Conspirituality – Episode Brief: Olympics for Dopers
Released: August 16, 2025
Hosts: Derek Beres, Julian Walker, Matthew Remski
Episode Overview
In this Brief, the Conspirituality team analyzes the "Enhanced Games"—an upcoming event branded as the “Olympics for dopers”—and the broader culture of performance-enhancing drugs, supplement grifts, and Silicon Valley’s role in turning human optimization into a business. The hosts unpack the event’s Silicon Valley financial backing, especially by Peter Thiel, and interrogate claims of “fairness,” bodily autonomy, and disruption of the traditional Olympic model. The episode weaves in commentary on wellness culture, supplement sales tactics, and how dangerous or misleading health claims become mainstream through charismatic “contrarians.”
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Context and Satire: From Lance Armstrong to Enhanced Games
- Lance Armstrong, still culturally relevant despite his doping scandals, announced he will participate in the Enhanced Games—a “no limits” sporting event for athletes willing to use performance enhancers.
- Irony abounds: Armstrong says he won’t dope for the Enhanced Games, and there’s no cycling event, so he’ll compete in track and field instead.
- Hosts immediately see this as attention-seeking contrarianism:
"I'm gonna guess he's hoping that taking a contrarian approach here will help to elevate his profile. Whereas before going against regulations tanked his career. Who the fuck knows. I've stopped trying to make sense of people we cover on this podcast." (Unnamed Co-host, 03:26)
2. The Enhanced Games: A Silicon Valley Supplements Grift
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The founders (including Aaron D'Souza/De Souza and backed by Peter Thiel) aren’t “sports people”—they’re businessmen eyeing the supplement market.
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Wired’s feature by Amit Katawala is cited for exposing the real goal: launch “Enhanced Performance Products,” i.e., sell supplements linked to the Games.
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D'Souza’s own words (as read by Julian Walker):
"All through my reporting, I'd been struggling to understand what was in it for the investors, why billionaires with no interest in sport were so interested in disrupting it... Then D'Souza announced the launch of Enhanced Performance Products, a new line of supplements inspired by the ones athletes will be taking to prepare for the Games. This pill helped me run 100 meters in nine seconds. And now you can buy it, too. The model isn't the Olympics or the World Cup. It's Red Bull." (Julian Walker quoting Amit Katawala, 05:29)
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The Red Bull analogy is mocked as reverse engineering—start with the product, then invent the spectacle, versus recognizing genuine athletic achievement and then selling a drink.
3. Who Is Aaron D’Souza (Desueza)? Scads of Contradictions
- Derek and Julian fuss over the host’s pronunciation of "D'Souza" vs. "De Sueza"—indicating how unfamiliar this outsized disruptor is in actual sporting circles.
- D’Souza’s Silicon Valley bonafides include having a hand in helping Peter Thiel engineer the fall of Gawker.
- Sam Altman is quoted saying D'Souza is, "obsessed with status and power." (06:03)
- Hosts highlight that Enhanced Games is simply the next get-rich-fast scheme for status-seeking capitalists.
4. D'Souza’s Case: Leveling the Playing Field, or Just a Sales Pitch?
Clip breakdown from Joe Rogan’s show (08:33–13:16)
- D’Souza claims half of Olympians cheat, and that the IOC is exploitative, paying nothing to athletes.
- He proposes the “third Olympiad” as a blank slate using science and technology to push humanity’s limits.
Host Analysis:
- Derek and Julian question the data and sincerity—D’Souza’s performance is called a “canned sales pitch” (10:19), aimed at Rogan’s audience, strategically couching supplement sales as a technological mission.
- Rogan’s skepticism is praised for undercutting these grandiose comparisons:
"You're not going to be serious. It's gonna be cool. You're just getting a bunch of guys juiced up, running really fast. Big difference." (Unnamed Co-host, 12:38)
5. The Cultural Moment: Spectacle, Supplements, and Bro Science
Timestamp: 13:23–14:48
- The hosts point to how the Enhanced Games and extreme spectacles like the upcoming White House UFC cage match symbolize American decadence and the perverse marriage of tech money, violence, and biohacking.
- Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley’s deep-pocketed support for both militarism and entertainment are slammed as “malicious” (Unnamed Co-host, 14:16).
6. RFK Jr., Fitness Optics, and the Appearance of Health
Timestamp: 15:04–18:19
- D’Souza holds up RFK Jr. (noted anti-vax, pro-testosterone figure) as proof “enhancement” is desirable; hosts ridicule both the logic and the optics—especially his penchant for working out in jeans.
- The myth that older men need to "look jacked" for health (and political credibility) is dissected:
"If you don't look Jack, you aren't doing enough, no matter how healthy you actually are. It's all about appearances. It's not actually about health." (Unnamed Co-host, 16:43)
7. Scarcity, Supplements, & Selling Libertarianism
Timestamp: 18:53–23:57
- Hosts identify the Enhanced Games’ rhetorical strategy:
- Romanticizing bodily autonomy and “life extension”
- Positioning steroids as akin to now-respected supplements (creatine)
- Tapping both the optimization crowd and “alternative medicine” markets
- Reaching for pharmaceutical partnerships, arguing GLP-1 inhibitors, etc., are trillion-dollar markets (fact-checked by hosts as wildly inflated).
- Satirical ad break:
"If you go to creatine.com using the code conspira bros50, you can get 50% off... Most of our listeners are women, though, Julian, you should have created a better discount code. Jesus, man." (Julian Walker & Unnamed Co-host, 21:15)
8. Libertarianism and Social Costs
Timestamp: 21:42–22:37
- The bodily autonomy claim is eviscerated:
"Increased steroid usage we know can create more violence in men. Roid rage is a real thing. So you are saying give me this bodily autonomy that increases my risk of actually starting fights, possibly with my wife or domestic partner." (Unnamed Co-host, 21:42)
- It’s compared to Second Amendment arguments: the "freedom" to self-optimize can harm others.
9. Fact-Checking D'Souza: The Flexner Report Fable
Timestamp: 25:00–33:06
- D'Souza (on Rogan) butchers the Flexner Report, crucial to medical education standards, and uses it to argue the medical establishment only treats the sick, not the “extraordinary.”
- The hosts, especially Derek, meticulously debunk D’Souza’s summary:
- Flexner was not a professor or sociologist.
- His report came in 1910, not the 1920s, and it brought much-needed scientific standards to U.S. medicine, not crony gatekeeping.
- “Anyone could call themselves a doctor” is an exaggeration.
- The report never defined medicine as just “making sick people less sick”—that’s an alt-med talking point.
- The hosts note how this trope is repeated by other wellness figures (e.g. Christiane Northrup), and the distortion is used to paint science as inherently hostile to “optimization” or herbal medicine.
10. The Real Motive: Monetizing the Dream of Enhancement
Timestamp: 33:06–34:30
- The Enhanced Games, like so much wellness pseudo-medicine, aren’t about progress, health, or fairness—they’re staged to sell supplements and gear by manufacturing a false narrative about scientific suppression.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
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On Lance Armstrong’s “clean” entry:
"There's no way I will take anything illegal before or during the event. The only substance I will bring is a six pack of Shiner Bachelor." (Julian Walker quoting Armstrong, 03:07)
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On the Enhanced Games supplement hustle:
"This pill helped me run 100 meters in nine seconds. And now you can buy it, too. The model isn't the Olympics or the World Cup. It's Red Bull." (Amit Katawala via Julian, 05:29)
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On the state of American spectacle:
"It really does give you insight into. Into where we are in this culture." (Unnamed Co-host, 13:51)
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On optics vs. genuine health:
"If you don't look Jack, you aren't doing enough, no matter how healthy you actually are. It's all about appearances. It's not actually about health." (Unnamed Co-host, 16:43)
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On libertarianism and risk:
"It's my right. It's my freedom. I'm protecting myself. It's like, yeah, but what about all the people who are at risk as a result of everyone having access to every kind of gun all the time." (Julian Walker, 22:24)
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On podcast guest (mis)preparation:
"You're being given an opportunity...to have the largest platform in the world to pitch your games basically. And you're just going to come with all this completely wrong and sometimes fabricated information." (Unnamed Co-host, 30:29)
Segment Timestamps
- 01:13–03:26 — Lance Armstrong’s doping, legacy, Enhanced Games entry
- 03:26–05:04 — Enhanced Games’ supplement grift exposed
- 05:04–07:44 — Who are the founders? Connections to Thiel, Altman, Gawker litigation
- 08:33–12:38 — D’Souza’s mission pitch; Rogan’s skepticism
- 13:23–14:48 — Spectacle, Glorification of “enhancement,” UFC at the White House
- 15:04–18:19 — RFK Jr., testosterone, and the optics of health in politics
- 21:42–22:37 — Bodily autonomy and social risks (comparison to gun rights)
- 25:00–33:06 — Flexner Report, debunking D’Souza’s ahistorical claims
- Entirety — Hosts’ satirical tone, fact-checking, and broader critique of the alt-wellness/supplement economy
Takeaway
The Enhanced Games, for all their Silicon Valley hype, are less about athletic liberation or fairness than about selling false dreams and dietary pills to people desperate for edge, status, or meaning. Their rhetoric recycles old tropes—disingenuous appeals to science, libertarian freedoms, and the spectacle of “disruption.” The Conspirituality crew unpacks the history, hype, and harm with wit and rigor—making the case that, as ever, the real winners are those selling snake oil under the banner of “progress.”
Original Tone: Informal, skeptical, fact-driven, heavily satirical, and often exasperated with a dash of bro-y, podcast banter.
Recommended for: Listeners interested in the intersections of wellness, conspiracy, Silicon Valley disruption, and fact-based criticism of cultish supplement culture.