Conspirituality: Brief — Ground Zero Grifting

Podcast: Conspirituality
Hosts: Derek Beres, Julian Walker (Matthew Remski absent from this episode)
Date: August 23, 2025
Episode Description: The episode explores how wellness and spirituality influencers exploit collective trauma, religious rhetoric, and conspiracy thinking to sell dubious products, focusing primarily on Mickey Willis, his supplement company Rebel Lion, and a recent sales-driven webinar.

Main Theme & Purpose

This episode dissects the tactics used by prominent conspirituality influencer Mickey Willis in a recent sales webinar for his supplement “Fierce Immunity.” The hosts break down how Willis merges disaster anecdotes, religious and conspiracy narratives, and pseudoscientific health claims into an emotionally manipulative pitch. They contextualize these strategies within ongoing trends where New Age and far-right movements blend, posing risks to public discourse and health.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The "Ground Zero" Mythos & Self-Aggrandizement

• [03:42] The hosts describe how Mickey Willis repeatedly leverages his brief post-9/11 volunteer work as an origin story, mythologizing himself as a guide to “divine truth” after trauma.
  • Julian [05:32]: "He paints himself as this heroic figure...who, it appears, has a spiritual destiny to learn the deep truths by being present then at multiple disasters as he kind of unfolds through this webinar."
  • Willis pivots these personal anecdotes—from Ground Zero to recent Texas floods—into claims of “spiritual revelation,” building credibility for his later product pitch.

2. Religion as Emotional Manipulation

• [06:24]–[09:30] The episode highlights Willis's deepening use of Christian (sometimes evangelical) language, framing trauma as “opportunities” for finding God and denying the “material world.”
  • Willis [07:21]: "We were placed here by an intelligent creation creator that matters and that we matter and that what we do...really does make a difference on this planet."
  • Julian [08:32]: Notes the rhetorical trickery in Willis’s constructed anti-Hollywood diatribe—calling out claims that Hollywood “views humanity as a parasite,” which Julian dismisses as misdirection.

3. The Product Pitch Masquerading as Health Guidance

• [10:34]–[12:01] Nadia Willis offers “protocols”—prayer and “Fierce Immunity” pills—while issuing standard supplement disclaimers.
  • Nadia Willis [10:39]: "We also are here to give you practices and protocols to really stay immune to all of this crisis...But...we're not treating, curing, or healing anything."
  • Hosts mock the “stay immune” pitch and point out the sleight-of-hand equating spiritual practices with unproven supplements.

4. Conspiracy Thinking & Disinformation

• [12:47]–[14:43] Willis claims floods and other disasters are likely the result of “weather manipulation,” not climate change—a popular MAGA and QAnon-adjacent narrative.
  • Willis [12:47]: "I believe that the weather's being manipulated, and I know a lot of you do, too. And it's proven. It’s out there."
  • Julian [13:19]: Sarcastically undermines this claim: "Stacks of evidence about climate change couldn’t possibly be the explanation. No. There has to be a group of elites behind the increasingly extreme weather disasters."

5. Emotional Exploitation of Tragedy

• [15:05]–[17:44] Willis tells the tragic story of the Hammond family—using it to illustrate the supposed benefits of “Fierce Immunity” and having the “right mindset,” conflating traumatic survival with supplement use.
  • Willis [16:34]: "...they keep in really good health, healthy family that makes healthy mind. And a healthy mind makes good decisions...we created an immune formula...to make sure that everyone involved in these critical crises are protecting their health."
  • Derek [17:44]: Fiercely criticizes this, calling it “the biggest fuck you” for exploiting real tragedy and undermining the painful contributions of first responders after 9/11.

6. Host Skepticism about Spiritual Bypassing

• [19:02]–[22:19] The hosts discuss problems with bypassing grief and complexity through religious triumphalism, noting that selling hope and supplements off tragedies is intellectually and emotionally dishonest.
  • Julian [20:40]: "The impulse to find miracles and evidence of God all around the most senseless and devastating loss is just ludicrous to me."
  • Derek [22:19]: Critiques peddling a vague, undefined God for profit: "...the way that they're using God in this webinar though is the more malicious and disgusting ways that I really do have a problem with."

7. Narrative Manipulation & Magical Thinking

• [23:36]–[26:55] Willis describes a “miracle” moment—the clouds parting after searching for a drowned child—which he attributes to divine intervention, then pivots again to conspiracy rhetoric.
  • Willis [23:36]: "We saw so many things that strengthened my faith...we’re not alone. And there’s an incredible natural force that is there sustaining our lives. And I think the people behind these agendas...are definitely bad people...who have lost their connection with God."
  • Julian [24:55]: Notes how every good event is “proof” of God, but bad events are “the cabal,” showing the selective logic.

8. Racist Metaphor & Dog-Whistles

• [27:05]–[28:18] Willis uses anti-immigrant rhetoric, likening border security to immune health, invoking the far-right “great replacement” theory—a move that makes both his co-panelists visibly uncomfortable.
  • Willis [27:06]: "We all understand...the importance of border security...It’s changing the demographic. It’s creating a lot of turmoil and chaos. And...it’s very similar [to] what goes on in the body...Our immune system is our border security."
  • Julian [27:41]: Points out this “great replacement theory bullshit,” noting Chris Roy and Nadia’s discomfort as Willis veers into this territory.

9. Pseudoscience & Musical Frequency Conspiracies

• [28:50]–[30:40] Willis claims Western music tuning is a plot to create chaos, referencing the 432Hz myth—and says this narrative will feature in his upcoming film.
  • Willis [28:51]: "A big chunk of the movie is about the way that our music in the 1950s was tuned away from...432 hertz…"
  • Julian [29:51]: Debunks this with basic musical science: “A440 is not a chaotic frequency. It’s just...a mathematical convention agreed upon to standardized tuning across instruments and orchestras.”

10. Selling Under the Guise of Service

• [33:37]–[34:34] As the hard sell begins, Chris Roy offers testimonial-based claims of healing, denying it's medical advice while suggesting supplement use can halt disease or reverse terminal illness.
  • Chris Roy [33:38]: "We've heard stories about tumor cells shrinking...People given two weeks to live...30 days later, 60 days later, they're back home. They're in the garden."
  • Julian [34:03]: Skewers the misuse of anecdotes as “evidence.”
  • Derek [35:42]: Exposes the contradiction in Willis’s claim about not being a grifter: "There are a lot of people out there who've taken advantage of the situation that our nation is in to sell things. That's not why we created this. Yeah, we have to sell it..."

11. “Censorship” and the Martyr Myth

• [36:21]–[36:33] The hosts mock Willis’s claim that his “Plandemic” film is both the “most censored” and “most watched” documentary in history—a contradiction at the heart of grifter martyrdom.

12. Final Mockery & Recap

• [37:17] The hosts end as the hard sell for a Fierce Immunity discount code arrives, joking about the logical contortions of linking daily prayer and “immunity” supplements, implicitly comparing them to the vaccines these same figures vilify.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Julian [05:32]: "He paints himself as this heroic figure...it’s become a very malleable tale."
• Nadia Willis [10:39]: "...give you practices and protocols to really stay immune to all of this crisis..."
• Mickey Willis [12:47]: "I believe the weather’s being manipulated...Some of it's natural, some of it's not..."
• Derek [17:44]: "I have never extended a fuck you as big to anyone as I will right now to what Mickey Willis just did..."
• Julian [20:40]: “The impulse to find miracles and evidence of God all around the most senseless and devastating loss is just ludicrous to me.”
• Mickey Willis [23:36]: "We saw so many things that strengthened my faith..."
• Mickey Willis [27:06]: "...it's very similar what goes on in the body. Our immune system is our border security."
• Julian [29:51]: “This particular way of thinking can turn anything into a diabolical conspiracy that's about robbing us of our true nature.”
• Chris Roy [33:38]: "We've heard stories about tumor cells shrinking..."
• Derek [35:42]: "There are a lot of people out there who've taken advantage of the situation...That's not why we created this. Yeah, we have to sell it..."

Important Timestamps

• [03:42] — The hosts introduce the main target: Mickey Willis’s “Stronger Than the Storm” webinar.
• [07:21] & [10:39] — Religious framing and supplement pitch laid out.
• [12:47] — Weather manipulation conspiracy claims made explicit.
• [16:34] — Pivot from tragedy to supplement sales pitch.
• [23:36] — Divine “signs” interpreted through a conspiracy-religious lens.
• [27:06] — Border security/immune system metaphor with racist undertones.
• [28:51] — Musical frequency pseudoscience claim.
• [33:38] — Dubious medical claims and hard sell begin.
• [36:21]–[36:33] — Debunking Willis’s contradictory martyr narrative.

Conclusion

The episode exemplifies how charismatic conspirituality influencers like Mickey Willis exploit emotion, trauma, conspiracy, and religious language to manipulate followers and sell products—often under a veneer of noble service. The hosts employ sharp skepticism, humor, and personal anecdotes to expose these tactics, emphasizing the harm in replacing evidence-based health and collective understanding with grift-driven magical thinking.

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