Conrad Flynn | The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan

In this wide-ranging conversation, Billy Corgan sits down with writer and cultural commentator Conrad Flynn for a deep dive into the shadowy intersections of rock music, occult influences, and Hollywood's secret history. Conrad, grandson of legendary actor Robert Conrad and press agent Harry Flynn, shares unique insider perspectives on Old Hollywood's hidden dynamics—from Mercury Records' satanic marketing gimmicks with the band Coven to his grandfather's connections with the Manson family trial. The conversation explores the CIA's involvement in 1960s counterculture through figures like Gregory Bateson and Allen Ginsberg, and the spiritual dimensions of musical creativity.

Billy opens up about his own experiences with LSD revealing hidden layers in his music, and his belief that fame literally alters your DNA. 

From Kenneth Anger to Joy Division, from the Velvet Underground's occult connections to AI as the new digital oracle, this conversation refuses easy answers while fearlessly exploring the mystical, the controversial, and the unexplained forces shaping entertainment and culture.

Billy Corgan sits down with writer and cultural commentator Conrad Flynn for a gripping conversation exploring rock music, the occult, and Hollywood’s hidden power structures. Drawing on Flynn’s Old Hollywood lineage—grandson of actor Robert Conrad and press agent Harry Flynn—the episode connects Mercury Records’ satanic marketing, the Manson era, CIA ties to 1960s counterculture, psychedelics, and the spiritual mechanics of music. Corgan opens up about LSD’s impact on his creativity, the psychological cost of fame and why rock music—once a dominant force for cultural change—has lost its edge. From Kenneth Anger and the Velvet Underground to AI as a modern oracle and the internet as a new Tower of Babel. it challenges listeners to look closer at the stories we accept and the truths hiding in plain sight.

Billy Corgan sits down with writer and cultural commentator Conrad Flynn for a wide-ranging, provocative conversation that cuts through rock mythology, Hollywood lore, and the hidden forces shaping culture. What begins with Flynn’s Substack The Flynn Effect quickly expands into a deep dive on Old Hollywood power, family legacies, rock music’s long flirtation with mysticism, and why artists seem uniquely tuned to unseen energies. Corgan and Flynn connect dots between Charles Manson, Kenneth Anger, psychedelics, Gnosticism, CIA influence, and the spiritual mechanics of music—while grappling with uncomfortable questions about fame, trauma, cover-ups, and who really controls the narrative. Funny, unsettling, and unexpectedly personal, this episode doesn’t preach or sensationalize—it challenges listeners to look closer at the stories we accept and the truths hiding in plain sight. Listen now and decide for yourself where myth ends and reality begins.

Billy Corgan sits down with writer and cultural commentator Conrad Flynn for a gripping, wide-ranging conversation exploring rock music, the occult, and Hollywood’s hidden power structures. Drawing on Flynn’s Old Hollywood lineage, grandson of actor Robert Conrad and press agent Harry Flynn, the discussion touches on controversial music-industry marketing tactics, the Manson era, CIA ties to 1960s counterculture, psychedelics, and the spiritual mechanics of music. Corgan opens up about LSD’s impact on his creativity, the psychological cost of fame, and why rock music, once a dominant force for cultural change, has lost its edge. 

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