsday device?

29:55 The wisdom of genuine seekers

35:00 The Pseudo Profundity Mask

38:19 Pandering to anti-'mainstream' science audiences

40:37 Earnest Fans

43:54 Passive consumption at YouTube University

46:21 Independent Learning and  the Pitfalls of Self-Taught Knowledge

49:53 The Illusion of Easy Learning

56:00 Credentials vs. Actual Knowledge

59:46 Media Criticism & the Fifth Column

01:02:47 Priorities in the Media Business

01:04:29 Why is strong criticism so taboo?

01:08:25 Brand Building in the Alternative Media

01:12:02 Batya joins the Fifth Column

01:16:37 Debating Tariffs

01:22:46 A rare instance of REAL disagreement in alternative media!

01:25:58 Sensitive MAGA Cultist Sycophancy

01:32:10 The Working Class don't want iPhones

01:41:06 Outro

The full episode is available for Patreon subscribers (1hr 43 mins).

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

Sources

- The Fifth Column #502 - The Second Battle of Batya (w/ Batya Ungar-Sargon)

- The Fifth Column #503 - Mea Minima Culpa

- The Fifth Column Members Only #258 - We Don't Talk About Fight Club (Mostly)

- Curt Jaimungal - Eric Weinstein's Theory of Everything "Geometric Unity" Explained

- Curt Jaimungal - Chris Langan: The Most In-Depth Interview with the World's Smartest Man

- Eric's Twitter response to Curt

- Josh Rogin's (mild) criticism of Bill Maher

The podcast arrives at 'late stage' Gary discourse as Matt and Chris attempt to enter the man, the myth, and the legend, Gary Stevenson, into a reductive classification system (that once again includes no mention of inequality). The gurometer was not built to handle this level of elite education and trading acumen, and has often been dismissed by arrogant elites due to its scrappy nature and lack of fancy credentials... but it persists. Just remember, an attack on the Gurometer is ultimately an attack on you, your family, and all you hold dear.

Sources

• Reddit thread asking us to do better
• Jacobin: Portrait of the Trader as a Young Rebel
• Richard Murphy's analysis of Gary's Economics
• Tax Policy Associates' analysis of some tax reform proposals
• Gary on Twitter explaining that traders understand the economy a lot better than economists like Piketty and Stiglitz

The full episode is available for Patreon subscribers (47 mins).

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

Gurometer of Gary

01:02 Gary Stevenson: Other Opinions

07:31 Gary's Wealth Tax Proposal

12:21 Guru Features and Scoring

13:11 Galaxy Brainness

15:34 Cultishness

18:04 Anti-Establishmentarianism

20:04 Grievance Mongering

23:15 Self Aggrandisement and Narcissism

24:25 Cassandra Complex

25:40 Revolutionary Theories

28:12 Pseudo Profound Bullshit

30:07 Conspiracy Mongering

32:21 Excessive Profiteering

34:24 Moral Grandstanding

36:14 Guru Scoring and Analysis

37:34 Quick Fire Guru Bonus Points

40:37 Matt's confusing Binary Measure

In this episode, Matt and Chris take a look at one of the UK’s most compelling economic crusaders: Gary Stevenson, aka Gary’s Economics. A millionaire trader turned YouTube firebrand, Gary’s message is simple and potent: wealth inequality is spiralling, the ultra-rich are hoarding everything, and economists and politicians are either complicit or clueless.

Gary’s story has all the trappings of a mythic arc: from humble East London roots to Citibank’s trading floor, where he made millions betting against the poor during the financial crisis. Now he claims the system is so broken that only someone like him, working class and mathematically gifted, someone who entered the high-power world of financial trading and took on the system, could see it. As Gary puts it, a sort of economic Copernicus, who brought a revolutionary message that was dismissed by a stultifying orthodoxy.

With his righteous critique comes a hefty dose of swagger, whether it is in considering himself like a Usain Bolt of trading or in the frequent laments about how exhausting it is to be a lone voice of truth facing bad-faith hit pieces. Gary straddles an odd tension: self-effacing underdog one moment, saviour-on-a-soapbox the next. He rails against academia, dismisses journalists as clickbait merchants, and urges people not to heed critics, due to their ulterior motives.

Our hosts explore the contradictions of a millionaire revolutionary who's not even bothered but also a bit miffed the phone isn’t ringing; a tireless advocate for the poor but also someone who seems to frequently drop in his elite credentials and just how rich he is.

So strap in for a deep dive into charisma, critique, and class warfare economics. Is Gary the economic truth-teller we need, or a populist guru-in-the-making with revolutionary zeal and a finely tuned YouTube brand?

Sources

• Gary's Economics- Understand the Economy Part 3: Why is Inequality Ignored?
• Gary's Economics- Signing off: How close are we to winning higher taxes on the rich?
• Novara Media- Everything They Tell You About the Economy is WRONG | Aaron Meets Gary Stevenson
• Gary Stevenson (2024). The Trading Game: A Confession
• Financial Times: Gary Stevenson claims to have been the best trader in the world. His old colleagues disagree
• Financial Times: He made millions betting against economic recovery. Now he wants to fix things
• The Daily Mail's hit piece on Gary
• Reddit thread discussing Gary's Thesis
• Plain Bagel - The Canadian Housing Crisis Explained
• Patrick Boyle on the Pandemic Real Estate Bubble
• Asianometry on an interesting historical case when radical appropriation of wealth worked
• Economics Explained on the generational effects on wealth inequality
• Stansbury, A., & Schultz, R. (2023). The economics profession’s socioeconomic diversity problem. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 37(4), 207-230.

Influential economists focused on inequality and arguing for a wealth tax (as well as other things)

• Anthony B. Atkinson - Inequality: What Can be Done? (Anthony focused on numerous other strong measures, arguably more effective than a wealth tax)
• Steven P. Jenkins is at the LSE, and wrote "Changing Fortunes: Income Mobility and Poverty Dynamics in Britain"
• Thomas Piketty - Capital in the Twenty-First Century
• Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman, advisers to Elizabeth Warren
• International Inequalities Institute at LSE
• CASE: Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at LSE

We immerse ourselves in the dark waves of the discourse to bring you treasures beyond mere mortal ken.

Supplementary Material 27

00:00 Introduction & Australian Holidays

03:53 James Lindsay's New Revelations

07:20 Michael O'Fallon's Conspiracy Hipsterism

09:41 Trump, Bukele, and Transparent Conspiracies

11:53 The Whitehouse declares the Lab Leak is a FACT

14:42 The conspiracy leak treadmill: UFOs, RFK assassination, and lableak

21:26 The Rise of the Idiots: Grimes on Transformers Cinematography

29:17 Lex vs. Flint: The mask slips

33:21 The Iron Curtain falls on Lex's Subreddit

35:18 Subreddit Moderation Choices

41:46 Douglas Murray on Joe Rogan

46:36 Darryl Cooper's Nazi Apologetics, the Role of Experts and JAQs

57:25 Strategic Disclaimers & Convincing Apologetics

01:03:28 The Rogansphere and Media Power

01:07:30 Murray on the Lab Leak

01:12:19 Murray's Anti-Establishment Hypocrisy

01:19:10 Standards in Journalism

01:22:42 Alternative Media's Double Standards

01:28:33 Douglas Murray joins Sam Harris

01:29:26 The Psychology of Religious Extremism

01:36:04 Radicalisation and Extremism

01:41:24 Murray's 'Criticism' of MAGA

01:44:32 What is even the Right Wing?

01:55:11 What about Elon Musk?

02:05:40 AfD isn't that bad, and Elon has promoted Douglas too!

02:16:10 Rogan and the Moon Landing

02:17:16 Sam is still a bad judge of character

02:19:29 Isn't everyone a hypocrite?

02:23:16 Free Speech Debates

02:26:58 The role of Moderation

02:31:37 Outro

The full episode is available for Patreon subscribers (2hr 32 mins).

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

Sources

• Sam Harris Episode 410 Douglas Murray: The Whole Catastrophe
• Joe Rogan Experience #2303 - Dave Smith & Douglas Murray
• Flint's post about Lex Fridman
• Grimes on Transformers' cinematography
• James Lindsay on being used by Nazis
• Nathan Barley on YouTube
• Whitehouse website on the Lab Leak
• Joe Rogan Experience #2307 - Tim Dillon

In this episode, Matt and Chris pour themselves a stiff drink and slip into the fever‑dream crossover of Jordan Peterson and Michael Shellenberger, a conversation that opens with the claim that Western Europe is now the single greatest threat to free speech; yes, croissants and GDPR apparently out‑authoritarian China and Russia. According to Shellenberger, we can now rest safe as free speech has been restored and “America Is Back!” thanks to God-Emperor Trump and the living avatar of honest utterance, Elon 'Horus' Musk.

Our hosts marvel as Shellenberger insists USAID is a rogue soft‑power leviathan that somehow staged January 6th, sabotaged the 2020 election, and deserves to be nuked from orbit... although he can’t quite prove any of that YET​. Alongside the conspiratorial drivel there is also a heavy serving of Peterson's obscurantist mythicism and dinner‑party anthropology as he explains how Hungary is a model democracy, the US nation beset by parasites, and that this is all inevitably connected to how people are not paying enough attention to Jesus​.

But that is not all! You will also learn about Manly Men vs. Gentlemen, Musk’s “move fast and break government” ethos, and the revelation that free speech is not a nice‑to‑have but a must‑have—unless you are a lawyer, journalist, or student on the wrong side of the Trump administration.

So buckle up for an hour of dystopian déjà vu, as two self‑styled rebel intellectuals morph into state propagandists, cheerleading every single action of Trump and Musk while lecturing the rest of us on free thought.

Sources

• “Trump, Musk, Kennedy: The Dawn of Transparency,” The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Ep. 526.
• Shellenberger's Substack, including gems like "Why Trump’s Victory Is, For Millions Of Us, Cathartic" and "Both USAID And The CIA Were Behind The Impeachment Of Trump in 2019"
• Taibbi & Shellenberger testify to the House Judiciary Committee to help uncover "the Biden-Harris Administration's unconstitutional censorship campaign"
• Singal-Minded articles detailing Shellenberger's sloppy journalism and conspiracy theories

In this stunning crossover episode, Matt and Chris are joined by Australian 'media personality' and podcast host Josh Szeps for a joyful discussion of podcasts, gurusphere, and general media dynamics. As you might imagine, we discuss issues around the heterodox sphere, cultures of criticism, and the issues involved with 'platforming' controversial figures. We discuss the constantly surprising popularity of Lex Fridman and his unique interview style, how the heterodox respond to criticism, and rampant hypocrisy. Also, Matt is finally held to account for his food takes, and we find out the real story behind the Olympic mascot, Olly the Kookaburra.

Sources

• Josh's Substackistan podcast

We project our insecurities onto the gurusphere, wallowing in our inadequacy to bond over shared hatred of outgroups, and interview Flint Dibble along the way.

Supplementary Material 26

00:00 Introduction and Greetings

01:53 Ol' Squeaky and Lex's horny poems

05:11 Eric Weinstein is still waiting for the call

09:26 Interview with Flint Dibble

11:05 Introduction and Catching Up

12:19 Joe Rogan and Public Perception

14:57 Hypocrisy and Slander

16:05 Graham Hancock and Neo-Nazi Connections

22:08 Upcoming Exposé on Joe Rogan

23:03 Pyramids of Giza: New Claims

24:45 Debunking the Mega Structures Theory

25:20 The Researchers Behind the Claims

28:21 Scientific Methods and Evidence

31:58 Conclusion on Pyramids and Science

35:13 Gurusphere Dynamics

37:47 Pseudo-Archaeology and Public Perception

46:11 Mr. Beast's Egypt Adventure

50:36 The Role of Pseudo-Archaeology in Conspiracy Theories

58:50 Post-Interview Discussion

59:53 Trump's Tariffs and Economic Impact

01:04:30 The Amazing Tariff Formula

01:09:45 Geoffrey Miller's 9D Chess Theory of the Tariffs

01:13:30 Contrapoints Conspiracy Video

01:14:55 Some things Matt will not mention on Tariffs

01:17:35 QAnon Anonymous on Graham Hancock

01:22:33 Some Other News covers Joe Rogan

01:30:13 Ryan Beard's Destiny Content Nuke

01:32:33 The Studies Show covers Conspiracies

01:33:53 Hasan argues for tariffs

01:37:40 Back to Rogan and Chris Williamson

01:39:21 Critically Reviewing Cory Clark's Study

01:47:58 Incestuous Bro Podcasts and Legacy Media Struggles

01:53:00 Bonding over outgroup hatred and Criticism Capture

02:02:04 USAid is funding the attacks on Tesla!

02:07:56 Trump's Badass Son humilates Biden

02:10:28 Tribal Hypocrisy

02:11:52 Joe Smashes All Your Paradigms!

02:14:59 The villain, Sam Harris criticizes the hero, Lex Fridman

02:20:18 Does Lex speak to EVERYONE?

02:23:44 Concluding Thoughts from Maladjusted Haters

The full episode is available for Patreon subscribers (2hr 25 mins).

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

Sources

• Archaeology with Flint Dibble- Megastructures under Giza Pyramids⁉️ ARCHAEOLOGY REWRITTEN or viral 💩?
• Piers Morgan episode with Flint and Milo Rossi
• Joe Rogan Experience #2293 - Chris Williamson
• QAnon Anonymous: Graham Hancock’s Ancient Apocalypse (E318)
• Contrapoints: Conspiracy
• The Studies Show: Conspiracy Theories
• What "Happened" To Joe Rogan? - SOME MORE NEWS
• Men's Health: Joe Rogan Responds to the Controversy Surrounding His 'Endorsement' of Bernie Sanders
• Ryan Beard: Content Nuke Destiny
• Hasan making a progressive case for tariffs
• Sam Harris' recent podcast criticising Lex and Rogan
• Lex's wounded bird response to Sam Harris' criticism
• Clark, C. J., Fjeldmark, M., Lu, L., Baumeister, R. F., Ceci, S., Frey, K., ... & Tetlock, P. E. (2024). Taboos and self-censorship among US psychology professors. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 17456916241252085.