So excited to welcome podcaster, author, and skeptic of skeptics Alex Tsakiris! (You may remember Alex from my blog, when I posted our first-ever conversation, “Fight Science with Science” here)
Alex, author of Why Science Is Wrong…about Almost Everythingis best known as host of the mighty Skeptiko podcast, which has hundreds of episodes up, chronicling his journey from skeptic to full-on consciousness explorer. It’s an exhilarating progression, as Alex talks to scientists, mystics, conspiracy theorist, historians, and more. I encourage you to listen to the episodes in sequence. Alex is, in some ways, even more open and exposed than me, displaying all his misfires and new insights, his frustrations and his fascinations.
IN THIS EPISODE WE TALK ABOUT
Time management as occultism
My first memory was of the spiritual world
How Alex decided to start a podcast and why you should too
The power of self-doubt, and how to make sure doubt doesn’t overwhelm you
Why every discipline should seek to be obsolete
Skeptical ethics
The disconnection between political beliefs and action
The trap of being a spiritual seeker
Whether or not Alex is sick of Skeptiko after 300+ episodes
Gloria Steinem, CIA agent
Social Justice Warriors vs Free Speech Warriors
When being victimization becomes a weapon
Escaping centrism by disregarding the poles
Defending Jon Ronson, Chapo Traphouse, and Camille Paglia
Making this show my main gig outside of writing is a huge dream for me – so please support the show AND get cool stuff by donating as little as a dollar/month here. Thank you!
Happy to announce I’m the first guest of 2017 on one of my favorite podcasts, Rune Soup, hosted by author and occultist, Gordon White. (If you want to skip past this stuff, just scroll down to the podcast.)
I found Gordon through a series of synchronicities: Last year, I spoke to an occulty friend of mine in San Francisco after three years of not communicating (nothing bad, we just sort of dropped out of each other’s lives). “Conner, you’ve got to read this book called The Chaos Protocols! It’s a completely new take on the economic climate and how to engage with money and the world we live in now,” he said. Or something to that effect.
I trust my friend’s taste, but to be honest, I did what I often do when people recommend stuff to me – I thought, “Sure, sure. Another magick book. I’ll get to it in 2052.”
Okay, okay, I’ll look this guy up. When I checked twitter, I saw that we followed each other. Huh? I had no memory of following him, nor of him following me. He must have just tweeted something awesome and I instinctively hit the Follow button. A few months later, I’d read The Chaos Ptotocols (it’s excellent, as are his other books, Star.Shipsand Pieces of Eight) appeared on Episode 24 of his podcast, Rune Soup (which is also the name of his excellent occult-meets-politics website), and was becoming fast friends with Gordon.
My second appearance is even better than the first, in my opinion. We talk about 2017, why you shouldn’t despair, what the state of the world can mean for us spiritually, why it’s important to decolonize our thoughts, the power of forgiveness, and more. It’s all part of my work this year to radiate empowerment to you, dear reader, dear viewer, dear friend. This includes my upcoming online course, Radical Undoing: Decolonize Your Mind with Sex, Science, the Occult, and Philosophy (sign up!); which I talk about on the podcast.
Let’s become the prisms through which inspiration, imagination, and creative engagement refract and illuminate.