Videos

Wanna chat about the episode? Or just hang out? Come join us on discord! --- There is but one freedom, to put oneself right with death. After that everything is possible. -Albert Camus Chris and Kayla contemplate that one thing that joins us all. --- *Search Categories* Common interest /…

Wanna chat about the episode? Or just hang out? Come join us on discord! --- Thinking – the talking of the soul with itself. -Plato Chris and Kayla attend class at another small local group... whose presence & influence is worldwide & ubiquitous. --- *Search Categories* New Religious Movement; New…

Wanna chat about the episode? Or just hang out? Come join us on discord! --- "It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible." -David Brin Chris and Kayla explore the nature of power and learn some shocking stories about the group du…

Wanna chat about the episode? Or just hang out? Come join us on discord! --- "Repetition not for monotony but the ecstasy it induces." - Martha Graham Chris and Kayla go to a restaurant. Kind of. Don't worry, we'll repeat ourselves. --- *Search Categories* New Religious Movement; Anthropological --- *Topic…

Wanna chat about the episode? Or just hang out? Come join us on discord! --- It's hard to detect good luck--it looks so much like something you've earned. - Frank A. Clark Chris and Kayla visit a liquor store to try and resurrect the American dream. --- *Search Categories* Anthropological;…

FVNEM? FVNEX? Kayla and Chris get up at the crack of dawn to try and solve a cryptogram from 1925. --- *Search Categories* Common interest / Fandom --- *Topic Spoiler* The Los Angeles Breakfast Club --- *Further Reading* https://twitter.com/labreakfastclub https://www.labreakfastclub.com/ https://www.latimes.com/california/breakfast-club-los-angeles-latt-123 https://www.labreakfastclub.com/podcast https://www.facebook.com/LABreakfastClub/ https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2022-11-03/los-angeles-breakfast-club-home https://www.kcet.org/food-living/the-strangest-club-in-los-angeles-the-l-a-breakfast-club https://friendsofgriffithpark.org/the-los-angeles-breakfast-club/ https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/los-angeles-breakfast-club https://www.altaonline.com/dispatches/a7175/los-angeles-breakfast-club/ https://ladailymirror.com/2015/06/01/mary-mallory-hollywood-heights-los-angeles-breakfast-club-dines-on-history/ ---…

Freedom would be not to choose between black and white but to abjure such prescribed choices. - Theodor Adorno Chris tries to land this Ayn Rand plane in an objectively satisfying manner. --- *Search Categories* Anthropological; Common interest / Fandom --- *Topic Spoiler* Objectivism & Ayn Rand --- *Further Reading*…

Who is Ayn Rand? Chris and Kayla try to answer this ocean of a question, exploring the many rivers and tributaries that feed it. --- *Search Categories* Anthropological; Common interest / Fandom --- *Topic Spoiler* Objectivism & Ayn Rand --- *Further Reading* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand_Institute https://ari.aynrand.org/ https://courses.aynrand.org/campus-courses/ https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ayn-Rand https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ayn-Rand/The-Collective-and-the-Nathaniel-Branden-Institute https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ayn-rand/…

I am evolving and it’s so damn beautiful. -Anonymous Chris ponders the philosophical orb with Kayla, and finally comes out as a cultist himself. Objectively speaking. --- *Search Categories* Anthropological; Common interest / Fandom --- *Topic Spoiler* Objectivism & Ayn Rand --- *Further Reading* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand_Institute https://ari.aynrand.org/ https://courses.aynrand.org/campus-courses/ http://aynrandlexicon.com/…

The body says what words cannot. --Martha Graham Kayla and Chris explore the roots of human bonding...set to music. --- *Search Categories* Anthropological; New Religious Movement; Common interest / Fandom --- *Topic Spoiler* Ecstatic Dance --- *Further Reading* Professor Chill Spotify Electric Sufi Spotify https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecstatic_dance https://archive.org/details/exploringreligio0000unse_q7d1/page/168/mode/2up?view=theater https://pure.hud.ac.uk/en/persons/professor-chill https://www.ecstaticdancela.com/ --- *Patreon…

Experience is the teacher of all things. - Julius Caesar Kayla and Chris kick off Season 5 by going to a cult within a cult... culturducken. --- *Search Categories* New Age; New Religious Movement --- *Topic Spoiler* The Source Family --- *Further Reading* http://martinostimemachine.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-source-restaurant.html https://la.eater.com/2013/5/13/6435783/the-source-las-first-spiritual-vegetarian-restaurant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Yod#:~:text=Father%20Yod%20(pronounced%20Y%C5%8Dde)%2C,Sunset%20Strip%20in%20Los%20Angeles. https://fatheryod.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26&Itemid=282#.ZC4NqezMJp8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Source_Family https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/source-family-cult-interview-isis-aquarian-b2093111.html ---…

Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying. - Arthur C. Clarke Kayla and Chris end the season on a topic with a twist unlike many others covered on this show. --- *Search Categories* New Age; New Religious Movement ---…

"Correlation doesn’t imply causation, but it does waggle its eyebrows suggestively and gesture furtively while mouthing ‘look over there.'" - Randall Munroe Keep an eye on this one- Chris talks to Kayla about a particular type of therapy that has been gaining in popularity in the last few years. ---…

"It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” -Audre Lorde Kayla & Chris have a healing conversation about a topic that weighs heavily on all of us. --- *Search Categories* Destructive; Science / Pseudoscience; Alt Medicine / Wellness ---…

Sometimes you want pain to be acknowledged and not whitewashed- or erased by some exceptionalist point of view. -Ari Aster Chris & Kayla mix things up a bit by analyzing a cult that doesn't even exist. --- *Search Categories* Internet Culture; Common interest/Fandom; Anthropological --- *Topic Spoiler* the film Midsommar's…

The need for connection and community is primal, as fundamental as the need for air, water, and food. -Dean Ornish Kayla & Chris explore a much-maligned fandom on the internet, and learn a little bit about themselves and humanity along the way. --- *Search Categories* Internet Culture; Common interest/Fandom; Anthropological…

In my estimation, the only thing that is more to be guarded against than bad taste is good taste. - Russell Lynes Chris & Kayla partake of an ancient (relatively speaking) autumnal ritual. --- *Search Categories* Business; Internet Culture; Common interest/Fandom --- *Topic Spoiler* Pumpkin Spice Fandom --- *Further Reading*…

All is Number. Chris helps Kayla square her understanding of a well known but little understood historical character. --- *Search Categories* New Religious Movement; Science/Pseudoscience; Anthropological --- *Topic Spoiler* Pythagoreanism --- *Further Reading* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoras https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoreanism https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pythagoras/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaximander https://classicalwisdom.com/philosophy/cult-of-pythagoras/ https://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/path/v02n11p340_the-beans-of-pythagoras.htm https://medium.com/swlh/pythagoreanism-the-story-of-pythagoras-and-his-irrational-cult-4111ece047ea https://www.ranker.com/list/inside-cult-of-pythagoras/nicky-benson https://owlcation.com/humanities/The-Ancient-Greek-Philosopher-Pythagoras-and-the-Cult-of-the-Pythagoreans https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/1996/03/13/pythagoras-the-cult-of-personality-and-the-mystical-power-of-numbers/92ef23a9-fad2-4c12-8089-ddd0aaf8c4a7/ http://www.massline.org/PhilosDog/P/Pythagoras.htm https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-ancient-traditions/fart-gods-farting-out-one-s-soul-historic-ritualization-farts-009699 https://theapeiron.co.uk/the-philosophy-of-farting-fcd15dd8f3ed https://sententiaeantiquae.com/2015/08/31/be-smart-dont-fart-the-pythagorean-prohibition-of-beans/ https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/fava-the-magic-bean/ --- *Patreon…

When you’re surrounded by people who share a passionate commitment around a common purpose, anything is possible." -Howard Schultz Grab your favorite iced, sugary, coffee-adjacent beverage, because Kayla and Chris have an episode brewing, featuring a conversation with some partners who are helping their corporate overlords walk the walk. ---…

"Even the largest avalanche is triggered by small things." - Vernor Vinge Kayla and Chris tell another side of the classic MLM story - the downfall. And we've got a special interview here to give us all the dirt. --- *Search Categories* MLM; Internet culture; Business; Science/Pseudoscience; Alt Medicine/Wellness ---…

“Human connection is the suicide killer." Chris and Kayla revisit a former topic that's reared its head in mainstream culture again to talk about why this person continues to amass power...and what the other options are. --- *Search Categories* New Age; Internet culture --- *Topic Spoiler* Teal Swan and suicidality…

Kayla and Chris are on vacation this week! But we still want to bring you some sweet sweet content, so here is a bonus episode from the CoJW patreon last season, where we discuss how weird it is that abusers from disparate communities all use the same refrain when facing…

“Sometimes reality is too complex. Stories give it form.” - Jean Luc Godard Kayla and Chris fall down the dollhole into an online world of unstable meaning and multilayered storytelling. --- *Search Categories* Internet culture; Common interest/Fandom --- *Topic Spoiler* Empty Spaces --- *Further Reading* https://litreactor.com/columns/the-art-of-microfiction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_fiction An Empty Introduction…

“Before you attempt to beat the odds, be sure you could survive the odds beating you.” - Larry Kersten Chris takes us back to the 90s... a decade of neon green baseball hats, Crystal Pepsi, Michael Jordan, Alanis Morrisette. And hedge fund disasters. --- *Search Categories* Business; Destructive --- *Topic…