<description>&lt;p&gt;We descend once more into the Gurusphere, encountering secret peasant archmages, decline narratives, Epstein emails, and endless moral panics.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The full episode is available to Patreon subscribers (1 hour, 37 minutes).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Join us at: &lt;a href="https://www.patreon.com/DecodingTheGurus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;https://www.patreon.com/DecodingTheGurus&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;00:00 SM 44 PF&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;00:23 Introduction&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;01:30 Konstantin Kisin: Not Left Or Right, Just Right&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;05:20 Boghossian is shocked by pessimistic French people&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;08:50 Konstantin and Warren Smith as relics of the anti-SJW era&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;12:45 A PSA! Hyper Capitalism Tier Update!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;18:36 Matt's AV Setup&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;20:01 Recommendation: Successville (British version)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;21:40 My peasant farmer dad is secretly an Archmage!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;28:14 Scott Galloway talks with Gwyneth Paltrow&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;40:18 American Capitalist Culture and the Gurus&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;48:54 Bryan Johnson vs AG1&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;51:45 Bryan Johnson &amp;amp; Epstein Schmoozing&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;58:09 Bari Weiss's Peter Attia Woes&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;59:14 Epstein and QAnon Conspiracies&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;01:03:23 Overinterpreting Epstein emails&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;01:09:04 Shermer promotes Dave Rubin to hawk his book on Truth&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;01:10:37 Conspiracy Theory prevalence on left and riht&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;01:17:44 Jonathan Haidt and his anti-social media crusade&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;01:23:15 Plato on the Corruption of the Youth&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;01:24:30 The Eternal Appeal of Decline Narratives&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;01:26:22 They won't let you enjoy things anymore...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;01:30:24 Matt's laissez-faire parenting tips&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;01:31:45 Life lessons from Lord of the Rings&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;01:34:17 The Witch King of Angmar defeated by a Woke White Women&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sources&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ol&gt;&lt;li data-list="bullet"&gt;&lt;span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://x.com/KonstantinKisin/status/2017255412467114151?s=20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Konstantin Kisin on not being left or right&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li data-list="bullet"&gt;&lt;span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://x.com/KonstantinKisin/status/2017904993911640400?s=20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Boghossian and Kisin bemoan civilisational decline narratives&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li data-list="bullet"&gt;&lt;span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/30/bari-weiss-new-cbs-news-contributors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;The Guardian on Bari Weiss’s new CBS “Podcastistan” hires&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li data-list="bullet"&gt;&lt;span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://niallferguson.substack.com/p/how-trump-won-davos" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Niall Ferguson on how Trump “won Davos”&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li data-list="bullet"&gt;&lt;span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/30/elon-musk-epstein-files-island-visits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;The Guardian: Elon Musk had more extensive ties to Epstein than previously known&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li data-list="bullet"&gt;&lt;span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sXKWZyl798" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;My Farmer Dad Is Secretly an Archmage – viral short-form fantasy drama&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li data-list="bullet"&gt;&lt;span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/reelforce_behind-the-scenes-of-a-short-drama-production-activity-7420389158994644992-KtMh" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Behind the Scenes of &lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/reelforce_behind-the-scenes-of-a-short-drama-production-activity-7420389158994644992-KtMh" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;My Farmer Dad Is Secretly an Archmage&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li data-list="bullet"&gt;&lt;span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLV2ZkX2MpE" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Original Chinese version of &lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a...</description>

Decoding the Gurus

Christopher Kavanagh and Matthew Browne

Supplementary Material 44: Peasant Archmages, Moral Panics, and LOTR Parenting Tips

FEB 7, 202632 MIN
Decoding the Gurus

Supplementary Material 44: Peasant Archmages, Moral Panics, and LOTR Parenting Tips

FEB 7, 202632 MIN

Description

We descend once more into the Gurusphere, encountering secret peasant archmages, decline narratives, Epstein emails, and endless moral panics.The full episode is available to Patreon subscribers (1 hour, 37 minutes).Join us at: https://www.patreon.com/DecodingTheGurus00:00 SM 44 PF00:23 Introduction01:30 Konstantin Kisin: Not Left Or Right, Just Right05:20 Boghossian is shocked by pessimistic French people08:50 Konstantin and Warren Smith as relics of the anti-SJW era12:45 A PSA! Hyper Capitalism Tier Update!18:36 Matt's AV Setup20:01 Recommendation: Successville (British version)21:40 My peasant farmer dad is secretly an Archmage!28:14 Scott Galloway talks with Gwyneth Paltrow40:18 American Capitalist Culture and the Gurus48:54 Bryan Johnson vs AG151:45 Bryan Johnson & Epstein Schmoozing58:09 Bari Weiss's Peter Attia Woes59:14 Epstein and QAnon Conspiracies01:03:23 Overinterpreting Epstein emails01:09:04 Shermer promotes Dave Rubin to hawk his book on Truth01:10:37 Conspiracy Theory prevalence on left and riht01:17:44 Jonathan Haidt and his anti-social media crusade01:23:15 Plato on the Corruption of the Youth01:24:30 The Eternal Appeal of Decline Narratives01:26:22 They won't let you enjoy things anymore...01:30:24 Matt's laissez-faire parenting tips01:31:45 Life lessons from Lord of the Rings01:34:17 The Witch King of Angmar defeated by a Woke White WomenSourcesKonstantin Kisin on not being left or rightBoghossian and Kisin bemoan civilisational decline narrativesThe Guardian on Bari Weiss’s new CBS “Podcastistan” hiresNiall Ferguson on how Trump “won Davos”The Guardian: Elon Musk had more extensive ties to Epstein than previously knownMy Farmer Dad Is Secretly an Archmage – viral short-form fantasy dramaBehind the Scenes of My Farmer Dad Is Secretly an ArchmageOriginal Chinese version of My Farmer Dad Is Secretly an Archmage (Destiny’s Keeper)Michael Shermer promoting Dave RubinMichael Shermer previously promoted Stefan MolyneuxBryan Johnson criticising AG1 (sort of)Miami Herald’s early investigative coverage of Jeffrey EpsteinEarly New York Magazine profile of Jeffrey Epstein (2002)Vanity Fair on Jeffrey Epstein and elite power networks (2003)New York Magazine on Epstein before the non-prosecution deal (2007)Michael Shermer on conspiracies and truth-seeking on The Rubin ReportHong (2026) on the cognitive foundations of decline narrativesNew York Times on Jonathan Haidt and new evidence on social mediaOliver Curry pushes back on Haidt’s claimsChris Ferguson responds critically to Haidt’s arguments