Bonus Sample: Conspirituality in the Age of Hyperpolitics

Summary

Conspirituality – Bonus Sample: Conspirituality in the Age of Hyperpolitics

Release Date: August 10, 2026
Host: Matthew Remski (with regular co-hosts Derek Beres and Julian Walker)
Episode Focus: Examining the conspirituality movement in the current political era – “hyperpolitics” – a term coined by political historian Anton Jaeger.

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Episode Overview

This bonus episode, hosted primarily by Matthew Remski, unpacks how the conspirituality movement – the hybrid of conspiracy theories and New Age spirituality – interacts with and is shaped by the forces of “hyperpolitics.” Remski explores the limitations of past approaches to debunking misinformation, the evolution of his investigative lens toward a political economy framework, and the role digital platforms play in sustaining cycles of disinformation.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Defining “Hyperpolitics”

• Anton Jaeger’s Concept:
  • The episode begins by introducing Jaeger’s definition of “hyperpolitics”: an era marked by incessant political activation and constant protest energy but lacking the organizational structure and institutional support needed to create lasting change.
  • Remski summarizes Jaeger's analysis:
    • Quote [00:31]: “Jaeger describes it as an era that features intense, constant mobilization and activism, but very low institutional support… movements… muscular and kinetic, but organizationally hollow and often unable to convert protest energy into durable power.”

2. Recent History of Mass Movements

• Reference to Vincent Bevans’ 2023 Book:
  • Remski relates these ideas to the findings in "If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution," examining how mass protest movements (Egypt, Brazil, Hong Kong, etc., 2010-2020) started with leftist ideals but ultimately became susceptible to elite or reactionary co-optation:
    • “…he is trying to answer the question of why these protest movements with their leftist ideals, became vulnerable to elite and reactionary co optation once their initial momentum faded.” [01:24]

3. Limits of Debunking and the Broken Mirror Effect

• Debunking May Backfire:
  • Early podcast work focused on exposing pseudoscience and cult dynamics. However, Remski acknowledges that deplatforming or ‘debunking’ problematic influencers often led to unintended radicalization, an effect they call the “broken mirror effect.”
    • Quote [02:19]: “We noticed something we called the broken mirror effect, where when deconstructing or debunking led to deplatforming… this would push influencers into more radicalizing spaces. And this made me think a lot about the limits of debunking or correction as a model or as a strategy.”

4. Socio-Economic Roots of Misinformation

• Real Grievances Behind Conspiracies:
  • The team’s book highlights the sociopolitical roots of conspiracy beliefs:
    • “Misinformation thrives because it registers real grievances against predatory healthcare and consumer capitalism.” [02:38]
  • However, Remski feels that addressing these grievances doesn’t fully address the influence of digital platforms – the true “means of production” in modern information warfare.

5. Platform Dependency and the Information Feedback Loop

• Entrapment by Social Media Platforms:
  • There’s an expressed frustration at being “locked into a kind of dependency scenario where disinformation and debunking swirl together in a feedback loop.” [03:20]
  • This dependency makes efforts to counteract misinformation difficult and potentially counterproductive.

6. A Shift Toward Political Economy Analysis

• Moving Beyond Epistemology:
  • Remski describes shifting focus from an epistemic (knowledge-based) and cult dynamics perspective, to one that incorporates political economy—how economic and structural forces empower or stunt social movements, including those around conspirituality.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Matthew Remski (on hyperpolitics):

  “An era that features intense, constant mobilization and activism, but very low institutional support… organizationally hollow and often unable to convert protest energy into durable power.” [00:31]

• On broken mirror effect:

  “When deconstructing or debunking… led to deplatforming… [this] would push influencers into more radicalizing spaces.” [02:19]

• On roots of conspiracy thinking:

  “Misinformation thrives because it registers real grievances against predatory healthcare and consumer capitalism.” [02:38]

• On digital platform entrapment:

  “I was unsettled by the notion that I was locked into a kind of dependency scenario where disinformation and debunking swirl together in a feedback loop.” [03:20]

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Important Timestamps

• 00:02 – 01:10: Introduction of hosts, episode theme, and definitions (“hyperpolitics”)
• 01:10 – 02:19: Historical context: protest movements and vulnerability to co-optation
• 02:19 – 02:38: Discussion of the “broken mirror effect”
• 02:38 – 03:20: Book insight: real grievances powering misinformation; platform power
• 03:20 – 04:28: Insight into investigative methods shifting toward political economy

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Tone and Style

The episode’s tone is thoughtful, self-critical, and investigative, maintaining clarity and nuance. Remski weaves in academic references, making complex theories accessible while expressing personal learning curves and strategic shifts in how the podcast approaches conspirituality.

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Summary Highlight

This bonus episode is a reflective deep-dive into the limitations of traditional debunking, the rise of hyperpolitical activism without institutional backing, and the need to understand the role digital platforms play in the longevity of disinformation and conspirituality. It marks a methodological pivot for the hosts, calling for more engagement with structural and economic forces driving both protest movements and harmful “conspiritual” narratives.

Transcript

[A]

Hello everyone, this is Conspirituality, where we investigate the intersections and roots of conspiracy theories and spiritual influence to uncover cults, pseudoscience and authoritarian extremism. My name is Matthew Remsky and you can follow myself, Derek and Julian on Blue Sky. The podcast is on Instagram and threads and you can also find me personally on YouTube and TikTok. Nick Anti Fascist dad the Patreon bonus today is called Conspirituality in the Age of Hyper Politics, which is political historian Anton Jaeger's term for the present era where everything is political but solid ground is hard to find. Jaeger describes it as an era that features intense, constant mobilization and activism, but very low institutional support. And this leaves movements, especially those that would offer resistance to conspirituality, maga Trumpism or fascism, muscular and kinetic, but organizationally hollow and often unable to convert protest energy into durable power. Now, maybe some of you are familiar with the book if we the Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution. This is a book from 2023 by Vincent Bevans, who TR is the period between 2010 and 2020 through the case studies of Egypt, Brazil, Hong Kong and other places where there were mass protest movements. And he is trying to answer the question of why these protest movements with their leftist ideals, became vulnerable to elite and reactionary co optation once their initial momentum faded. And Jaeger is tackling the same kind of pattern here, but on a structural level, and what he finds is that these movements were all bogged down in the mud of what he calls hyper Politics, where they couldn't gain traction. Now this bonus continues on from and forms a miniseries with a recent bonus I produced called Conspirituality Viewed through Neo Feudalism and Vectoralism. I'm not sure what I'll call this series, but it's really about how my method and process is changing to this field of study as we approach the six and a half year mark. And if you didn't catch that previous bonus, you might want to go there first. But if you don't fancy doing that, or if you just need a refresher, here it is. And if you want to bounce straight ahead to what the Theory of Hyperpolitics via political historian Anton Yeager has to say about conspirituality, you can skip ahead several minutes. So Conspirituality viewed through Neo feudalism and vectoralism was basically me tracing how my thinking on conspirituality shifted from an epistemic and cult dynamics lens toward a political economy lens. Now early on, Derek, Julian, and I deconstructed a lot of pseudoscience, cognitive fallacies, and cult mechanics in conspirituality. And this was all very useful. And also there were limits. For instance, we noticed something we called the broken mirror effect, where when deconstructing or debunking led to deplatforming of a particular influencer or meme movement, content movement, this would push influencers into more radicalizing spaces. And this made me think a lot about the limits of debunking or correction as a model or as a strategy. Now in our book, there's a chapter called Conspiratorists Are Not Wrong. And that chapter really pushed me farther down this road because in that chapter we found that misinformation thrives because it registers real grievances against predatory healthcare and consumer capitalism. But in my mind, that analysis didn't seem to touch the problem of the platforms themselves, where all of this action was happening. You know, the platforms are the means of production, and I was unsettled by the notion that I was locked into a kind of dependency scenario where disinformation and debunking swirl together in a feedback loop.

[B]

You've been listening to a Conspir Spirituality bonus episode sample. To continue listening, please head over to patreon.com conspirituality where you can access all of our main feed episodes ad free, as well as four years of bonus content that we've been producing. You can also subscribe to our bonus episodes via Apple subscriptions. As independent media creators, we really appreciate your support. Queen Carvania stood haloed by the morning sun. An army hung on her every word.

[C]

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[D]

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