Daniel Pinchbeck is author of Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism, The Return of Quetzalcoatl, How Soon Is Now, When Plants Dream and Notes from the Edge as well as author and founder of the Liminal News Podcast and the Liminal Institute. Pinchbeck is considered a leading edge psychedelic, mythical, mystical, spiritual and political thinker.
This episode leads with a report from the recent vigil for Thairie Ritchie–a young, Black activist who self-immolated on top of the Black Lives Matter mural in Santa Cruz, CA–in front of City Hall on Inauguration and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, just after one of the city’s largest MLK Day marches. Ritchie survived and is in the hospital. (Ami first joined KSQD as a host on a collective program with Thairie called Unheard Voices.)
In our dialogue with Daniel Pinchbeck, we discuss:
- how psychedelics opened Pinchbeck’s mind and heart to “other” realms of consciousness
- his friend and colleague, Charles Eisenstein‘s bromance with RFK, Jr. and Trump apologetics
- former Left journalists and others turned MAGA or near-MAGA, i.e. Matt Taibbi, Glen Greenwald, Chris Hedges, etc.
- Pinchbecks’ criticisms of the Democrats and neoliberalism
- a historical look at disinformation campaigns, the Koch Brothers, the Russians and others, going back decades
- why people go down MAGA rabbit holes and how Covid played a role
- Pinchbeck’s recent interview with MAGA acolyte Laura Loomer, who is now a critic of the Tech Bro oligarchs who are backing and leading Trump and JD Vance (find that interview here.)
- encounters with alt-Right, authoritarian influencer Curtis Yarvin
- Peter Thiel, Vance and the Network State
- what do these billionaires want from us and the world? Pinchbeck on this and his friend Douglas Rushkoff
- mystical prophecies, spiritual takes–must things get worse before they get better?
- some thoughts on Rudolf Steiner and a new, Pinchbeck seminar series
Sources/Resources
- Daniel Pinchbeck on Substack
- Liminal News Podcast
- Douglas Rushkoff on the apocalyptic fever dreams of the obscenely wealthy
- The massive wealth transfer to the top 1 percent in the United States over decades
- The Billionaire Off Ramp Quiz and Welcoming Society
- Ami’s essay on Eisenstein that first connected her with Pinchbeck
- Past Moment of Truth on How the Super Rich Really Live with author Michael Mechanic, Part I
- Past Moment of Truth on JD Vance and the Tech Bros of San Francisco (also in parts, this is a link to Part I)
