The Conspiracy Tapes | 1. The Witch

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis examines the spiritual and social decline of the Appalachian white working class through the life story of its author, JD Vance. Growing up in a post-industrial Ohio town, Vance encountered the symptoms of community and familial dysfunction—drug and alcohol abuse, unstable marriages, lack of education, and evasion of hard work—that underscore the failing values of the culture from which he came.

Although Vance eventually escapes the poverty and dysfunction of his roots, attending college and Yale Law School, he finds that even economic mobility can never permanently erase the social markers of his hillbilly upbringing.

What was the secret that kept ancient Greeks and early Christians from fearing death? In The Immortality Key, attorney and scholar Brian Muraresku argues that the origins of Christianity are rooted in the psychedelic rituals of ancient Greek life and that these rituals allowed people to embrace their mortality.

Presenting a decade’s worth of research and evidence, Muraresku delves into the origins of Christianity, its overlap with pre-existing pagan customs, and its eventual diversion. Along the way, he asks how we might glean some wisdom from those ancient traditions to reconsider the place of psychedelics in the modern world—can a transcendent experience provide a key to our immortality?

In this guide, we’ll discuss the evidence and arguments Muraresku presents about Christianity and its connection to Greek paganism, as well as his questions about what psychedelics have to offer humanity. We’ll also explore current research and varied viewpoints regarding the use of psychedelics for therapeutic purposes.

Matthew McConaughey’s Greenlights is not a conventional memoir. As he neared age 50, the Oscar-winning actor revisited the journal that he had kept for the previous 35 years to see what he could learn from it. The result is this book, which combines hard-earned insights about the art of living with vivid accounts of McConaughey’s upbringing in rural Texas, his adventures in the movie business, his global travels, and his lifelong search for love and fatherhood. Part autobiography and part life-guide, Greenlights both explains and illustrates McConaughey’s philosophy of “catching greenlights”—recognizing and even creating those moments when life says “yes” and you cruise into success as you pursue your destiny. It’s valuable reading for anyone in search of an entertaining manual on finding your way in the world.

One of the most influential conspiracy theory books ever written, Behold a Pale Horse lays out the roots and methods of a secret movement to topple the American government and establish a global totalitarian order. Milton William Cooper argues that UFO sightings, the Illuminati, the Kennedy assassination, and various American think tanks are all interconnected in this effort to undermine the Constitution and ultimately enslave the human race. The only way to prevent their takeover is through popular armed resistance by American patriots.

In this guide, we’ll unpack the origins of Cooper’s theories about globalization, public health, gun rights, and the trustworthiness of traditional news sources. We’ll also consider the impact Cooper’s 1991 book had on groups as disparate as the patriot militia movement, right-wing talk radio, hip-hop artists, and modern conspiracy groups like QAnon.

In July 2003, 4-year-old Colton Burpo made a remarkable claim: that, during a period of serious illness earlier that year, he’d visited heaven and met Jesus. In the months and years that followed, Colton revealed more and more details about his heavenly experience, claiming that he’d seen God’s throne, met his late relatives, and foreseen the battle of Armageddon.

Penned by Colton’s father, pastor Todd Burpo, Heaven is for Real is an account of Colton’s illness and subsequent revelations. It explores not only Colton’s experiences, but also Todd’s journey to casting aside his doubts and accepting that his son had truly visited heaven.

A Warning is an inside look at the chaotic Trump administration by a senior Trump administration official writing anonymously. It’s a follow-up to the author’s September 5, 2018, New York Times op-ed piece describing internal efforts to control Trump’s impulses. This is no longer working, “Anonymous” writes. The book depicts an impulsive and corrupt president, who puts his self-interest above the country’s interest, in the process undermining the foundations of democracy and putting national security at grave risk.

“Anonymous” describes the increasingly futile efforts of a handful of principled White House officials to stave off disastrous, often illegal actions. The author warns that the “guard rails” have come off—the principled staffers have mostly been driven away and Trump is uncontrollable. If he wins another four years, he may sink the ship of democracy.

How do you spark a trend that spreads like wildfire, or turn a product into the latest must-have item? You create a social epidemic. The Tipping Point explains how social epidemics — spreading ideas, messages, behaviors, and products — function like viruses, growing gradually until they reach a critical mass (the tipping point) and explode.

Three factors can be adjusted to tip an idea to a social epidemic: the messenger, the message itself, or the context of the message. Learn how Paul Revere’s midnight ride, Sesame Street, Airwalk skate shoes, and crime reduction in New York City began as ideas and tipped to become movements.

One of the most influential conspiracy theory books ever written, Behold a Pale Horse lays out the roots and methods of a secret movement to topple the American government and establish a global totalitarian order. Milton William Cooper argues that UFO sightings, the Illuminati, the Kennedy assassination, and various American think tanks are all interconnected in this effort to undermine the Constitution and ultimately enslave the human race. The only way to prevent their takeover is through popular armed resistance by American patriots.

In this guide, we’ll unpack the origins of Cooper’s theories about globalization, public health, gun rights, and the trustworthiness of traditional news sources. We’ll also consider the impact Cooper’s 1991 book had on groups as disparate as the patriot militia movement, right-wing talk radio, hip-hop artists, and modern conspiracy groups like QAnon.

Think about all of the images, objects, and stories you’re confronted with throughout the day—from memes, to advertisements, to flags waving in the wind. In Mythologies, 20th-century French philosopher Roland Barthes says that all of these contain subtle messages that subconsciously shape the way we view the world. He calls these messages myths.

According to Barthes, Myths occur when society’s dominant institutions—the government, the advertising industry, or Hollywood, to name a few—imbue an image, object, or phrase with meaning. By creating these associations, the dominant social institutions create and reinforce cultural beliefs and values that are unconsciously adopted by the masses. Mythologies aims to open our eyes to these manipulations and teach us how to avoid them.

In this guide, we’ll discuss Barthes’s theoretical framework behind myth, examine some of the examples he gives from 1950s French culture, and consider whether they’re still present in contemporary culture today.

One of the most influential conspiracy theory books ever written, Behold a Pale Horse lays out the roots and methods of a secret movement to topple the American government and establish a global totalitarian order. Milton William Cooper argues that UFO sightings, the Illuminati, the Kennedy assassination, and various American think tanks are all interconnected in this effort to undermine the Constitution and ultimately enslave the human race. The only way to prevent their takeover is through popular armed resistance by American patriots.

In this guide, we’ll unpack the origins of Cooper’s theories about globalization, public health, gun rights, and the trustworthiness of traditional news sources. We’ll also consider the impact Cooper’s 1991 book had on groups as disparate as the patriot militia movement, right-wing talk radio, hip-hop artists, and modern conspiracy groups like QAnon.