Rebel Wisdom

Mary recently took part in Rebel Wisdom's first 'Sex and Culture' event, where there was a great deal of interest in her concept of 'reactionary feminism'.   She returns to Rebel Wisdom for a showcase event in our Digital Campfire, in dialogue with Raven Connolly. She says: "The central contention of reactionary feminism is that the ideas of 'freedom' and 'progress' themselves are now delivering diminishing returns for all but a shrinking elite. And this is impacting especially severely on women, meaning that in order to remain true to the central task of feminism - advocating for women's political interests - feminists must turn against the theology of progress."   To join live and take part in conversations like this one, in Rebel Wisdom's Digital Campfire, check out the upcoming sessions here: https://rebelwisdom.co.uk/campfire-ev...​   Mary is a writer and journalist. After graduating from Oxford University in 2002 with a first-class degree in English Literature, she was an early adopter of millennial precarity, via a twenties spent experimenting with gig economy work, intentional communities, gender nonconformity and unconventional relationship forms.   Along the way she discovered digital culture and web 2.0, co-founding the digital learning marketplace ‘School of Everything’; working as a researcher with the New York-based digital culture think tank ‘The Institute for the Future of the Book’; and curating cult art events.   After the crash of 2008 she worked in marketing while training as a psychotherapist, before discovering marriage, motherhood and small town life - along with an audience as a writer via her political blog. Her writing has been published by the New Statesman, The Spectator and Mail on Sunday, and she is a contributing editor at the influential online magazine UnHerd.

In the face of multiple existential threats, and a pervasive crisis of meaning, how can we reconnect to our deepest purpose and what techniques and practices can help us reboot. Jamie Wheal is launching his new book, Recapture the Rapture, based on three principles: Choose Your Own Apocalypse, The Alchemist's Cookbook and Ethical Cult Building. Rebel Wisdom is co-hosting the launch party for the book with Jamie on Wednesday 28th April with guests including Gabor Mate, Dennis McKenna, Douglas Rushkoff, Diane Musho Hamilton, Tyson Yunkaporta, Daniel Schmachtenberger and many more. You can get an invite through Flow Genome Project by buying the book: https://www.recapturetherapture.com/launch

Brian Rose is the grift that keeps on giving. After his successful attempts to part people from their money through his scam 'Digital Freedom Platform' last year, he's now running for London Mayor. After becoming a laughing stock on YouTube, Brian is now determined to bring his failing personality cult to the capital's voters. He claims to be running in second place, and the main challenger to Mayor Sadiq Khan, but as can be expected by now with Brian, that's a lie. And it's not the only one. This is a conversation between Coffeezilla, the expert in dodgy online gurus who has been tracking Brian for over a year, and Rebel Wisdom's David Fuller. David has just published an article for Unherd on this topic: https://unherd.com/2021/04/could-bria...​ Catch up on previous films covering the shameless Mr Rose here: https://rebelwisdom.co.uk/films/34-fi...​ And check out Coffeezilla's channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFQM...​ Rebel Wisdom has just relaunched our Digital Campfire, where you can join many of our interviews and conversations: https://rebelwisdom.co.uk/campfire-ev...​ Also, check out the Reddit thread 'That Bus Wanker' for more: https://www.reddit.com/r/gammasecretk...

Integral Theory has been a hugely influential school of thought in alternative communities for decades, likely peaking in the early 2000s. Created largely by the philosopher Ken Wilber, it still maintains a strong influence, and has featured several times on Rebel Wisdom. What light can it shed on current cultural dynamics? This was a discussion on Rebel Wisdom's Digital Campfire with the hosts of the Integral Stage podcast, Layman Pascal and Bruce Alderman. We have just relaunched our Digital Campfire member platform, with a host of upcoming films. To take part in these conversations check out the member options: https://rebelwisdom.co.uk/plans​ The Integral Stage is here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaA4...

Recently, we released 'Endgame for the Psychedelic Renaissance?' in which Alexander Beiner caught up with Jamie Wheal to make sense of recent tensions in the psychedelic space around patenting, IP disputes and lobbying. In this follow up, we move the conversation forward to explore possible ways to reboot the psychedelic renaissance. Jamie lays out 3 different approaches people are using to ensure psychedelic culture keeps its transformative potential: working within the existing game to change it, finding creative ways to jam it up, or playing an entirely new game. You can watch the first part of this conversation 'Endgame for the Psychedelic Renaissance?' here: https://youtu.be/EOXJOZK1ZNQ​ Jamie Wheal's new book, 'Recapture the Rapture: Rethinking God, Sex, and Death in a World That's Lost Its Mind' comes out on April 27th: https://www.amazon.com/Recapture-Rapt...​ Become a Rebel Wisdom member to participate in live Q&A calls with guests like Jamie Wheal. More info on https://www.rebelwisdom.co.uk/plans

Tensions are running high in the fast-growing field of psychedelic medicine. As companies use aggressive tactics to corner the market, researchers and activists are being pushed toward check-mate.   Alexander Beiner speaks with Jamie Wheal to make sense of what's been happening - including patent grabs, Tim Ferriss raising the alarm around psychedelic ethics, and striking new accusations of corporate lobbying to prevent Oregon from democratising psilocybin therapy. 

Clubhouse is the new audio-only social media network that's been described as a continual podcast that you can drop in and take part in. It's been valued at over $1bn, making it a rare 'unicorn' company, and is now growing exponentially as competitors like Facebook scramble to produce competing versions. Is the hype justified, and what are the dynamics of this new network? What can we make of Bret Weinstein's recent 'struggle session', and what might be possible in this new medium? Rebel Wisdom is doing an increasing number of events on Clubhouse, search for our newly created club to join in. To join our digital campfire, check out our plans here: https://rebelwisdom.co.uk/plans​ This was a Rebel Wisdom talk at The Stoa: https://www.thestoa.ca/

What does free speech mean in practice, and just as importantly, what are the rights and responsibilities of creators and journalists? Rebel Wisdom's David Fuller and Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster of Triggernometry explore the complexities of free speech in an enjoyable and sometimes heated conversation. Triggernometry Channel To discuss the ideas in our films and take part, check out Rebel Wisdom's Digital Campfire: https://rebelwisdom.co.uk/plans

At the weekend, the New York Times published a long awaited article about one of the world's most celebrated blogs, Slate Star Codex, a central node of the influential rationalist community. Called 'Silicon Valley's Safe Space', it was widely criticised as an inaccurate hit piece: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/13/te...​ This is an interview with Tom Chivers, the writer of 'The Rationalist's Guide to the Galaxy', on the backstory to the controversy. What does this say about the ongoing crisis of journalism, and tensions with the tech sector. The New Yorker wrote a more well-received piece on SSC here: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/ann...

Dr Gabor Maté is a bestselling author and one of the world's leading voices in the science of the mind-body connection, healing addiction and transforming trauma. In this episode of the Wisdom Gym, he talks about how the pandemic is affecting our ability to connect, and what we can do in relation to it. He also demonstrates a powerful psychotherapeutic approach he has developed called Compassionate Inquiry, and answers audience questions.   This is an edit of our Wisdom Gym, which is available for Rebel Wisdom Sensemakers. To join these sessions, consider becoming a member: https://rebelwisdom.co.uk/plans​   Our next Wisdom Gym guest is Thomas Hübl on Wednesday, 24 February at 8pm GMT. Read more about what's happening in the Rebel Wisdom community on https://rebelwisdom.co.uk/plans/commu...