Bonus Sample: Today at Death’s Door - Conspirituality

Summary4 min read

Conspirituality – Bonus Sample: Today at Death’s Door

Date: July 20, 2026
Hosts: Matthew Remski, Derek Beres, Julian Walker
Episode Focus: The distinctions in public reaction and reckoning when “terrible” people—including notorious elites and everyday individuals—die, against a backdrop of conspirituality, public health threats, and the social urge to see cosmic justice delivered at the end of life.

Episode Overview

In this Patreon bonus episode, Matthew Remski delivers a contemplative essay on the cultural fascination with the deaths of infamous figures—especially those seen as having caused widespread harm (politicians, war hawks)—versus the muted acknowledgment of similarly “bad” but powerless individuals. He interrogates the catharsis and politics of wishing for, witnessing, and narrating the deaths of society’s “villains,” particularly within the environment of online conspiracy and spiritual influencer ecosystems.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Death of the “Terrible” Elite vs. the “Terrible” Ordinary

Spectacle and Schadenfreude:
- The deaths of elite, widely-reviled figures become public spectacle, outlets for pent-up desires for cosmic or social justice.
- In contrast, the deaths of working-class or less-known “terrible” people pass quietly, often handled with politeness or even forgiveness—rhetoric that may feel inappropriate in the context of real harm.
Matthew Remski:

"...it's about the difference between the spectacular deaths of elite terrible people and the quiet deaths of working class terrible people, where politeness and forgiveness doesn't ring hollow." ([00:09])

2. The Role of Thanatology and Witnessing Death

The episode opens with Tony Peterson, a music thanatologist (a harpist who plays for the dying), reflecting on the humanity present—even in those considered “terrible”—at the time of death.
- Quote about Peterson’s work:
  
  "That's the voice of Tony Peterson. He's a music thanatologist or a harpist who plays music for people as they die, whoever they are." ([01:05])
- Peterson’s case: A dying alcoholic with a reported history of abusive behavior, abandoned even by his own son at the end—underscoring isolation and the ambiguous ethics of forgiveness.

3. Conspiracist Influencers and the Death Watch

Explores how online creators (like the geriatric physical therapist, “epistemic crisis”) build followings by predicting or speculating on the deaths of political enemies (Trump, Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham).
- Changing narratives: When predictions fail, influencers recalibrate their storylines to extend the anticipation (“living on borrowed time”).
- Morbid fantasies as release:
  
  "...fantasizing about death, striking the deserving releases a lot of pressure, and I think for some it also sublimates the forbidden or buried desire to kill those who are responsible for mass death." ([02:36])

4. The Spectacular Death of Lindsey Graham (Hypothetical)

Lindsey Graham’s record is recounted:
- Advocacy for American imperialism, involvement in wars, arms sales, opposition to LGBTQ rights despite personal history.
- His hypothetical sudden death via natural causes becomes an object of grotesque celebration in online circles, used to symbolically settle scores and project societal frustration onto a single person.
- Matthew Remski’s fact-based eulogy:
  
  “He stands tall among the architects of conflicts collectively responsible for an estimated 4.5 to 4.7 million deaths since 2001, using data from Brown University's Costs of War project.” ([03:35])

5. Ethical Reckoning at the End

The thirst for vengeance and metaphysical “just deserts” is explored as a phenomenon driven by mass trauma—whether from war, ongoing humanitarian crises, or governmental failure during disasters.
- People project desires for accountability onto the deaths of infamous individuals, using their mortality as a proxy for broader justice that the system fails to provide.

Notable Quotes & Moments

On the spectacle of death:

"...he's posting videos about Mitch McConnell perhaps being dead, according to video from the morning the ambulance came for him in his D.C. neighborhood, and the paramedics slowly and methodically slid him into the carriage barefoot. They weren't rushing him anywhere for treatment." (Matthew Remski, [02:11])
On seeking closure through death:

“…for some it also sublimates the forbidden or buried desire to kill those who are responsible for mass death.” (Matthew Remski, [02:36])
On Lindsey Graham’s legacy:

“He was also a closeted gay man who seems to have appeased his internalized homophobia by building a decades-long record opposing LGBTQ rights.” (Matthew Remski, [03:58])

Important Segments & Timestamps

[00:09] – The premise: contrasting deaths of ‘elite’ vs. working-class “bad” individuals.
[00:50] – Story from Tony Peterson, music thanatologist: playing for the dying.
[01:05] – Introduction and context about Tony Peterson’s work.
[01:45] – Discussion of public fascination with “death watch” predictions for famous figures.
[02:36] – Psychological need for catharsis through witnessing or fantasizing about the deaths of “villains.”
[03:35] – Lindsey Graham’s history and symbolic death as collective release.
[03:58] – Complexities of personal identity and public harm in Graham’s career.

Tone & Style

Matthew Remski's delivery is contemplative, analytic, and quietly unsparing—balancing humanizing observations (through the thanatologist’s vignettes) with pointed critique of political figures and the reactions they trigger online. There’s a running undercurrent of ethical questioning around death, forgiveness, and the unresolved trauma that fuels conspirituality’s search for justice.

Final Thoughts

This short, incisive episode holds a mirror to the public’s fascination with “just” deaths, the ethics of forgiveness in the face of real harm, and the ways in which online wellness and spiritual influencers amplify this collective morbid curiosity. It demonstrates how these conversations both reflect and shape the emotionally charged climate of contemporary public discourse.

To hear the full episode, access bonus content at patreon.com/conspirituality or through Apple subscriptions.

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Transcript5 lines

[00:04]
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. You can follow myself, Derek and Julian on bluesky. The podcast is on Instagram and threads under its own handle and you can also find me on YouTube and TikTok. NTIFascistdad this is a short Patreon bonus episode today called Today at Death's Door, and it's about the difference between the spectacular deaths of elite terrible people and the quiet deaths of working class terrible people, where politeness and forgiveness doesn't ring hollow.
[00:50]
B
Today at death's Door, I played for a man with alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver. He was, by all reports, a terrible person. The son had come in a couple days prior and apparently the nurse said he had stayed for about 30 seconds.
[01:06]
A
That's the voice of Tony Peterson. He's a music thanatologist or a harpist who plays music for people as they die, whoever they are. I'll come back to him. There's a lot of elite death in the air. In several episodes we've referenced the creator, epistemic crisis. He's the geriatric physical therapist who's this huge following by predicting Trump's imminent death through the signs of heart failure and stroke. And like all carnival barkers, tarot and card readers, his predictions have failed. So now he's shifted to saying that Trump is living on borrowed time, which lets him drop this punchline. Who has he borrowed it from? And then, of course, you know, he can name various vulnerable constituencies. But it also puts epistemic crisis on the ghoul's death watch more generally. And so he's posting videos about Mitch McConnell perhaps being dead, according to video from the morning the ambulance came for him in his D.C. neighborhood, and the paramedics slowly and methodically slid him into the carriage barefoot. They weren't rushing him anywhere for treatment. And then, of course, he jumped all over the sudden death of Lindsey Graham, giddily pointing out that dying of an aortic dissection from hardened arteries after a long haul flight is very appropriate for bastard. And something that could easily happen to Trump any day now. Now, I'm not picking on this creator, really. He's channeling the zeitgeist to a culture surrounded by the senseless deaths of innocents on an hourly basis, from children in Gaza to an estimated 3,000 excess deaths in England and Wales due to recent heat domes to the man who was just executed in Maine by ice. Fantasizing about death, striking the deserving releases a lot of pressure, and I think for some it also sublimates the forbidden or buried desire to kill those who are responsible for mass death. And Lindsey Graham was one of those men. For three decades, the former Air Force man was the Senate's most vicious war hawk and prosecutor of American imperialism to seek leverage for American capital and make bank for arms dealers via endless regime change advocacy advocacy for the Iraq War, Afghanistan War and its continuation for intervention in Libya, involvement in Syria, Yemen, related arms sales. He stands tall among the architects of conflicts collectively responsible for an estimated 4.5 to 4.7 million deaths since 2001, using data from Brown University's Costs of War project. He was also a closeted gay man who seems to have appeased his internalized homophobia by building a decades long record opposing LGBTQ rights.
[04:10]
C
You've been listening to a Conspirituality Bonus Episode Sample. To continue listening, please head over to patreon.com conspirituality or 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.
[04:43]
D
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