Former tech executive and political writer Mike Brock joins me for one of the most urgent and explosive conversations we've had on the channel — covering Trump's accelerating authoritarianism, the GOP civil war, Silicon Valley's Christian turn, Epstein revelations, and the structural collapse of American democracy in real time.

In this new episode of LIMINAL NEWS, I speak with writer and former tech executive Mike Brock, whose recent Substack essays have gone viral for their sharp, insider-level analysis of the American political meltdown. We explore the dizzying speed at which Trump's second-term movement is consolidating power, the internal rebellion within the conservative legal world, the unraveling of the Republican establishment, and why state-level GOP leaders may finally be defecting. Mike dissects the incentives, psychology, and ideology driving both Trumpworld and the Democratic establishment — from "ultra-processed speech" to the death throes of the old party structure.

We also dive into Silicon Valley's new fascination with Christian nationalism, Peter Thiel's metaphysics, the collapsing "simulation" of technocratic liberalism, the moral vacuum in American media, and the corrupt machinery behind ICE raids, billionaire protection networks, and the post-democratic executive branch.

🔹 Guest Bio: Mike Brock is a former Silicon Valley executive (most recently on the leadership team at Block) and a writer whose Substack Notes from the Circus explores the breakdown of democratic institutions, Big Tech's cultural influence, and the meaning of power in the digital age.

🔗Mike Brock on Substack: https://substack.com/@mikebrock

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Can ancient plant medicines and indigenous traditions help heal our fractured civilization? Daniel Pinchbeck speaks with Roman Hanis—author of Beyond Ayahuasca and co-founder of the Paititi Institute—about his two decades apprenticing with Amazonian elders, bridging Tibetan Buddhism, Jungian psychology, and ecological preservation.

In this episode of LIMINAL NEWS, I speak with Roman Hanis, author of "Beyond Ayahuasca" and co-founder of the Paititi Institute for the Preservation of Ecology and Indigenous Culture. For over twenty years, Roman has lived and apprenticed among Andean and Amazonian elders, integrating traditional plant-medicine lineages with Tibetan Vajrayana, Jungian psychology, and Daoist internal alchemy. We explore the deeper meaning of "sacred reciprocity," the illness of forgetfulness that afflicts modern civilization, and what it means to reconnect with the original wisdom of the heart. Roman shares his own healing journey from chronic illness to remission in the rainforest, the founding of his eco-spiritual community, and his vision for uniting ancestral wisdom with modern science through rites of passage, education, and intercultural healing.

🌿 Roman Hanis — https://paititi-institute.org

📘 "Beyond Ayahuasca" - https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Ayahuasca-Unlocking-Evolutionary-Indigenous/dp/1401979599

==================================

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#LiminalNews #RomanHanis #BeyondAyahuasca #Ayahuasca #PaititiInstitute #PlantMedicine #IndigenousWisdom #DanielPinchbeck #Consciousness #Ecology #Psychedelics #SpiritualHealing #AmazonRainforest #TibetanBuddhism #JungianPsychology

This is an audio version of my recent video essay based on my recent Substack post, "Toxic Empathy: The Supreme Court and the Death of Christian Compassion." I explore how right-wing Christian nationalism has inverted the moral teachings of Jesus—transforming empathy into sin and cruelty into virtue. Drawing on Herbert Marcuse, Joy DeGruy, and the Gospels, I unpack how repression, self-denial, and hierarchy have been sanctified as "tough love."

Read the original essay here: https://danielpinchbeck.substack.com/...

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uudg-3tORj0

📚 References & Mentions Eros and Civilization — Herbert Marcuse Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome — Joy DeGruy Toxic Empathy — Allie Beth Stuckey The Sermon on the Mount, Gospel of Matthew Liberation Theology — Gustavo Gutiérrez, Leonardo Boff Meister Eckhart, Christian Mysticism

==================================

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I sit down with Ramez Naam—scientist, technologist, and award-winning sci-fi author—to unpack how we arrived at the brink of democratic collapse, and what we can still do to pull back. Ramez and I first met years ago at Burning Man. Since then, he's become one of the most lucid voices connecting climate change, clean energy, technology, and political reform. We talk about the tech industry's dangerous silence, the manipulation of social media, the rise of AI influence operations, and why "everything is downstream from protecting democracy." He also shares hopeful insights about the unstoppable rise of clean energy, how humor and compassion can still bridge divides, and why the fight for the future will be won through both emotional resilience and civic action.

🎙️ Guest Bio: Ramez Naam is a computer scientist, futurist, and former Microsoft program manager. He's the author of The Infinite Resource: The Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet and the award-winning Nexus science-fiction trilogy. His work explores the intersection of technology, climate, and human evolution.

🔗 https://x.com/ramez

🔗 https://rameznaam.com/

==================================

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In this episode of LIMINAL NEWS, I talk with Adbusters founder Kalle Lasn about his new book "Manifesto for World Revolution" and his call for a "third crack at world revolution." Lasn reflects on the legacy of Occupy Wall Street and 1968, arguing that real change requires vision, not reaction. We explore his ideas for true-cost markets, meta memes, and a new Bottoms Up Majority Party—a "Third Force" that could redefine politics for the 21st century. Along the way, Kalle explains why activism must move beyond left and right, and why, in his words, humanity needs to "learn how to wobble again."

🎙️ Guest Bio: Kalle Lasn is the founder and editor of Adbusters magazine, known for its groundbreaking campaigns Buy Nothing Day and Occupy Wall Street. A lifelong media activist and cultural provocateur, he has written several influential books including "Culture Jam," "Design Anarchy," "Meme Wars," and "Manifesto for World Revolution." His work continues to inspire global movements for social and ecological transformation.

🔗 https://www.adbusters.org/

==================================

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Filmmaker Betsy Chasse, co-creator of "What the Bleep Do We Know!?", joins me to dissect how the New Age movement morphed into a billion-dollar self-help industry. We discuss cult dynamics, spiritual narcissism, the rise of Trumpian mysticism, and how "manifestation" culture paved the road from The Secret to MAGA metaphysics. In this episode, I speak with filmmaker, author, and cultural critic Betsy Chasse — best known as co-writer and director of the 2004 New Age phenomenon "What the Bleep Do We Know!?" Betsy reflects on the film's legacy and how its ideas about consciousness and quantum reality were later weaponized by the self-help industry. We explore the psychological and economic forces that turned spirituality into a marketplace — from the Law of Attraction to "conscious entrepreneurship." Together, we unpack how the wellness world's obsession with "positive thinking" and "manifestation" created fertile ground for denial, cult psychology, and authoritarian spirituality. Betsy speaks candidly about narcissism, greed, and the need for genuine compassion and social engagement in a time of disinformation, AI disruption, and creeping theocracy.

🎧 Guest Bio: Betsy Chasse is a filmmaker, author, and producer best known for co-creating "What the Bleep Do We Know!?" She has since written "Metanoia," "Killing Buddha," and hosts her Substack Betsy's Rants, where she takes aim at the commodification of spirituality and the contradictions of modern "conscious" culture.

https://betsychasse.substack.com/

==================================

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Frank Schaeffer grew up inside the birth of America's religious right — making films with his father, Francis Schaeffer, that helped launch the modern anti-abortion and Christian nationalist movements. In this episode, we unpack how that movement gave rise to Trump, how money and media corrupted the church, and what real spirituality looks like beyond ideology. Frank was at the center of it all in the 1970's and 1980s— collaborating on the series "Whatever Happened to the Human Race" with Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and witnessing firsthand how religion, politics, and money fused into a powerful cultural machine. We explore how those forces evolved into today's Christo-fascist MAGA movement, how Trump became the "chosen" figurehead for a corrupted theology, and what Frank calls "the expert witness to a crime that never ended." Frank also discusses his new book, "The Gospel of Zip," a memoir-philosophy written through the lens of his relationship with his dog. It's about empathy, cooperation, and what he calls "the survival of the friendliest"—a human alternative to the cruelty and greed of Trump-era politics.

📘 Frank Schaeffer – "The Gospel of Zip"

https://www.thegospelofzip.com/

==================================

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