275: It’s Never the Guns

Less than two weeks after a shooter unloaded 500 rounds at the CDC in Atlanta, RFK Jr gutted that agency's violence prevention research by firing 100 employees. Less than a month later, Charlie Kirk was shot in front of a crowd of 3K at a Utah university. Millions saw the graphic clip online, which ignited a propaganda and disinformation culture war. Meanwhile, yet another child shot his classmates at a Denver high school that same day. It's not the guns though, say the GOP pundits and politicians, it's the violent rhetoric from the left, and those hateful transgender antifascists. Just ask RFK Jr. He'll confirm that it's not the guns, but all those kids overmedicated on dangerous antidepressants. What are SSRIs anyway, do hurt people hurt people, and do gun laws have any effect? Show Notes No, Antidepressants Do Not Provoke Mass Shootings Mental Illness and Lone Actor Terrorism Is There a Link Between Mental Health and Mass Shootings? | Columbia University Department of Psychiatry Politically-Motivated Violence is Rare in the US No Statistical Support for SSRI-Mass Shooting Connection Mass Shooters and Political Assassins Have Similar Profiles The Violence Prevention Project Characteristics of Lone Wolf Violent Offenders Blackpill Aesthetics: A Crash Course in Meme Extremism  62: Manifesting Something Awful (w/Dale Beran) — Conspirituality Gun Purchases by Year Correlation Between States with Weak Laws/High Ownership and Gun Deaths Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Om Podcasten

Dismantling New Age cults, wellness grifters, and conspiracy-mad yogis. At best, the conspirituality movement attacks public health efforts in times of crisis. At worst, it fronts and recruits for the fever-dream of QAnon. As the alt-right and New Age horseshoe toward each other in a blur of disinformation, clear discourse, and good intentions get smothered. Charismatic influencers exploit their followers by co-opting conspiracy theories on a spectrum of intensity ranging from vaccines to child trafficking. In the process, spiritual beliefs that have nurtured creativity and meaning are transforming into memes of a quickly-globalizing paranoia. Conspirituality Podcast attempts to bring understanding to this landscape. A journalist, a cult researcher, and a philosophical skeptic discuss the stories, cognitive dissonances, and cultic dynamics tearing through the yoga, wellness, and new spirituality worlds. Mainstream outlets have noticed the problem. We crowd-source, research, analyze, and dream answers to it.