Two academic windbags attempt brief discussions of the controversy at Nature, Bret’s newest conspiracy theory, and the latest vibe sessions in Podcastistan. It goes about as well as expected.

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Supplementary Material 55

00:00 Introduction: Science by Podcast

04:04 Nature Joins the Arday Discourse Wave

09:28 Activism and Science

14:40 Academic Prestige Bias

19:08 The Business of Academic Publishing

23:43 Sasha Gusev Being Sensible and Culture War Brainrot

29:04 Bret Weinstein and Jimmy Dore Investigate Charlie Kirk’s Death

36:13 Anomaly Hunting

42:27 Science Washing

45:00 Conspiracy Discrimination and Reasoning Ability

53:46 Academic Debate Norms

59:16 Chris Williamson Promotes Professor Jiang

01:01:01 Vibing Out in Podcast Panels: Hunter Biden x Nick Fuentes

01:05:49 Dave Rubin and Andrew Gold Discuss Political Tribalism

01:08:25 Heterodoxy in 2026: Zaid Jilani on Michael Tracey

01:12:52 Hitler Was a Human and Had Motivations

01:16:33 Outro

Links

Nature: The death of Jason Arday must prompt deep reflection
Stuart Ritchie’s response to the Nature editorial
Matthew Yglesias: Academia is cooked
Sasha Gusev’s response to Matthew Yglesias
Nature’s research and magazine editorial teams
DarkHorse: Was Charlie Kirk Killed With a Drone? Viva Frei and Jimmy Dore
Robson, S. G., Martire, K. A., Pearson, S., Cosgrove, T. J., Jetten, J., Faasse, K., & Hornsey, M. J. (2026). Rejecting conspiracies doesn't necessarily mean that you're smart: The relationship between conspiracy discrimination and reasoning ability. British Journal of Social Psychology, 65(4), e70117.
Modern Wisdom: WW3 DEBATE: “We’re On the Brink of Global Collapse”
Mostly Wise #2: Hunter Biden, Matt McCusker & Duncan Trussell
Channel 5: Nick Fuentes Interview (Ft. Hunter Biden)
I Think You Should Leave: Hot Dog Car Sketch
The Rubin Report: If This Isn’t Stopped, UK’s Fall Is Irreversible | Andrew Gold
Zaid Jilani on Michael Tracey’s contrarianism
Zaid Jilani’s World War II follow-up
Adam Tooze: The Wages of Destruction
Darryl Cooper’s introduction and foreword to Thomas Cyr’s World War II revisionist book
Next on Decoding Academia: Your Brain Is Not an Onion With a Tiny Reptile Inside

Supplementary Material 55: Nature Debates, Murder Drone Conspiracies, and Podcast Vibes

Decoding the Gurus

Supplementary Material 55: Nature Debates, Murder Drone Conspiracies, and Podcast Vibes