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182: Recovering from Conspiracy Theories (w/Stephanie Kemmerer)

182: Recovering from Conspiracy Theories (w/Stephanie Kemmerer)

FromConspirituality


182: Recovering from Conspiracy Theories (w/Stephanie Kemmerer)

FromConspirituality

ratings:
Length:
74 minutes
Released:
Nov 30, 2023
Format:
Podcast episode

Description

What is it like to get red-pilled, find a fragile community of peers, and then come out on the other side? 
What are the personal, social, and political wounds that make conspiracy theories feel like medicine—or a drug? What is the difference between debunking theories and healing wounds?
Today the trio discusses excerpts of an interview Matthew recorded with Stephanie Kemmerer, a former conspiracy theorist and now public educator. Stephanie is part of a newly formed non-profit called The American Information Integrity Alliance and co-facilitator of the support group DOUBT: Discussing Our Unusual Beliefs Together. 
Kemmerer’s journey tells us a lot about how people fall into the rabbit hole, how they can claw their way back out. But she also suggests that the rabbit hole is really a hole in the culture, and that there’s plenty we can do to fill it in.
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Show Notes
American Information Integrity Alliance
D.O.U.B.T. (Discussing Our Unusual Beliefs Together) 
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Released:
Nov 30, 2023
Format:
Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

A weekly study of converging right-wing conspiracy theories and faux-progressive wellness utopianism. 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.