18: From Psych Meds to Red Pills (w/Jules Evans)

Some wellness influencers offer compelling critiques of Big Pharma, factory farming, and psychiatric malpractice. What happens when their arguments become honeypots for snake oil? In this episode, Derek provides an overview of modern pharma practice and its discontents. Julian delves into the muddy culture of yoga and antidepressants—the bad advice, the stigma, the magical thinking. He also reviews the latest Q-adjacent content of Canadian self-help celebrity Danielle LaPorte, and checks in on Kate Northrup’s interview with Zach Bush.

Derek and Julian interview Matthew about his recent feature investigation on conspirituality power couple, Dr. Kelly Brogan and Sayer Ji. There’s lots of material that didn’t make the final copy, like how Brogan’s conspirituality could endanger the mental health of her online clients, and how her usage of Kundalini Yoga as a supplemental therapy is riddled with false historical and medical claims. Also: why didn’t Sayer Ji denounce QAnon when given the chance?

Finally, Derek digs into the podcast origin story with an interview of Jules Evans, who helped “conspirituality” become an almost-household term.

Show Notes

Inside Kelly Brogan’s Covid-Denying, Vax-Resistant Conspiracy Machine

Popular Health Guru Sayer Ji Curates the Scientific Literature with His Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy

Matthew’s review of Brogan’s “review” of Yogi Bhajan survivor Pamela Dyson’s memoir

From Maharaj to Mahan Tantric: The Construction of Yogi Bhajan’s Kundalini Yoga

Cognitive Errors and Diagnostic Mistakes: A Case-Based Guide to Critical Thinking in Medicine

An Olive Branch Report on Yogi Bhajan, the abuser

White Bird in a Golden Cage: My Life with Yogi Bhajan

Trump Claims He Invented the Term “Fake News”—Here’ s an Interview With the Guy Who Actually Helped Popularize It

Lies, Damn Lies and Viral Content

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