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Published on:

12th May 2026

Supplementary Material 49: Calibrated Podcast Expectations, The Great Consciousness Debate of 2026, and Russell Brand is a Bad Guy

Matthew Browne, a high-profile advocate for pan-psychism, compels his reluctant co-host to endure a public struggle session on the topic of consciousness, hopefully for the last time.

Supplementary Material 49

00:00 Introduction

02:47 Returning to the Emerald Isle

03:44 Irish History Segment: The Titanic & Potato Famines

10:45 McGilchrist Reflections

12:51 Knowledge Fight has ended

26:23 Podcasting Motivations

34:37 Calibrated Expectations

41:03 The Problem with the Patreon Members

42:51 Shermer's Activist Skeptic Research

47:24 Research on Support for Political Violence in the US

54:35 Rob Henderson and Decorative Scholarship

58:11 Ryan Holiday Stoically Flames MAGA

01:04:41 Zuby and Motivated Reasoning

01:07:15 Monocausal Explanations for Declining Birth Rates

01:08:51 More credulity from Shermer

01:10:25 Bryan Johnson and Testicular Optimisation

01:14:41 Testicle Fixation Gurus

01:15:24 Professor Jiang thinks Trump is Immortal

01:19:57 When Dawkins Met Claude

01:30:00 The Great Consciousness Debate of 2026

01:42:47 When Cladius met Claudia

01:52:39 Chris's Concession

01:54:23 Animal Minds and AI Consciousness

01:56:31 Russell Brand vs Piers Morgan

02:10:13 Thirsty Christian dunks on Dawkins

02:13:18 Brand's Family's Response

02:22:39 Hasan Piker is the one who knocks!

02:27:44 Outro

02:28:36 A final message of hope!

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About the Podcast

Decoding the Gurus
A psychologist and an anthropologist try to make sense of the world's greatest self-declared Gurus.
An exiled Northern Irish anthropologist and a hitchhiking Australian psychologist take a close look at the contemporary crop of 'secular gurus', iconoclasts, and other exiles from the mainstream, offering their own brands of unique takes and special insights.

Leveraging two of the most diverse accents in modern podcasting, Chris and Matt dig deep into the claims, peek behind the psychological curtains, and try to figure out once and for all... What's it all About?

Join us, as we try to puzzle our way through and talk some smart-sounding smack about the intellectual giants of our age, from Jordan Peterson to Robin DiAngelo. Are they revolutionary thinkers or just grifters with delusions of grandeur?

Join us and let's find out!
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About your hosts

Christopher Kavanagh

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A Northern Irish cognitive anthropologist who occasionally moonlights as a social psychologist. Chris has long standing interests in the psychology of conspiracy theorists and pseudoscience. His academic research focuses on the Cognitive Science of Religion and ritual psychology. He lives happily in Japan with his family.

Matthew Browne

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An Australian psychologist and numbers-guy. He does research on all kinds of stuff, but particularly enjoys looking into why people believe the things they do: religion, conspiracy theories, alternative medicine and stuff. He's into social media in the same way people slow down for car accidents.