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Published on:

8th Sep 2026

Supplementary Material 55: Nature Debates, Murder Drone Conspiracies, and Podcast Vibes

Two academic windbags attempt brief discussions of the controversy at Nature, Bret’s newest conspiracy theory, and the latest vibe sessions in Podcastistan. It goes about as well as expected.

The full episode is available to Patreon subscribers (1hr 18mins).

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

Supplementary Material 55

00:00 Introduction: Science by Podcast

04:04 Nature Joins the Arday Discourse Wave

09:28 Activism and Science

14:40 Academic Prestige Bias

19:08 The Business of Academic Publishing

23:43 Sasha Gusev Being Sensible and Culture War Brainrot

29:04 Bret Weinstein and Jimmy Dore Investigate Charlie Kirk’s Death

36:13 Anomaly Hunting

42:27 Science Washing

45:00 Conspiracy Discrimination and Reasoning Ability

53:46 Academic Debate Norms

59:16 Chris Williamson Promotes Professor Jiang

01:01:01 Vibing Out in Podcast Panels: Hunter Biden x Nick Fuentes

01:05:49 Dave Rubin and Andrew Gold Discuss Political Tribalism

01:08:25 Heterodoxy in 2026: Zaid Jilani on Michael Tracey

01:12:52 Hitler Was a Human and Had Motivations

01:16:33 Outro

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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.