SEASON 1: OIL, GOLD, CRYPTO & FASCISM: HOW WE GOT HERE AND HOW TO FIX IT Dr. Steven Hassan, a longtime collaborator, joins me to talk about the overlap between cults and disinformation. Steve was a member of the Unification Church, or Moonies, as a young man, and we dive into the deep history of the group, its historical anti-communist agenda, its role in popularizing sushi (!) and much more. We also talk about how disinformation tends to radicalize people, how to manage relationships with friends and loved ones who may have become radicalized, and cover a lot of other interesting ground too. Keywords: Unification Church, Moonies, CIA, Korean CIA, KCIA, cults, recruitment, radicalization, sushi, Washington Times, Newsweek, Rod of Iron Ministries, BITE Model, social capital, reality testing, history, Korean War, Asia.

SEASON 1: OIL, GOLD, CRYPTO & FASCISM: HOW WE GOT HERE AND HOW TO FIX IT Dr. Lilliana Mason, an associate professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University is the author of two books that shine a light on why and how America is so divided politically, what it means, and what we might do about it. And her most recent book focuses on why Americans are increasingly willing to justify politically motivated violence. Her work is also instrumental for understanding how disinformation divides Americans into increasingly unruly social cliques. In this interview, we discuss the breadth of her work over the last several years, and what sorts of remedies we might pursue to make things better at both the national and local level. Keywords: political violence, radicalization, partisanship, dehumanization, othering, opinion polling, social sorting, messaging, communications, rights, abortion, Roe vs. Wade, cults, sociology, psychology.

SEASON 1: OIL, GOLD, CRYPTO & FASCISM: HOW WE GOT HERE AND HOW TO FIX IT The term "Christian Nationalism" has been used to describe a broad range of religious and political belief systems in America, but we lack a detailed understanding of their belief systems and motivations. Journalist Frederick Clarkson has been bringing both nuance and clarity to the study of the interface of religion and politics in American culture. In this episode, Dave and Fred have a wide-ranging discussion about everything from the origins of the term "Christian Nationalism," how it interfaces with concepts like Dominionism and white supremacy, and its connection to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Keywords: Christian Nationalism, religious right, millennialism, Seven Mountains Mandate, Dominionism, Catholicism, The Family, Alpha pentecostal group, Charismatic Christianity, Russian Orthodox, Ukraine, Putin, War, Traditionalism, Abortion, Jesus plus nothing, power, Council for National Policy (CNP).

SEASON 1: OIL, GOLD, CRYPTO & FASCISM: HOW WE GOT HERE AND HOW TO FIX IT Wesley Clark, Jr. is a US Army Veteran, climate activist, and sometimes screenwriter who got pulled into a strange world filled with oil contractors, private military companies, fake activists, and cults as part of a veteran action at the Standing Rock protests in 2016. And as it happens, this milieu is at the heart of what this podcast is all about — the intersection of oil, climate, and influence. Wes shares some of his experiences with us as well as how these issues connect directly to Vladimir Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine. And if Wes’ name sounds familiar, it’s because his father was the former Supreme Commander Europe of NATO, and a presidential candidate in 2004. Keywords: oil, climate, gas, Standing Rock, Tigerswan, Blackwater, I AM, Koch, influence, cults, mind control, politics, 2022, democracy, midterms, crypto, Ukraine, Putin, Poland, Baltics, nuclear, war, NATO.

SEASON 1: OIL, GOLD, CRYPTO & FASCISM: HOW WE GOT HERE AND HOW TO FIX IT Bitcoin first emerged on the world stage in 2009, in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. But the story of where cryptocurrencies came from goes back decades. Dave talks with software engineer and prominent cryptocurrency critic Stephen Diehl about the libertarian roots of crypto and NFTs, why it’s anti-democratic, how it radicalizes and preys on people, and why we need to pop this corrosive Ponzi scheme sooner than later. Mentioned in the show: Stephen Diehl’s Blog: https://www.stephendiehl.com/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/smdiehl Line Goes Up video by Dan Olson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ_xWvX1n9g  Crypto Skeptics (Twitter List by Dave Troy) https://twitter.com/i/lists/1470046292336336900?s=20 Keywords: cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Ethereum, stablecoins, NFTs, libertarianism, Austrian economics, gold, Ponzi schemes, CBDC, MMM, Executive Order, Eric Adams, Francis Suarez, Mavrodi, Mussolini, Steve Bannon, Brock Pierce, Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, January 6th, insurrection, class collaboration, federal reserve, anti-Semitism, DOGE, FJB, coal, energy, renewable, eugenics, Pioneer fund, Bell Curve, China, yuan, ruble, hybrid war, crime, money laundering, oligarchs, Putin.

SEASON 1: OIL, GOLD, CRYPTO & FASCISM: HOW WE GOT HERE AND HOW TO FIX IT The Catholic Church is a complicated organization with many internal divisions, political affiliations, intelligence connections, and banking functions. Frank Cocozzelli has written extensively about the factions inside the church, their connections to economic libertarianism, and Steve Bannon and Vladimir Putin’s ambitions for a “Third Rome” in Moscow. Frank and Dave have a wide-ranging discussion on all things Catholic, from the Opus Dei and Jesuit factions, to Vatican II and the New Deal. Mentioned in the show: Article by Fr. John McCloskey https://www.catholicity.com/mccloskey/2030.html Articles by Frank Cocozzelli https://www.dailykos.com/blogs/Frank-Cocozzelli Pat Buchanan: Whose side is God on, now? https://www.creators.com/read/pat-buchanan/04/14/whose-side-is-god-on-now keywords: Opus Dei, Jesuits, Putin, Ukraine, Catholicism, Catholic Church, Fascism, Frank Cocozzelli, Third Rome, Third Secret of Fatima, Steve Bannon, Knights of Malta, Aleksandr (Alexander) Dugin, Abp. Carlo Maria Viganò, Mike Flynn, QAnon, Katehon, Eschaton, Dominionism, Ziklag, Libertarianism, gold standard, cryptocurrency, sovereignty.

SEASON 1: OIL, GOLD, CRYPTO & FASCISM: HOW WE GOT HERE AND HOW TO FIX IT Christine Arena is a public relations veteran, climate activist, and filmmaker based in San Francisco. For the last several years she's been studying the funding of influence campaigns by the carbon fuel industry, looking at ways to expose and disrupt their strategies. She and Dave discuss the history of how the oil industry has not only sought to deny climate science, but to target lawmakers and the public with influence and psychological warfare campaigns that minimize the harms caused by the industry while outright obstructing any kind of action that might stand in their way. Christine's current project is a grant-funded documentary, PLAYED, which outlines the influence of the oil and gas industry and proposes ways to disrupt it. She has also appeared on the podcast series DRILLED by journalist Amy Westervelt, specifically in Season 3. For more information, check out her website at generousfilms.com, and check out DRILLED at criticalfrequency.org. Listeners may also want to check out work on Discourses of Delay: www.cambridge.org/core/journals/gl…B6212378E32985A7

SEASON 1: OIL, GOLD, CRYPTO & FASCISM: HOW WE GOT HERE AND HOW TO FIX IT The Council for National Policy was created in 1981 with funds from the oil and gas industry to operationalize goals of the libertarian and Christian Right movements which had joined forces to elect Ronald Reagan as president. The CNP went on to play significant roles with the Iran Contra affair as well as to significantly shape the strategy of the right for the following four decades. The CNP played a significant role in the planning and execution of the January 6th attacks. Anne Nelson's book "Shadow Network" documents the CNP from inception to the present moment. She discusses the CNP, as well as multiple aspects of its history, goals, obsessions with eliminating taxation and regulation and with so-called "sound money" such as gold and now, cryptocurrency.

SEASON 1: OIL, GOLD, CRYPTO & FASCISM: HOW WE GOT HERE AND HOW TO FIX IT Anyone studying online disinformation will eventually come to the realization that much of it can be traced back to the oil and gas industry — specifically to groups like the Council for National Policy, created by and for oil and industrial interests. These networks have a deep history of fascist activity in the United States, where they were born primarily as a reactionary response to the New Deal and fears of "creeping socialism." Brent Allpress is an architectural academic based in Melbourne, Australia, and has been studying these networks in detail for the last several years. He has collaborated with authors such as Anne Nelson (Shadow Network) and filmmakers Dr. Charles Kriel and Kat Gellein (People You May Know). He has come to believe that most all of the political conflict we are experiencing is rooted in the carbon crisis, of which the January 6th insurrection was one expression. Today, the conflict rages on as oil industry influence (going so far as to vacuum up psychological profiling data) determines whether, how quickly, and how well we may respond to the looming carbon disaster. And cryptocurrency, by creating demand for even more energy and forestalling our response, is only making things worse. This is a must-listen session for a planet out of time. The Death of the Carbon Coalition Existing models of U.S. politics are wrong. Here’s how the system really works. foreignpolicy.com/2021/02/12/carbo…ter-us-politics/ Shadow Network (Book, Anne Nelson) www.amazon.com/Shadow-Network-Me…al/dp/163557319X/ People You May Know (Film, Kriel & Gellein) www.imdb.com/title/tt12606876/ The Aftermath of Cambridge Analytica (TEDxMidAtlantic) www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd5pxDEXBWA

SEASON 1: OIL, GOLD, CRYPTO & FASCISM: HOW WE GOT HERE AND HOW TO FIX IT The 1930's was a time of incredible upheaval in world politics, and the United States was no exception. Financial uncertainty, the New Deal, and anxiety about FDR's departure from the Gold Standard accompanied the flourishing of cult practices that aimed to address fundamental questions around the direction the country (and the world) might take. These groups, informed by previous traditions such as New Thought and Theosophy, offered a hierarchical, eugenicist view of society linked to prosperity and gold. Today's conflicts around cryptocurrency serve as a proxy for these same questions about our future direction. Joe Szimhart offers a sweeping overview of America's cultish turn, along with some ideas about how we might move forward at this very challenging time. Two books referenced (with permission): 400 Years of Imaginary Friends by Kenneth and Talita Paolini lightofchristtruth.com/References/Imaginary.pdf Psychic Dictatorship in America by Gerald Bryan (1940) tyob.info/public/pdf/psydict.pdf