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Decoding the Gurus

Christopher Kavanagh and Matthew Browne

An exiled Northern Irish anthropologist and a hitchhiking Australian psychologist take a close look at the contemporary crop of 'secular gurus', iconoclasts, and other exiles from the mainstream, offering their own brands of unique takes and special insights.

Leveraging two of the most diverse accents in modern podcasting, Chris and Matt dig deep into the claims, peek behind the psychological curtains, and try to figure out once and for all... What's it all About?

Join us, as we try to puzzle our way through and talk some smart-sounding smack about the intellectual giants of our age, from Jordan Peterson to Robin DiAngelo. Are they revolutionary thinkers or just grifters with delusions of grandeur?

Join us and let's find out!

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  • 24 episodes
  • Avg 1 hr 22 min
  • English

Episodes 24

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  • April 3 · 44 min

    Supplementary Material 47: The DTG Conspiracy UNMASKED, Quantum Idiots, and Triggernometry Prophecies

    Our cover is blown. Our secret funders unmasked. Code Red: Abort! Abort! This is not a drill. Supplementary Material 47: The DTG Conspiracy UNMASKED, Quantum Idiots, and Triggernometry Prophecies 00:00 Glowing Introduction 03:14 The Secret Conspiracy at the Heart of the Podcast 08:17 The Israel Connection 19:09 Cenk Uygur's Pickleball Conspiracy 23:25 Comment Section Conspiracies 30:20 Pizzagate Conspiracies Revisited 37:55 The Value of debating with ChadBigCum 42:26 AI discourse reflections 43:43 Ben Burgis's hyperbolic reaction to AI use 44:53 The AI revolution and its potential impacts 47:53 Social and Economic Disruption and Job Replacement 51:33 The Dangers of Slopified Work and AI economies 55:47 Statistical Analysis Software and the value of Friction 57:36 The Perils of AI Usage outside of your Skillset 58:59 The Solution is within yourself! 01:04:22 The Hundred Schools of AI discourse 01:05:58 Double Slit and Quantum Physics Insights from Warren Smith 01:12:39 Schrodinger's poor, misinterpreted cat 01:13:48 The Wonderful Benjamin Boyce 01:14:41 Quantum Woo and Arrogant Sensemakers 01:18:29 Young Matt and Aged Chris 01:20:13 The Triggernometry Prophecy 01:23:54 Quid Pro Quo in the Discourse Circuit 01:28:25 The Anti-Institutional Horseshoe Theory of MEHDI HASAN 01:37:18 So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! The full episode is available to Patreon subscribers (1 hour, 40 minutes). Join us at: https://www.patreon.com/DecodingTheGurus Links Reddit post unmasking our Israeli backers Mother Jones article on whether 'pizza' is a codeword in the Epstein files (Spoiler: No it is not) Mickey's Opinion Piece in The Canadian Jewish News about "quiet anti-semitism" Ben Burgis is suggesting a journalist should be fired for using AI Cenk Uygur’s Pickleball Conspiracy Vigeland & Citarella on Epstein: The One Conspiracy to Rule Them All (YouTube) Benjamin Boyce and Warren Smith discuss Quantum Physics Triggernometry: Mehdi Hasan Debate on the Iran War, Immigration and the Israel Lobby Creator of Horseshoe Theory Dies aged 100

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  • #158
    March 28 · 1 hr 38 min

    The Moral Dilemmas of AI with Michael Inzlicht

    Mickey is BACK with two new papers he has co-authored, a bunch of opinions, and a very unwelcome idea: maybe the problem with AI isn't that it doesn't work but that it works too well! The first paper, Against Frictionless AI, argues that AI assistance and its ability to take away the effort from thinking, writing, and smooth out social(like) interactions could be robbing those activities of the very thing that makes them worthwhile. The second paper is a more empirical investigation that presents a bunch of studies examining the topic of the (alleged) moralisation of AI. Some findings suggest that opposition to AI among some people isn't really about risks or trade-offs but rather about non-negotiable sacred moral values. Who knew? We also discuss effort justification, reproducible research, robosexual allyship, and just how much humanity remains within the cyborg Matthew Browne. And remember... It's just like our opinion, man! Links Decoding Academia 34: Empathetic AIs? (Patreon Series) Ovsyannikova, D., Oldemburgo de Mello, V., & Inzlicht, M. (2025). Third-party evaluators perceive AI as more compassionate than expert humans. Communications Psychology, 3, Article 4. Zohar, E., Bloom, P., & Inzlicht, M. (2026). Against frictionless AI. Communications Psychology, 4, Article 39. Oldemburgo de Mello, V., Côté, É., Ayad, R., Inbar, Y., Plaks, J., & Inzlicht, M. (2026). The moralization of artificial intelligence (Manuscript under review). Paul Bloom's Small Potatoes Substack - My friend thinks it's a good idea for us to spend most of our time with AI companions - Is it irresponsible for academics to refuse to use AI? Mickey's Speak Now Regret Later Substack - AI Alarmism Trades on Fear, Not Facts Mickey's provocative tweet on his recent paper DTG Previous Interview with Mickey on the Replication Crisis, Mindfulness, and Responsible Heterodoxy Andy Masley Substack debunking the AI water usage claims Andy Masley Substack: Using ChatGPT is not bad for the environment - a cheat sheet Pataranutaporn, P., Karny, S., Archiwaranguprok, C., Albrecht, C., Liu, A. R., & Maes, P. (2025). “My Boyfriend is AI”: A computational analysis of human–AI companionship in Reddit’s AI community. arXiv. Critical response to Mickey's paper from Roy Schulam on Substack

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  • #157
    March 22 · 2 hr 38 min

    Ken Wilber: Spiralling Upwards through a Technicolor Cosmos

    Ken Wilber, the grand architect of Integral Theory, enters the Decoding chamber (wearing a striking but slightly unconvincing wig) as we explore a worldview that confidently absorbs every religion, philosophy, and half-remembered psychology paper into one majestic, Borg-like synthesis. Resistance, as it turns out, is not just futile... it is probably “first-tier thinking". This is a world of elaborate, baroque cosmologies. Layers within layers, quadrants within stages, spirals within states, with each offering a map of reality that grows more intricate the closer it gets to its own centre. Traditions are not debated so much as absorbed, their distinctiveness dissolved into a higher synthesis that always leads to the ultimate insight: integral theory. Get ready to experience high-level political analysis where Kamala Harris becomes a “fractured green" and Donald Trump the embodiment of a "rational orange". You will also learn how Ken is working with AI companies to help them incorporate integral thinking into their algorithms. The implications this has for human evolution are hard to fathom. Finally, in true Columbo fashion, we circle back to Matt's core philosophical system … panpsychism. Just a small detail, and also take some time to conduct a brief spiritual inquisition into Matt’s alleged Christian upbringing. Fortunately, nothing is rejected. Everything is integrated, including all possible critiques. Sources Suma Gowda: Ken Wilber on Future of Consciousness, AI, Trump's Election: A Deep Dive into Spiral Dynamics The Rise and Fall of Ken Wilber – Mark Manson Rebel Wisdom: Interview with Ken Wilber- What Happened to Jordan Peterson DS Wilson finds wisdom in Ken's approach Ken Wilber's website

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  • March 18 · 19 min

    Gurometer: Teal Swan and Scott Galloway

    In this Gurometer double bill, Matt and Chris break out the much-sought-after Gurometer™ to score Teal Swan and Scott Galloway across the 11 recurring guru traits. In one efficient episode, we compare cosmic-certified spirituality with secular man-talk (and a surprising amount of puffer-jacket merchandising). As a bonus, get ready to thrill at Matt's eternal puzzlement at his own simple binary question of 'guru-osity'. Links Gurometer scores to date The full episode is available for Patreon subscribers (51 mins). Join us at: https://www.patreon.com/DecodingTheGurus Gurometer: Teal Swan and Scott Galloway 00:00 Back to the Gurometer: Teal and Scott 02:33 Galaxy Brain-ness 04:18 Cultishness 05:25 Anti-Establishmentarianism 08:31 Grievance Mongering 10:55 Self Aggrandisement and Narcissism 14:30 Cassandra Complex 18:03 Revolutionary Theories 21:49 Pseudo-Profound Bullshit 26:07 Conspiracy Mongering 28:50 Excessive Profiteering 36:25 Moral Grandstanding 40:33 Overall Gurometer Score 41:27 Rapid Fire Bonus Guru Points

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Showing 21–24 of 24 episodes