Decoding The Gurus

Guru-mas Celebrations

Matt and Chris are ringing in the festive season with a live hang out and reflection on the year of Guru Goings On. All Patreons are welcome! Happening now or very shortly or in the past if you are reading this later, just click the video above and find out.

Bret Weinstein Lore Quiz

Chris and Matt compete in a quiz that challenges their knowledge of the revolutionary theories and probing insights of world-renowned evolutionary biologist Bret Weinstein. Hosted by Dan (the Bad Stats on Twitter), they compete to see who is better studied in one of the greatest thinkers of the modern era. Play along and see how you fare!

Editor Andy at it again and this time with all the relevant clips!

DTG Christmas Quiz with Helen Lewis

You guys will have heard this but now see the visuals!

Join seasoned decoder and quiz master Helen Lewis for a festive mini-challenge of guru-themed trivia! Watch our hapless decoders struggle to prove their mastery of the gurusphere’s knowledge—and see who comes out on top. And act surprised even though you already know who will win...

Oldering (Chris’ Christmas Indulgence)

Tis the season for self indulgence and what better place to indulge yourself than on a Patreon?

Since you all are forced to hear periodic updates on middle aged bouldering in audio format, I thought it only fair to assault you with video evidence that this is not all in my mind.

The way it works, for those of you unfamiliar, is that you have starting holds (marked by colored tapes) and a finishing hold (marked by the same color tape). Your goal is to climb up using the holds indi...

Guru Survivor 2025

If you have listened to the Christmas Special you know the deal but to recap:

There is an island with enough supplies for ONE TEAM to survive. Each team is comprised of THREE gurus and a Decoder. Matt, Chris, and Dan selected their teams, considering things like survival skills, specialist knowledge, and combat abilities.

We turn to you now to decide who wins the inaugural 2024 Guru Survivor challenge (and to suggest your alternative teams in the comments below).

Who will b...

Christmas Guru Special 2024 (Advance Release)

Lucky Patreon folks that you are you have earned a proper early-release episode.

In this special festive episode, Chris and Matt are joined by guest decoder Helen Lewis to discuss the myths around genius, extract her 2025 Guru predictions, and, of course, participate in her annual Guru Quiz. Again, the decoders are challenged over their mastery of the gurusphere knowledge, and again, one is found wanting. Who will it be? You all know already... but act surprised, anyway.

But tha...

Supplementary Material 19: Critic-O-Rama with extra transdimensional alien demons

In this truly epic-length supplementary material, we spin 70 critical paradigms simultaneously while trying to avoid the wily tricks of some hostile transdimensional forces. Do we succeed? Join us to find out!

Supplementary Material 19

00:24 Introduction: More American Insights(!)

13:12 Peterson Orbiters: The Pageau Brothers

17:41 Pageau & Rod Dreher: Aliens are transdimensional spirits

25:56 Pageau: Alex Jones was Right!

27:01 Peterson...

Joe Rogan, Bret Weinstein and the horrifyingly low standards in Alternative Media

Editor Andy's latest creation featuring: Joe Rogan, Bret Weinstein, and briefly Destiny, in a video about the terrible lack of standards in alternative media.

DTG November Live Hang Out

Ola everyone,

If you are a Galaxy Brain Guru and want to chill with us and possibly hear more of Matt's American insights or Chris' bouldering/coal shovelling adventures, now is your chance.

We will have a live hang out on Weds evening for you American folk and Thursday morning for us Asia residents.

If you want to see the specific time in your location or watch the recording click the link above but for reference, it will be 10.30AM JST.

Hope to see some of you there!...

Dawkins vs. Peterson: There Be Dragons

In this special episode, we return to the forboding Dragon's Den of the Peterson-verse and enjoy a rather punchy conversation between Jordan Peterson and Richard Dawkins, facilitated by Alex O'Connor.

As ever the discussion is dense with abstract symbolic interpretations, evasive answers to direct questions about biblical events, and highly speculative claims. So Matt and Chris don their best decoding armour, steel their resolve and prepare to face down endless waves of indulgent anal...

Developments at Bari Weiss' Anti-Woke University

The University of Austin welcomes its inaugural class and we consider whether this development heralds a brave new age for academia.

Source: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/students/free-speech/2024/09/04/university-austin-enters-its-first-academic-year

Sentiment Analysis by Havanaparasocialclub

Kind listener Havanaparasocialclub did a back-of-the-envelop sentiment analysis on some Decoding content. Some of you will have seen them in the chat channel but we felt they deserved a broader audience. And before you offer hot takes on conversation dominance remember Chris needs to introduce and contextualise all the clips!

Supplementary Material 18: The Clown Car Cometh

Still in the land of the free, and restocked with important new insights from his US travels, Matt is confronted with the Gurusphere's predictably depressing reaction to the election. And what's that we hear in the distance, is it a honking car?

Supplementary Material 18

00:00 Matt's American Ethnography

10:59 Eric Weinstein is waiting for the call

14:32 Huberman, Krauss, and MAGA Sycophancy

18:39 Boghossian and other would-be Intellectual Cleric...

Gabor Maté’s Neuroscience Shortcut: When Low-Quality Evidence Meets High-Level Rhetoric

Exploring how Gabor Maté leans on non-replicating neuroscience to bolster his claims, plus a quick stop at Matt’s Correction Corner concerning Russian oligarchs.

Sources
Gabor Maté's Guardian article on authoritarianism. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/06/authoritarianism-roots-origin 

2024-11-15 04:35:35 +0000 UTC View Post

Matt is visiting St. Louis

Matt will be in St. Louis (Missouri) for a couple of days (roughly Nov 14-18th).

If you want to give him suggestions, try to tempt him into meetups, or plot where to ambush him, please do so in the comment thread below.

Matt will take a look at the comments when he gets some time and working WiFi.

Sabine Hossenfelder: Science is a Liar ... Sometimes

In this highly non-topical episode, Matt and Chris dive into the entertainingly gruff world of Sabine Hossenfelder, the German theoretical physicist and popular YouTube science communicator. Known as a joyful science curmudgeon, Sabine excels at making complex science accessible to a wide audience. Yet, there's another side to her content: one that's increasingly steeped in the YouTube algorithm’s culture-war-fueled clickbait, complete with prolific both-sidesing and even hints of her own b...

October DTG Live Hang Out

Trying this again.

This time the senior decoder should be present to dispense the wisdom he has gathered on his American voyages.

Join us if you can. There will be another one later in the month and recording is available afterwards.

If you want to check the time, just click on the link above but it is Nov 10th midnight JST.

Guru Election Special

Matt and Chris dip their toes into the fetid, guru-infested swamp surrounding the 2024 U.S. election. Straining to see what lurks in the murky depths, they encounter dark shapes, including Eric Weinstein pledging his services to whoever wins (or will give him a call), Joe Rogan conspiracy hypothesizing with Donald Trump, the Free Press hosting a truly heterodox election party, Michael Moynihan pulling no punches, and finally, Jordan Peterson’s shockingly sycophantic psychological assessment...

Gurucon 2024: Rescuing the Republic with a bunch of idiots

We cover the conspiracy clown show that came to town to "Rescue the Republic" with rousing speeches from Jordan Peterson, Russell Brand, Matt Taibbi, Bret Weinstein and many, many more.

Supplementary Material 17: American Dreams, YouTube Algorithms, and Poisonous Plastics

In this episode, Chris and Matt open the lid on Matt's adventures in America. Basking in the land of the free, Matt is forced to consider YouTube dynamics, indulgent podcast conversations, potential Russian influence campaigns, and the environmental toxins that sound him.

We will be back soon with another SM election special and a better mic for Matt!

Supplementary Material 17

00:00 Introduction

03:20 Matt's American Insights

10:41 Flint Di...

Tenet Media: Tim Pool and Kremlin Approved Heterodoxy

Back with another video from the DTG Annals (courtesy of Editor Andy) this one covering the Tenet Media revelations and a broader discussion about the problems of undeclared conflicts of interest and a lack of transparency in the influencer space.

American Live Hang Out for October

Sorry for the short notice but Matt is a harder man to schedule while travelling.

If you are around and want to hear his anthropological insights into American subcultures now is your chance.

We will pray his hotel WiFi can handle the high-level conversation.

For Galaxy Brain folk, the time is set for 12.30 JST. Click the link above to see your local time. We will keep the recording up for anyone who misses it.

EDIT: Senior Decoder is missing in America and Crowdcast i...

The Selfish Gene Review

In this special international episode of Decoding the Gurus, Chris and Matt Brown team up to dissect Richard Dawkins' enduring influential work, 'The Selfish Gene.'

The hosts dive deep into Dawkins' evolutionary theories, touching on genes, memes, and human meat bags. They explore Dawkins' narrative style, the academic controversies sparked by his ideas, and his broader influence on understanding human behaviour. Along the way, they address criticisms by figures like Stephen Jay Gould ...

Interesting article from Mickey Inzlicht

Yes it’s another Substack but this article is free and it is from an ex-guest and talks a little bit about how they see Decoding the Gurus approach and me (Chris).

Mickey is what I regard as someone in that (increasingly rare) very reasonable side of the ‘heterodox’ pool.

The interaction described in the article regarding Dave Rubin was also one of the interactions on Twitter that maintains my faith in humanity.

I thought people on here might find it an interesting a...

Next Decoding Material: Curtis Yarvin

We are doing a two-for-one set of gurus next with Curtis Yarving and Peter Thiel before heading into left-wing wonkery.

For those who want to play along, here is the Yarvin material we will be looking at. We also get to hear from Francis and Konstantin! Yay!

Flint Dibble Returns

We return to the world of Graham Hancock, pseudo-archaeology, and real archaeology with Cardiff University archaeologist Flint Dibble. Sadly the senior member of the Decoding team was absent for the interview but young apprentice decoder Chris struggled on as best he could.

This episode, recorded just before the release of Ancient Apocalypse Season 2 on Netflix and Graham Hancock's associated podcast PR tour, examines the appeal of myths like Atlantis, the criticisms Flint has faced fr...

Flint Dibble Returns

We return to the world of Graham Hancock, pseudo-archaeology, and real archaeology with Cardiff University archaeologist Flint Dibble. Sadly the senior member of the Decoding team was absent for the interview but young apprentice decoder Chris struggled on as best he could. This episode, recorded just before the release of Ancient Apocalypse Season 2 on Netflix and Graham Hancock's associated podcast PR tour, examines the appeal of myths like Atlantis, the criticisms Flint has f...

Matt's American Tour Begins!

Just a little update on everyone's favourite Aussie Decoder.

Matt is now in America, lounging around San Francisco probably in an opium den.

He will be in the US for the next three months and his actual itinerary is a mystery known only to the ancients. All that is known is that he will travel from San Francisco and eventually end up in New York.

Should you want to petition him to visit your state or demand details of his itinerary, you can post here and Matt may respond! Or...

John Vervaeke & Jordan Peterson: Word Worshipers

That's right—we’re back in the heady world of sense-making, but don't worry, we're just in time to witness the resolution of the ever-looming 'Meaning Crisis.'

Join Matt and Chris as they embark on an epic journey with the cognitively inclined philosopher John Vervaeke and none other than Jordan Peterson himself. Together, they navigate a vast web of meaning that spans discussions of Power, Beauty, Love, Religion, and, of course... the Logos!

Along the way, we'll question the ...

Bonus Feed Content

Hey everyone,

Just a quick question...

We originally had the bonus feed reserved for BONUS content. This meant the Gurometer episodes, full unedited interviews, early releases of episodes, Decoding Academia, and other stuff like the conversation on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

We did not reproduce the content on the main feed- mainly the Decoding Episodes and edited interviews- because we assumed people would prefer to keep only bonus stuff on the bonus feed.

H...