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alexisrt's review against another edition
5.0
I came into the Conspirituality podcast from a longstanding interest in anti-vaxxers and alternative medicine skepticism. The marriage of this world with Covid conspiracies is something I'd noticed.
The Conspirituality authors, with their roots in the yoga/wellness world, have taken this thesis a step further: that these politics have deeper roots in wellness, and that this merger is only the culmination of a longer process.
The book is essentially an overview of the process, some of its roots, and a rogues' gallery of some of the worst offenders, which they use as a springboard not only for a potted history, but to relate how they express the general theme. The pace is brisk--an exhaustive catalogue of conspirituality with deep dives into every topic would be 3x as long--but it's well written and suffices to make its point. There are several excellent recurring themes that are worth paying attention to: One, that conspiritualists use nuggets of truth (for example, that our medical system is flawed) to boost the false parts of their argument (therefore, their wellness practice is valid). Two, "see what they say, then see what they sell": While many conspiritualists are true believers, this does not mean they are not also grifters--and many of them are very successful ones. Three: Wellness practices offer a fundamentally individualistic view of the world and of health--you are in control, by doing these things you are improving your health. This individualistic philosophy fits right into right wing "freedom" rhetoric. I've noted for years that while alternative medicine, though it has plenty of racism, sexism, and ableism, claims to offer treatments for disease--wellness does not. Wellness is a nebulous concept sold to the worried well, and ableism is baked into its core. As many examples point out, many wellness promoters explicitly blame sick or disabled people for their condition. (Seeing you, Marianne Williamson!)
If you're a hardcore listener of Conspirituality (which I am), a majority of the material is going to be familiar to you. I enjoyed it anyway because it was nice seeing it all put together. This book will probably appeal most to people who don't want to consume hundreds of hours of podcast content. It also provides plenty of springboards to delve deeper into various topics.
The Conspirituality authors, with their roots in the yoga/wellness world, have taken this thesis a step further: that these politics have deeper roots in wellness, and that this merger is only the culmination of a longer process.
The book is essentially an overview of the process, some of its roots, and a rogues' gallery of some of the worst offenders, which they use as a springboard not only for a potted history, but to relate how they express the general theme. The pace is brisk--an exhaustive catalogue of conspirituality with deep dives into every topic would be 3x as long--but it's well written and suffices to make its point. There are several excellent recurring themes that are worth paying attention to: One, that conspiritualists use nuggets of truth (for example, that our medical system is flawed) to boost the false parts of their argument (therefore, their wellness practice is valid). Two, "see what they say, then see what they sell": While many conspiritualists are true believers, this does not mean they are not also grifters--and many of them are very successful ones. Three: Wellness practices offer a fundamentally individualistic view of the world and of health--you are in control, by doing these things you are improving your health. This individualistic philosophy fits right into right wing "freedom" rhetoric. I've noted for years that while alternative medicine, though it has plenty of racism, sexism, and ableism, claims to offer treatments for disease--wellness does not. Wellness is a nebulous concept sold to the worried well, and ableism is baked into its core. As many examples point out, many wellness promoters explicitly blame sick or disabled people for their condition. (Seeing you, Marianne Williamson!)
If you're a hardcore listener of Conspirituality (which I am), a majority of the material is going to be familiar to you. I enjoyed it anyway because it was nice seeing it all put together. This book will probably appeal most to people who don't want to consume hundreds of hours of podcast content. It also provides plenty of springboards to delve deeper into various topics.