Derek Beres

Americans are really slacking here.

That said, 5+ cups of coffee a day means I would never sleep. I'm a two-cup a day person, but they have to be enjoyed before 11 or I'm screwed when trying to fall asleep at night.

Brief: Have Tech Bros Killed Psychedelics? — Conspirituality "Immortality influencer" Bryan Johnson recently livestreamed his second-ever psilocybin trip "for science." But was it, really? Derek and Julian break down the performative nature of this stunt and d...

"Immortality influencer" Bryan Johnson recently livestreamed his second-ever psilocybin trip "for science." But was it, really?

www.conspirituality.net/episodes/bri...

You mean “vaccine skeptics” 🤢

MAHA is a Trojan horse for the pharmaceutical industry.

Frank O. Gehry, Titan of Architecture, Is Dead at 96

Just a legend. I used to love jogging by his house in Santa Monica when I lived nearby, and then seeing his design choices for it in a documentary years later put it into perspective.

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/a...

I will never forgive the Brits for the way they pronounce "schedule."

Oregon’s largest teachers’ union hosts training to protect students from ICE • Oregon Capital Chronicle More than 600 teachers and school staff are expected to attend training sessions in Bend, Eugene and Oregon City over the weekend.

Oh good, because teachers definitely don't have enough to focus on, and are certainly paid enough to warrant all this extra stress.

oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/12/04/o...

Netflix to buy Warner Bros. film and streaming assets in $72 billion deal Netflix announced it's reached a deal to buy WBD, bringing a swift end to a dramatic bidding process that also involved Paramount Skydance and Comcast.

Soon there will be four companies left. Maybe three. And I'm not sure who they're going to monetize except maybe their own workers. Our trust laws have been weak for decades, but they're basically gone with this administration.

www.cnbc.com/2025/12/05/n...

286: RFK Jr’s Great Crusade — Conspirituality RFK Jr is one of the greatest perpetrators of a firehose of falsehoods that we’ve ever covered. The stakes were raised when he was installed as head of America’s public health system. A new longform a...

What is good journalism in an age of propaganda? One question driving this week’s Conspirituality.

www.conspirituality.net/episodes/286...

‘End-to-end encrypted’ smart toilet camera is not actually end-to-end encrypted | TechCrunch Kohler, the makers of a smart toilet camera, can access customers' data stored on its servers, and can use customers’ bowl pictures to train AI.

“The security researcher also pointed out that given Kohler can access customers’ data on its servers, it’s possible Kohler is using customers’ bowl pictures to train AI.”

techcrunch.com/2025/12/03/e...

UPDATE: Trump Jr.-backed startup receives $620 million Pentagon loan In October, Popular Information reported that the Pentagon awarded a contract to Unusual Machines, an obscure drone company that President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., joined as an advisor in Novemb...

Meritocracy!

popular.info/p/update-tru...

Tracy Beth Høeg, Makary aide who investigated Covid vaccines, to lead FDA drug center Tracy Beth Høeg, a top lieutenant to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, will be the next leader of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

Yeah, she "investigated" vaccines.

www.statnews.com/2025/12/03/t...

Thanks! Tagging @matthewremski.bsky.social on here as those are his episodes.

Trump Renames Institute of Peace for Himself

Not the Onion.

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/u...

Vinay would never lie, would he @joho.bsky.social ?

Out of all the stupid wellness slogans I've seen, "CEO of your health" might be the dumbest.

There are many other contenders, to be fair.

Is Gen X Actually the Greatest Generation?

Is this even a question?

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/t...

On spiritual bypassing and privilege.

Don't believe what your bank account is telling you...

At least half of the members of the cults we've covered on Conspirituality would raise an eyebrow if someone claimed their leader could stop hurricanes.

USDA secretary threatens to cut funding to blue states over alleged SNAP data noncompliance The Trump administration threatened to cut off federal funding to blue states over their alleged refusal to share SNAP program data.

They make policies that make even more people poor, then hate people for being poor.

I cannot express how much I loathe these people.

www.cnbc.com/2025/12/02/t...

I often have sympathy for mainstream press given how litigious this administration is. But this one made me do a double take, er, listen.

This morning I heard a pundit say “Trump was very active on Truth Social last night.”

He posted 150+ times in a 3-hour window in the middle of the night.

Journalists really have to call things for what they are.

Thank you! Music is everything to me, just bummed my inertia lasted as long as it did.

I despise ads and will pay to not hear them.

Uh, nothing? I own hundreds of vinyl LPs and purchase them regularly. One doesn't negate the other.

Spotify & the power of inertia Sick & tired of being sick & tired

I’m not saying Tidal is the answer. But it’s a better answer than Spotify, for now. That much I’m certain of.

derekberes.substack.com/p/spotify-an...

The most specialist!

EarthRise Yoga: The Weekly Playlist Playlist - EarthRise Yoga: The Weekly Playlist - 12 items

The hardest part about leaving Spotify was giving up a weekly playlist with 3k followers that I've kept alive for 8+ years.

So far, 1 fan here. But I'm going to keep it going.

tidal.com/playlist/48e...

Anti-vaxxers distort science to confuse followers about what “gold-standard” actually means in order to disguise propaganda as research.

That’s how you arrive here.