Conspirituality

On July 1, 2026, the Society of Saint Pius X consecrated four bishops at its Écône seminary, defying Pope Leo XIV's direct plea to "turn back." Within 24 hours, Rome declared the SSPX's bishops and roughly 750 priests excommunicated and schismatic — invalidating confessions and marriages going forward.

Matthew traces SSPX's origins through Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre's formation in the shadow of Action Française's antisemitic integralism, his fight against Vatican II, and the movement's namesake, Pope Pius X's anti-Modernist crusade.

It’s a wild ride: from Juan Fernández y Krohn's 1982 assassination attempt on John Paul II, through Holocaust denial among SSPX clergy, domestic abuse testimony from ex-member Cassandra Hackstock, and Xavier Lopez's 2022 weapons arrest.

Will the schism of a right-wing Catholic sect born out of antisemitism and anticommunism bolster American and global resistance to Leo XIV’s progressive agenda? Is this the form of Catholicism that JD Vance has been looking for? Or will it shift the Overton Window rightward, emboldening Vance and other TradCaths in their lowkey contempt for Leo—because at least the Church should be grateful that at least they’re not full schismatics?

Show Notes

Vatican declares SSPX in schism, excommunicates bishops — AP/NBC News

SSPX ordains four new bishops in defiance of Pope Leo and the Vatican — America Magazine

Thunderstorm interrupts SSPX episcopal consecrations — Catholic Herald

Vatican declares SSPX bishops, priests schismatic, says lay faithful risk excommunication — National Catholic Reporter

Second Attempt on a Pontiff: The Little-Known 1982 Attack on John Paul II in Fatima — Gaudium Press

Rise of 'new Catholics' hardens battle lines between US and the Vatican — Irish Times

Inside the Schism Threatening the Catholic Church — Jacobin

Seven Years in the SSPX — Where Peter Is

Catholic Traditionalism After Francis — Commonweal Magazine

Analysis: SSPX excommunications show what Pope Leo means by "unity" — America Magazine

Pope news: SSPX | Magnificast
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With so much emphasis on global politics and the World Cup in recent weeks, we’re going to focus on the somewhat quieter but intensely important bureaucratic dismantling of expertise occurring in health and science.

First, Derek looks into a recent 412-page OMB proposal that hands political appointees veto power over federal science grants, effectively killing peer review, blocking research on health disparities, and walling off American scientists from the rest of the world. Matthew counters with Canada’s own corrosive behavior.

Then we dig into the contradiction of MAHA: the pro-health movement running cover for the EPA quietly approving new forever chemical pesticides mere days after the Supreme Court gutted Americans’ ability to sue Monsanto (by way of their parent company, Bayer). Again, there’s a Canadian parallel: Bill C-30 hands cabinet the power to override Health Canada’s own scientists and approve pesticides they’ve already ruled unsafe.

Finally, Julian removes gravity from the situation by covering congressional UAP hearings where unverified whistleblower claims about alien bodies and secret programs get treated with peer-reviewed science seriousness.

Only, as with everything else in Trump’s America, the science is thin and the theater, thick.

Show Notes

The war against ‘woke’ could end US science as we know it

Carney's government is cutting hundreds of environment and science jobs

Departmental plans fuel concern over federal job, program cuts

Environment Canada disbands radar research team amid cuts to weather services

Weather experts concerned about public safety as Environment Canada disbands radar research team

Carney government passes law allowing authorization of banned pesticides

Pesticide regulation changes raise questions in Northeastern Ontario

Amendments buried in Bill C-30 weaken environmental protections

Former Haiti prime minister Smarck Michel dies at 75

Omnibus I: the EU concludes CSDDD and CSRD reforms

EU scales back corporate due diligence and reporting rules

Australia: Labor-Greens deal to fast-track mining and military projects

Task Force Tackles MK Ultra

UFO Disclosure Movement Goes To Washington
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Listen to the full episode

Three events converge—everything is connected. 


Steven Spielberg releases his new sci-fi film Disclosure Day


The American government’s UAP Disclosure Act drops three waves of declassified UFO documents


Well-known 2012 prophecy-popularizer, Disclosure movement advocate, and History Channel’s Ancient Aliens host, David Wilcock, tragically ends his own life

In the 16th installment of his Roots of Conspirituality series, Julian looks at the how everything inevitably led to this: 


How Spielberg got alien-pilled into being a true believer


How 2012 prophecy had to end with David Wilcock holding a gun


How the MAGA conspiracy chasers now find themselves standing on the steps beside David Grusch as he tells the media about non-human biologics and alien plasmoids

Deeper than that, Julian asks if perhaps we are re-enacting a pattern from the mid to late 1800s, when social upheaval in America’s Northeast led to new religions, failed prophecies, the rise and fall of charismatic heroes, and good people quit booze but got intoxicated on some quite bizarre beliefs. 


Correction: This recording states that David Grusch lost his security clearance. That is incorrect. In The Intercept article, Ken Klippenstein wondered how he was able to keep his security clearance after his psychiatric holds. Grusch left his job to become a whistleblower. 

Show Notes

White House Goes All In On UAP
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“I do not love America, and never have, especially now.”

With an opening sentence like that, you know you’re in for a ride, and Eddie Glaude Jr does not disappoint. Derek discusses touch points from America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries, with a slight diversion into the surging online activism that purports to be about justice for all yet time and again refuses to acknowledge race as a foundation of our distress.

Show Notes

America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries

Author Talk: Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. — America, U.S.A. - with Jonathan Capehart

An African-Centered Critique of Marx’s Logic

The war against ‘woke’ could end US science as we know it
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Wellness for everyone. That’s how virtually every wellness event pitches their offering. If the everyman and woman did these practices or ingested these products or adopted these mindsets, we’d all be better off as a species.

Yet what happens when the wellness event in question is hosted in an expensive resort town on the French Riviera and features top-tier celebrities like Oprah Winfrey speaking to guests who paid thousands of dollars to attend? Does it really remain “for everyone?”

Show Notes

The Impact of the TOMS Shoe Donation Program in Rural El Salvador

Shoeing the Children

Is Blake Mycoskie of TOMS an Evangelical

Do in-kind transfers damage local markets? The case of TOMS shoe donations in El Salvador

Instagram — @millennial.therapist

It's On Me

Sara Kuburic official site

Notes From My Phone

Alfried Längle's website 

Cold Intimacies: The Making of Emotional Capitalism
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