The Upful LIFE Podcast – Ep.038: DEREK BERES (Conspirituality Podcast / EarthRise Soundsystem / BIG Think) – journalist, DJ-producer, yoga
Episode 038 welcomes the esteemed DEREK BERES to *The Upful LIFE Podcast* for a fascinating, informative and inspiring conversation unlike anything you’ve ever heard on this program! Author/journalist/yoga & movement instructor/DJ-Producer, and co-host of CONSPIRITUALITY PODCAST. @derekberes
– introduction @ 11min
– interview w/ DEREK BERES @ 20min
Derek’s been a respected, leading voice in the wellness/yoga/spiritual communities for many moons, and through various channels of media, education, music, books and beyond, Beres has really stepped into this confounding, historic moment. He is a wealth of salient perspective and sobering realizations; our conversation isn’t for the faint of heart, yet it felt imperative to take it there. And by there, I mean all the way: infiltration, infection, and indoctrination within the wellness/spiritual/festival culture, and that’s merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
Topics include: the long-sewn seeds of racism, fascism, anti-Semetism, Q-Anon, anti-vaxxers, and conspiracy theories. “Red-pilled” wellness and spiritual influencers, the role psychedelics, benzos and anti-depressants play into deluded, dangerous and magical thinking. Consumerism, capitalism, and selling aspiration. The sinister roots and disastrous affects of advertising and social media – and how they’ve exacerbated the deeply-entrenched ideologies, prejudices, and narcissism that we see rearing their ugliest heads across all walks of 2020 life.
Derek Beres has spent nearly two decades teaching and writing about yoga, fitness, health and wellness, among numerous other interests. His latest book – Hero’s Dose: The Case for Psychedelics in Ritual and Therapy – was published just last week. As a longtime world music producer, Beres co-creates a wonderful catalog of eclectic, intercontinental electro-grooves with his crew EarthRise Soundsystem. A columnist at BIG Think, a seasoned journalist across a wide swath of health/wellness expertise, and providing cutting-edge psychedelic reporting. Derek’s research also explores Western medicine’s over-reliance on anti-depressants, the corruption and duplicity of Big Pharma, and how it’s all connected.
“As the alt-right and New Age horseshoe toward each other in a blur of disinformation, clear discourse and good intentions get smothered. Conspirituality Podcast attempts to bring understanding to this landscape. A journalist, a cult researcher, and a philosophical skeptic discuss the stories, cognitive dissonances, and cultic dynamics tearing through the yoga, wellness, and new spirituality worlds.”
‘Hero’s Dose: The Case for Psychedelics in Ritual and Therapy’
Vibe Junkie JAM
https://dimondsaints.bandcamp.com/track/redemption
music: Applecat BM 2013, Heart Shaped Box – Amber Mark
Soundtribe Sector 9 w/Karsh Kale & Vishal Viad from Berkfest 2002