Popular Reviews of Decoding the Gurus

Doctor Kavanagh and Doctor Browne have started a scientific discipline with the potential to change the world. Sadly, they are being suppressed by an organized effort of bad faith actors levying nothing but low quality criticisms of concepts so unfathomably high-level we cannot even begin to comprehend them. Their unrivalled genius and general expertise shall not be denied in the New Order. Must-listen!!

Two Postmodern Neo-Marxists rooted in the intelligentsia indoctrinating people! The supposed psychologist doesn't even talk about the metaphysical substrate or the archetypal nature of things. And I don't understand that other guys posh English accent!

After a long day of social niceties involving Edwardian levels of tolerance of nonsense, it's nice to come home to a couple of snarky academics mocking psudo-intellectuals, grifters and self-proclaimed experts. My inner sarcastic bitch is quenched and I can continue on in life without laughing at the flatearthers outside the train station. Thank you for putting all of my jumbled thoughts and instictual feelings about these gurus into organised witty takedowns. Side note: just finished listening to the Brene Brown ep. I feel seen and not alone, why is everyone banging on about her. I mean she's fine and has some decent general meme quotes of advice to print onto tea-towels but after awhile it feels demeaning..... She's the Live Love Laugh of psychology and social work.

Light that incense stick, assume your best meditative pose and wait for the jangle of the sitar to transport you into the bat-shit crazy world of the secular gurus.'Secular guru' is a label devised by presenters Matt and Chris to describe that newly-emerged species of content creator whose archetypes include figures like Jordan Peterson, Brett/Eric Weinstein and Russell Brand. Episodes have also dished out the decoding treatment to Carl Sagan, Robin DiAngelo, Christopher Hitchens and Elon Musk. The 'secular guru' category is clearly a little fuzzy so Chris and Matt score their subjects according to The Gurometer(TM), to see how well they fit the construct using a number of measures with names like 'galaxy brainedness' and 'grievance mongering'.They sprinkle in some interviews etc. but most episodes take the form of a single recording of the guru(s), often a podcast, which is broken down into clips and analysed. Chris is a Northern Irishman who now lives in Japan. He earned his PhD in Anthropology from Oxford, is a great Twitter follow and has written a couple of fun and interesting pieces in Aeon. To this list of achievements he adds the distinction of speaking English as a second language without having troubled to gain a first. He looks like the 5th guy from some 90s boyband who nobody remembers the name of and his schoolboy chuckles, emanating from somewhere mid-glottis, are a ubiquitous feature of the podcast as is his constant sarcasm. Matt Brown is absolutely the most galling kind of Aussie. A psychology professor at the University of Central Queensland, he always seems to be just back from hiking, wrestling sharks, paddle boarding or some other pursuit which throws into sharp relief your own plans to eat crisps off your tummy in front of the telly. Matt has often not listened to the clips in advance and one of the joys of the pod is to listen to his amusement, exasperation and incredulity as he listens along with you. All-in-all I think this is a great listen. The reviews are fair-minded, dishing out praise and criticism where warranted but without the equivocating both-sideism that passes for analysis in some quarters. They also provide a valuable public service in my view, it takes a disproportionate amount of work to challenge the hydra of conspiracy theorising but, my goodness, it is the Lord's work.