The Masculinist Revival: Christian Nationalism, Patriarchy, and the Politics of Regression

The Dark Enlightenment: Silicon Valley, Anti-Democracy, and the Future of Power

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1966216/fan_mail/new] *Sorry about the audio on this one, folks! Things got a little wonky!  Today’s episode is… heavy. We’re diving into something that sounds like a sci-fi dystopia, but is very real: The Dark Enlightenment. Also known as NRx, or neoreactionary thought. And if you’ve never heard of it before, you’re not alone—but its influence is quietly growing in tech, politics, and online spaces. This is not just fringe internet philosophy. It intersects with power, wealth, and governance—and challenges the core assumption that democracy is the best system we’ve got. We’re going to discuss where it came from, what it believes, why it’s appealing to some, and why critics say it’s deeply dangerous. Brown, W. – Undoing the Demos Müller, J.W. – What is Populism? Nature Genetics (re: race & genetics) Hirschman, A.O. – Exit, Voice, and Loyalty Piketty, T. – inequality and political systems Levitsky & Ziblatt – How Democracies Die Brown, W. (2015). Undoing the demos: Neoliberalism's stealth revolution. Zone Books. Hirschman, A. O. (1970). Exit, voice, and loyalty: Responses to decline in firms, organizations, and states. Harvard University Press. Levitsky, S., & Ziblatt, D. (2018). How democracies die. Crown. Müller, J.-W. (2016). What is populism? University of Pennsylvania Press. Adorno, T. W., Frenkel-Brunswik, E., Levinson, D. J., & Sanford, R. N. (1950). The authoritarian personality. Harper & Row. Bandura, A. (1999). Moral disengagement in the perpetration of inhumanities. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3(3), 193–209. Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. Plenum. Freyd, J. J. (1996). Betrayal trauma: The logic of forgetting childhood abuse. Harvard University Press. Gilligan, C. (1982). In a different voice: Psychological theory and women's development. Harvard University Press. Gottman, J. M. (1994). What predicts divorce? The relationship between marital processes and marital outcomes. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Greenberg, J., Pyszczynski, T., & Solomon, S. (1986). The causes and consequences of a need for self-esteem: A terror management theory. In R. F. Baumeister (Ed.), Public self and private self (pp. 189–212). Springer-Verlag. hooks, b. (2004). The will to change: Men, masculinity, and love. Atria Books. Jost, J. T., & Banaji, M. R. (1994). The role of stereotyping in system-justification and the production of false consciousness. British Journal of Social Psychology, 33(1), 1–27. Keltner, D., & Haidt, J. (2003). Approaching awe, a moral, spiritual, and aesthetic emotion. Cognition and Emotion, 17(2), 297–314. Kruglanski, A. W., & Webster, D. M. (1996). Motivated closing of the mind: "Seizing" and "freezing." Psychological Review, 103(2), 263–283. Real, T. (1997)

The Masculinist Revival: Christian Nationalism, Patriarchy, and the Politics of Regression

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1966216/fan_mail/new] Today’s episode is about a movement that has spent years operating on the political and cultural fringe, but is increasingly influencing mainstream conservative politics, religious institutions, online radicalization spaces, and even parts of the federal government. It’s often called the “masculinist” movement — a loose coalition of Christian nationalists, authoritarian traditionalists, online misogynists, white identitarians, and reactionary political influencers united by a common belief: That modern democracy — especially gender equality — has weakened society, undermined men, and must be reversed. The Creation of Patriarchy (Gerda Lerner) — https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-creation-of-patriarchy-9780195051858 [https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-creation-of-patriarchy-9780195051858]McKinsey: Diversity Matters Even More (2023) — https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-matters-even-more-the-case-for-holistic-impact [https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-matters-even-more-the-case-for-holistic-impact] BCG: How Diverse Leadership Teams Boost Innovation (2018) — https://www.bcg.com/publications/2018/how-diverse-leadership-teams-boost-innovation [https://www.bcg.com/publications/2018/how-diverse-leadership-teams-boost-innovation] Global Perspectives on DEI in Science (ScienceDirect, 2025) — https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266638642500390X [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266638642500390X]  Ni Una Menos — https://niunamenos.org.ar [https://niunamenos.org.ar] The Feminization of Resistance: #NiUnaMenos as Social Transformative Action — https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2158379X.2023.2251109 [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2158379X.2023.2251109] Zapatismo and the Emergence of Indigenous Feminism (NACLA) — https://nacla.org/zapatismo-and-emergence-indigenous-feminism/ [https://nacla.org/zapatismo-and-emergence-indigenous-feminism/] Decolonial Feminism and Buen Vivir — https://radicalecologicaldemocracy.org/decolonial-feminism-and-buen-vivir/ [https://radicalecologicaldemocracy.org/decolonial-feminism-and-buen-vivir/] Ubuntu: "I Am Because We Are" — https://www.jyu.fi/en/blog/i-am-because-we-are-understanding-the-concept-of-ubuntu [https://www.jyu.fi/en/blog/i-am-because-we-are-understanding-the-concept-of-ubuntu] Ubuntu as Framework for Collective Wellbeing (Frontiers in Sociology, 2025) — https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sociology/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2025.1555236/full [https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sociology/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2025.1555236/full] The Invention of Women (Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí) — https://www.upress.umn.edu/9780816624416/invention-of-women/ [https://www.upress.umn.edu/9780816624416/invention-of-women/]  Haudenosaunee Governance: The Matrilineal Democracy That Shaped America — https://msmagazine.com/2026/03/05/haudenosaunee-government-matrilineal-democracy-america-constitution-native-women/ [https://msmagazine.com/2026/03/05/haudenosaunee-government-matrilineal-democracy-america-constitution-native-women/] Indigenous Women's Influence on Modern Democracy and Women's Suffrage (PBS) — https://www.pbs.org/native-america/blog/indigenous-womens-influence-on-modern-democracy-and-womens-suffrage/ [https://www.pbs.org/native-america/blog/indigenous-womens-influence-on-modern-democracy-and-womens-suffrage/] Rematriation (Michelle Schenandoah's organization) — https://rematriation.org [https://rematriation.org]  The Three Pillars of Radicalization (Kruglanski, Bélanger & Gunaratna) — https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-three-pillars-of-radicalization-9780190851125 [https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-three-pillars-of-radicalization-9780190851125] Kruglanski et al. (2014) — The Psychology of Radicalization and Deradicalization — https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/pops.12163 [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/pops.12163]  Carnegie Endowment: Why Gender Is Central to the Antidemocratic Playbook — https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2024/11/women-lgbtq-democracy-authoritarianism-trump [https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2024/11/women-lgbtq-democracy-authoritarianism-trump] Christian Nationalism in Bolsonaro's Brazil — https://www.christiancentury.org/article/critical-essay/christian-nationalism-thriving-bolsonaro-s-brazil [https://www.christiancentury.org/article/critical-essay/christian-nationalism-thriving-bolsonaro-s-brazil] The Evangelical-Populist Nexus and Democratic Risks in Brazil — https://atlasinstitute.org/the-evangelical-populist-nexus-and-democratic-risks-in-brazil/ [https://atlasinstitute.org/the-evangelical-populist-nexus-and-democratic-risks-in-brazil/] Christian Nationalism: Brazil to the United States — https://therevealer.org/the-solution-is-jesus-christian-nationalism-from-brazil-to-the-united-states/ [https://therevealer.org/the-solution-is-jesus-christian-nationalism-from-brazil-to-the-united-states/] SPLC report on Wilson's network — https://www.splcenter.org/resources/reports/doug-wilsons-religious-empire-expanding-northwest/ [https://www.splcenter.org/resources/reports/doug-wilsons-religious-empire-expanding-northwest/] Who is Doug Wilson? (sourced overview) — https://dougwilsonsays.com/faq/who-is-doug-wilson/ [https://dougwilsonsays.com/faq/who-is-doug-wilson/] What Pete Hegseth's Spiritual Mentor Wants for America — https://www.thebulwark.com/p/douglas-wilson-pete-hegseth-moscow-idaho-theocracy-dominionism-christian-reconstruction-theonomy [https://www.thebulwark.com/p/douglas-wilson-pete-hegseth-moscow-idaho-theocracy-dominionism-christian-reconstruction-theonomy] Doug Wilson Didn't Change, Evangelical Institutions Did — https://anthonybbradley.substack.com/p/doug-wilson-didnt-change-evangelical [https://anthonybbradley.substack.com/p/doug-wilson-didnt-change-evangelical]  https://terryreal.com [https://terryreal.com] https://relationallife.com/working-with-men/ [https://relationallife.com/working-with-men/] I Don't Want to Talk About It — https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/I-Dont-Want-to-Talk-About-It/Terrence-Real/9780684835396 [https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/I-Dont-Want-to-Talk-About-It/Terrence-Real/9780684835396] Us: Getting Past You and Me — https://www.rodalesbooks.com [https://www.rodalesbooks.com]

Caught on Camera: Cheaters, Surveillance, and the Spectacle of Betrayal

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1966216/fan_mail/new] If you’ve been listening to this podcast for a while, you know we usually live in the deep end of… everything. Politics, policy, democracy on fire, institutions crumbling—you know, light, breezy stuff. And look—we’re not abandoning that. The world is still doing whatever this is. But every once in a while, for our own sanity—and frankly, yours—we need a break. Not a “head in the sand” break. More like a “let’s examine something chaotic, ridiculous, and deeply revealing… but also kind of funny” break. Because sometimes the best way to understand society… is to watch people sprint across a parking lot while being chased by a camera crew.  Cheaters and the sinister normalisation of our surveillance society | Naomi Wolf | The Guardian [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/nov/26/cheaters-sinister-normalisation-surveillance-society?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Cheaters host Joey Greco’s stabbing was staged, paid actor says [https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2009/11/other-shows-cheaters_staged/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] This Wild 2000s Reality Show Allegedly Faked a Stabbing [https://collider.com/cheaters-reality-show-stabbing/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] With Joey Greco of 'Cheaters' - Los Angeles Times [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-dec-13-la-ca-conversation13-2009dec13-story.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Atkins, D. C., Baucom, D. H., & Jacobson, N. S. (2001). Understanding infidelity: Correlates in a national sample. Journal of Family Psychology, 15(4), 735–749.  [https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.15.4.735] Brown, B. (2006). Shame resilience theory: A grounded theory study on women and shame. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 87(1), 43–52.  [https://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.3483] Coyle, P., Van Doorn, G., Teese, R., & Dye, J. (2025). Adverse childhood experiences and infidelity: The mediating roles of anxious and avoidant attachment styles. Family Process. ⚑ verify publication date Festinger, L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7(2), 117–140.  [https://doi.org/10.1177/001872675400700202] Freyd, J. J. (1996). Betrayal trauma: The logic of forgetting childhood abuse. Harvard University Press. Ghiasi, N., Rasoal, D., Haseli, A., & Feli, R. (2023). The interplay of attachment styles and marital infidelity: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Heliyon, 10(1), e23261.  [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23261] Glass, S. P., & Staeheli, J. C. (2003). Not just friends: Protect your relationship from infidelity and heal the trauma of betrayal. Free Press. Gordon, K. C., Baucom, D. H., & Snyder, D. K. (2004). An integrative intervention for promoting recovery from extramarital affairs. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 30(2), 213–231.  [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.2004.tb01235.x] Gottman, J. M. (2011). The science of trust: Emotional attunement for couples. W. W. Norton & Company. Gottman, J. M., & Silver, N. (2012). What makes love last? How to build trust and avoid betrayal. Simon & Schuster. Knopp, K., Scott, S., Ritchie, L., Rhoades, G. K., Markman, H. J., & Stanley, S. M. (2017). Once a cheater, always a cheater? Serial infidelity across subsequent relationships. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46(8), 2301–2311 Marín, R. A., Christensen, A., & Atkins, D. C. (2014). Infidelity and behavioral couple therapy: Relationship outcomes over 5 years following therapy. Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice, 3(1), 1–12. Ortman, D. C. (n.d.). Transcending post-infidelity stress disorder (PISD): The six stages of healing. ⚑ verify full title, publisher, and publication year Perel, E. (2017). The state of affairs: Rethinking infidelity. Harper Collins. Real, T. (1997). I don't want to talk about it: Overcoming the secret legacy of male depression. Scribner. Real, T. (2022). Us: Getting past you and me to build a more loving relationship. Rodale Books. Tangney, J. P., Stuewig, J., Mashek, D., & Hastings, M. (2011). Assessing jail inmates' proneness to shame and guilt: Feeling bad about the behavior or the self? Criminal Justice and Behavior, 38(7), 710–734.  [https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854811405762]

Conspiracies Gone Wild: Lizard People, QAnon, and the Psychology of Belief

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1966216/fan_mail/new] Today’s episode is… unhinged. Truly. We are diving into some of the wildest conspiracies on the internet—Lizard people. Secret cabals. Pizza-based espionage, and the sprawling universe of QAnon. But we’re not just laughing at them. We’re asking: Why do people believe this? What’s happening psychologically, socially, historically…and what does it say about us as a society?

The Myth of the Wave: Feminism, Who Got Left Out, and the Urgent Return to Matriarchy

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1966216/fan_mail/new] Happy belated Women’s History Month! Every wave of feminism promised liberation — so why did it keep leaving the same women behind? The feminist waves we were taught to celebrate were not failures of reach — they were strategic choices to maintain proximity to patriarchal power. That choice required the consistent sacrifice of women of color, queer and trans women, and working-class women. The 1990s cultural moment — Lilith Fair, 'girl power,' the rise of the female pop star — looked like matriarchy but was bounded by whiteness, industry gatekeeping, and commercial co-option. That same decade laid the groundwork for the industrial-scale exploitation of young women in entertainment. True return to matriarchy is not nostalgia. It is restoration of what colonialism and patriarchy actively destroyed: communal, non-hierarchical governance led by the women who were here first. DiAngelo, R. (2018). White fragility: Why it's so hard for white people to talk about racism. Beacon Press. Fanon, F. (1963). The wretched of the earth (C. Farrington, Trans.). Grove Press. (Original work published 1961) Freyd, J. J. (1994). Betrayal trauma: Traumatic amnesia as an adaptive response to childhood abuse. Ethics & Behavior, 4(4), 307–329. Freyd, J. J., & Birrell, P. J. (2013). Blind to betrayal: Why we fool ourselves we aren't being fooled. Wiley. Gunn Allen, P. (1986). The sacred hoop: Recovering the feminine in American Indian traditions. Beacon Press. Jost, J. T., & Banaji, M. R. (1994). The role of stereotyping in system-justification and the production of false consciousness. British Journal of Social Psychology, 33(1), 1–27. Jost, J. T., Burgess, D., & Mosso, C. O. (2001). Conflicts of legitimation among self, group, and system: The integrative potential of system justification theory. In J. T. Jost & B. Major (Eds.), The psychology of legitimacy (pp. 363–388). Cambridge University Press. Porges, S. W. (2011). The polyvagal theory: Neurophysiological foundations of emotions, attachment, communication, and self-regulation. Norton. Raymond, J. G. (1979). The transsexual empire: The making of the she-male. Beacon Press. Siegel, D. J. (2015). Brainstorm: The power and purpose of the teenage brain. TarcherPerigee. Temple, S. (1988). Child star: An autobiography. McGraw-Hill. Wells-Barnett, I. B. (1970). Crusade for justice: The autobiography of Ida B. Wells (A. Duster, Ed.). University of Chicago Press.