Best Demille Podcasts (2025)

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Episode 100: Alex DeMille 59:47

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1h ago59:47

59:47

Nelson and Alex DeMille's The Tin Men is an electrifying read and a chillingly timely one," writes The New York Times best-selling novelist Megan Abbott of the third and final father-son collaboration in the Scott Brodie & Maggie Taylor series. "[It's] both a master-class in suspense and a haunting exploration of the dangers and costs of a surrende…

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Alex DeMille: The Tin Men 59:18

2h ago59:18

59:18

Alex DeMille joins Carol Fitzgerald to discuss THE TIN MEN, the third installment in the Scott Brodie & Maggie Taylor series, which he wrote with his father, Nelson DeMille. Set at a fictional military base in the Mojave Desert, the book explores autonomous weapons and AI in warfare. Alex explains what drew him to set a thriller in the American Sou…

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“The Tin Men”: Alex DeMille and collaborative storytelling 43:42

16d ago43:42

43:42

Filmmaker and thriller author Alex DeMille talks about THE TIN MEN, Book 3 in the Brodie & Taylor series, and the final collaboration written with his father, Nelson DeMille. SourceBy Summer Brooks

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Vicky Nguyen: Boat Baby 53:50

6h ago53:50

53:50

Vicky Nguyen joins Carol Fitzgerald to discuss her memoir, BOAT BABY, which is about her experience as a Vietnamese refugee who came to America as an eight-month-old "boat baby" in 1979. She talks about the challenges of growing up as a child of immigrants, navigating cultural differences, and her path to becoming an NBC News correspondent. The int…

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Bonus Sample: Graeber vs Bannon, Anarchism vs Leninism (Part 2) 4:49

10h ago4:49

4:49

This bonus episode is Part 2 of Graeber vs Bannon, Anarchism vs Leninism. I start in the 1870s with Marx and Bakunin fighting over the joys and traumas of the Paris Commune. Marx sees it as an imperfect but historic prototype of a workers’ transitional state, cut down before it could consolidate power. Bakunin reads it as a betrayal of anarchist pr…

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Episode 325 : Jane Borden 49:52

2d ago49:52

49:52

Happy Thanksgiving! How about a bit of seasonal American history you probably didn't learn about in 2nd grade? Author of Cults Like Us, Jane Borden and I delve into the connections between cult dynamics and American culture, particularly through the lens of the Puritans and Pilgrims. Jane explains how these early groups set the stage for modern con…

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Brief: Graeber vs Bannon, Anarchism vs Leninism (Part 1) 43:28

3d ago43:28

43:28

In this first of a two-part series, I dig into a century-long debate within revolutionary politics—one that now shapes the fault lines between MAGA authoritarianism and the fragmented resistance against it. How did the American far right end up using Leninist strategy more effectively than the American left? And what does that say about our own mov…

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"Bookaccino Live" Book Group: Clare Leslie Hall 1:11:23

1h ago1:11:23

1:11:23

Clare Leslie Hall joined us for November's "Bookaccino Live" Book Group to discuss her New York Times bestseller, BROKEN COUNTRY, a Bookreporter Bets On selection that has received numerous "Best Of 2025" accolades. Clare talks about her inspiration for the novel, as well as the different paths that she took to writing it. She shares details on the…

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284: When Prophecy-Science Fails (w/Thomas Kelly) 1:12:12

5d ago1:12:12

1:12:12

In 1954 a doomsday alien cult headed up by Chicagoland housewife Dorothy Martin was waiting for the cataclysmic flood that would herald the arrival of spaceships to transport her and her followers to safety. When the hour came and went and nothing happened, she and her followers made up a Bible’s worth of excuses, saying that the group's penitence …

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Episode 324 : MLM Mini Dive : Asea 43:06

6d ago43:06

43:06

I've been wanting to talk about Asea for awhile and a recent comment on Instagram inspired me to take a closer look into the company. After a deep dive into the Asea Redox Cell Signaling Supplement rabbit hole, what I found was too good not to share and poke fun of in a bonus episode dedicated to maybe the stupidest MLM product of all time. Show No…

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Bonus Sample: Temple of Blood & Fire 7:02

7m ago7:02

7:02

They offered initiation into ancient Christian mysticism, ritual communion with the spirits, an understanding of reincarnation, and the destined transition to inhabiting a "solar-body" in the Sirius star-system. But it all ended in murderous blood sacrifice and fire—and 74 dead believers. What is this dark preoccupation with sacrifice and ritual ki…

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Episode 323 : The Salem Witch Trials 1:11:03

9d ago1:11:03

1:11:03

Michelle is here and we are diving into the factual history behind the events of the Salem Witch Trials, starting with the now out-of-print Chick Tract that's the most historically accurate one I've ever read. In today's Culty History lesson, we discuss "spectral evidence", the impact of accusations, and the underlying motives of land disputes, whi…

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Brisa Carleton: Last Call at the Savoy 59:08

2h ago59:08

59:08

Brisa Carleton joins Carol Fitzgerald to talk about her debut novel, LAST CALL AT THE SAVOY, which is a Bookreporter Bets On selection. The inspiration for the book came when Brisa was visiting The Savoy Hotel in London more than a decade ago. She saw a footnote about Ada Coleman in a cocktail menu and was surprised that so little information exist…

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Brief: Does Calley Means Get Anything Right? 28:13

11m ago28:13

28:13

RFK Jr's senior advisor and supplements salesman, Calley Means, has repeatedly fabricated the story of Abraham Flexner and the birth of the modern medical system. Derek looks into his historical revisionism and what it could mean for the MAHA movement. Show Notes Medical Education in America: Abraham Flexner The Great Influenza: John Barry The Grea…

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283: Guys 1:06:40

13m ago1:06:40

1:06:40

Back in June, we published an episode about the "Speaking with American Men" (SAM) project, a $20 million initiative designed by political consultants to understand and win back young men (18-29) who increasingly voted for Donald Trump. We talked about this cringey, inauthentic approach to compete over the influence of manosphere figures like Jorda…

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Bonus Sample: MAHA Inaction 5:57

3d ago5:57

5:57

Listen to the full episode The nonprofit organization (and its adjoined Super PAC), MAHA Action, is leading semi-regular Zoom calls featuring a host of wellness influencers and RFK Jr appointees, including Jillian Michaels, Dr Oz, and Russell Brand. Derek listens into a recent call to see just what they're saying. Learn more about your ad choices. …

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Episode 322 : The High Priestess of Pink - Part 2 1:19:24

16d ago1:19:24

1:19:24

In Part 2 of the High Priestess of Pink, Nic and I discuss the influence of figures like Dale Carnegie on the modern "MLM Mean Girl", the impact of the great wealth transfer on the corporate side of MLMs, the changing landscape of direct sales as more MLMs ditch the pyramid and go pancake and the implications of those changes for consultants. Plus …

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Brief: Taylor Swift Goes MAGA? 43:05

16d ago43:05

43:05

Taylor Swift: Nazi sympathizer, freshly-minted racist, MAGA trad wife. Or so proponents of a recent conspiracy theory would have it. For years, the most successful female recording and performing artist of her generation (and therefore of all time) has used “easter eggs” as part of her marketing. Hidden messages in music videos and lyric sheets, ob…

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282: Mutual Aid Against ICE 1:04:26

3h ago1:04:26

1:04:26

When restaurants and cafes in Portland and elsewhere link into networks of food pantries and soup kitchens, will mutual aid feel real in the US? When regular folks come out of their houses to shame and chase ICE thugs out of the neighborhood, will that feeling of power from below catch on? Will it create some craving for a different way of doing th…

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Episode 99: Matthew Winkler 53:22

7d ago53:22

53:22

Student journalist and first-time documentary filmmaker Matthew Winkler joins us to discuss his work on a film chronicling the life and career of Joya Sherrill, an unsung American jazz vocalist who wrote the lyrics to the Billy Strayhorn standard, "Take the A Train," made famous by the Duke Ellington orchestra. Matthew came across Sherrill's name d…

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Bonus Sample: US v. Liberation Theology (Part 2) 5:28

14d ago5:28

5:28

Listen to the full episode on Patreon Part 2 follows the money flowing from US agencies and interests to anti-Liberation Theology figures in Latin America. We meet Jesuit operator Roger Vekemans, who in the 1960s drew funding from the CIA, USAID, West German bishops, and U.S. conservative foundations to undermine Liberation and Christian socialism …

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Episode 321 : The High Priestess of Pink - Part 1 1:08:07

23d ago1:08:07

1:08:07

Nic is back and we're here to deep dive into the life and legacy of Mary Kay Ash, the founder of one of the oldest MLM companies. The story that is told to consultants and regurgitated over and over at events about Mary Kay's life and the founding of the company? Turns out, it's not true. Nic has come with the records and receipts as we go through …

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Brief: US v. Liberation Theology (Part 1) 39:11

17d ago39:11

39:11

This is the first of a two-part deep dive into how U.S. foreign policy stared down the political threat of Liberation Theology by promoting Evangelical Christianity in Latin America. The CIA and USAID, in league with Vatican conservatives like Cardinal Ratzinger, spent money and social capital on the suppression of this vital new movement which ins…

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Episode 320 : Haunted San Diego 1:01:12

25d ago1:01:12

1:01:12

Happy Halloween Huns! Come join us as we explore the earliest spooky history and most haunted locations all over San Diego. In this special Halloween episode we go on location and experience San Diego, just after the Mexican-American War; the development of present day Downtown, the history of The Whaley House, San Diego's first cemetery El Campo S…

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281: Jeffrey Tucker, MAHA Dandy 53:45

25d ago53:45

53:45

“Meet the man who built RFK Jr’s kitchen cabinet” goes the title of a recent investigative article in Politico. Yet that man, Jeffrey Tucker, is much more than that. In fact, you can make the case, as Politico does, that Tucker is one of the main driving forces behind MAHA. We’ve covered Tucker before on this podcast, including two previous intervi…

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"Bookaccino Live" Book Group: Paula Hawkins 55:30

11d ago55:30

55:30

Paula Hawkins joined us for October's "Bookaccino Live" Book Group to discuss her most recent thriller, THE BLUE HOUR, a Bookreporter Bets On selection that is now available in paperback. Readers asked questions before and during the program, and we covered a lot of details, including the meaning of the book's title. Paula shares her love of art an…

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Bonus Sample: Chatbot Awakening to Love and Enlightenment! 6:07

29d ago6:07

6:07

Earlier this year, a spate of news stories told of chatbot users travelling through the looking-glass right into Conspirituality. Paranoid conspiracies, spiritual awakenings, even falling head-over-heels in love with the simulated personalities of large language models like ChatGPT. Could AI have finally crossed the threshold into autonomous sentie…

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Episode 319 : The Death of Alene Schrader 1:19:41

1M ago1:19:41

1:19:41

In this episode, we delve into the tragic story of Alene Schrader, who suffered fatal medical neglect at the hands of her granddaughter, Kandise Sheahen, a registered nurse involved in the MLM Q Sciences. Our conversation with Alene's grandson, Jon Schrader and his wife Francesa, explores the dangers of MLM products as healthcare, the risks associa…

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Brief: The Man Who Lives With 16 Cats 33:21

1M ago33:21

33:21

Social media has been filled with clips of Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee for mayor of NYC. He's been proving quite the foil for Andrew Cuomo's attempt to upset Zohran Mamdani. But who is this man, exactly? Derek and Julian discuss. Show Notes 16 Cats, 320 Square Feet and One Long-Shot Candidate for Mayor 7 Takeaways From the Final N.Y.C. May…

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280: Peter Thiel is Definitely Not the Antichrist 1:08:14

1M ago1:08:14

1:08:14

Tech billionaire Peter Thiel is no cuck philanthropist. The co-founder of Palantir is leading his company at the bleeding edge of mass surveillance, facial recognition, predictive policing, and AI-assisted warfare. He also fancies himself a political player, responsible for funding his protege, JD Vance, to a heartbeat away from the presidency. Con…

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Episode 98: Michael E. Long 1:16:18

22d ago1:16:18

1:16:18

Podcast guest Michael E. Long calls himself "a professional explainer with a restive mind." He is just that. Trained as physicist, Mike is the co-author of the international bestseller The Molecule of More, which has been translated into more than 20 languages, and the sole author of the recently-published follow-up title Taming the Molecule of Mor…

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Portland Has (Not) Fallen (For It) 5:23

24d ago5:23

5:23

Listen to the full episode on Patreon After attending the No Kings rally in Portland on Saturday, Derek shares some thoughts about the week leading up to the nationwide protests. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, Julian Walker

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“The Lost Reliquary”: Lyndsay Ely on reluctant fantasy heroes 37:20

18d ago37:20

37:20

Lyndsay Ely talks about her latest fantasy novel, THE LOST RELIQUARY, and having a protagonist bound to the last goddess from an epic war between gods, and she's done and really wants out. SourceBy Summer Brooks

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Episode 318 : Mallory DeMille 1:13:59

1M ago1:13:59

1:13:59

Let's grab Mallory DeMille and dive into the wacky world of wellness influencers; the rise of grifters, the impact of the MAHA movement, and the absurd trends that have emerged in recent years. We discuss how wellness influencers exploit tragedies for profit, the gamification of the wellness space, and the challenges of helping change minds in a wo…

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Brief: “Weird Stephen” Miller 31:38

27d ago31:38

31:38

Stephen Miller is once again making headlines for saying the quiet part out loud. Derek and Julian look into this strange little man from Santa Monica. Show Notes Stephen Miller: Understanding the man who became ‘Trump’s brain’ through his Chronicle opinion column ‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat What Stephen M…

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Lily King: Heart the Lover 55:36

24d ago55:36

55:36

Lily King joins Carol Fitzgerald to discuss her latest novel, the instant New York Times bestseller HEART THE LOVER, which is a Bookreporter Bets On selection. Lily shares that she was working on a political murder mystery that came to a grinding halt when she got a manuscript from Ann Patchett, which led her to write college scenes that were the s…

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Bonus Episode Recap - 317 : Lillian & MVP 41:33

1M ago41:33

41:33

After he listened to the last episode, Mr. F had a lot of questions and insight about Lillian's story. We literally talked about aspects of it everyday, so much so that I said we should just sit down and record our thoughts about this MLM that isn't quite and MLM, Magical Vacation Planners. If you had more thoughts or pending questions about the la…

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279: They’re Shooting the Priests 56:24

1M ago56:24

56:24

ICE is on the loose in our cities, acting with seeming impunity. They've repelled from Black Hawk helicopters, thrown journalists and protestors to the ground, and belligerently refused to unmask, provide identification, or present warrants for the people they're kidnapping. Among the social media videos documenting this despicable stormtrooper beh…

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Yallidarity (w/Nathan Evans Fox) [Introducing Antifascist Dad Podcast] 46:36

1M ago46:36

46:36

Hey everyone… special drop today: the inaugural episode of Matthew’s new side project, Antifascist Dad Podcast. Matthew sits down with songwriter Nathan Evans Fox to talk about kinship, Appalachia, and the viral hymn that’s resonating across communities. Nathan shares the roots of his concept of yallidarity—solidarity rooted in labor, joy, food, mu…

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Bonus Sample: Antifascist Christianity: Black Jesus (Pt. 2) 5:40

1M ago5:40

5:40

Full episode on Patreon Part 2 moves from Christofascist spectacle to the “mushy middle” of liberal Christianity—why it so often blesses order over justice and falters when fascism rises. Drawing on MLK’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, Reggie Williams’s Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus, and lived experience inside white urban churches, he traces how bureaucr…

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Otto Penzler talks mystery short story anthologies 54:33

1M ago54:33

54:33

Editor and publisher Otto Penzler talks about the varied mystery anthologies and collections released by Penzler Publishers, the proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, and series editor of a handful of current and Golden Age mystery fiction anthologies. SourceBy Summer Brooks

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Episode 317 : Lillian 1:01:50

1M ago1:01:50

1:01:50

Meet Lillian, a former travel agent with Magical Vacation Planner, an MLM adjacent travel agency with some allegedly shady practices. We chat about MVP's commission-based payment structure, and what that meant for the reps with the challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic's lockdown. Our conversation delves into MVP's recruitment practices, in…

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Brief: Antifascist Christianity: Black Jesus (Pt. 1) 35:48

26d ago35:48

35:48

In this first installment of Antifascist Christianity: Black Jesus, Matthew revisits Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s journey from the theological classrooms of Berlin to the Black churches of Harlem — where he encountered a Jesus entirely unlike the imperial figure of his upbringing. Bonhoeffer arrived in New York a servant of white European Christendom, and…

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278: This Podcast is Illegal 56:41

2M ago56:41

56:41

Our podcast is not actually illegal—yet. Thanks to Trump’s recent Security Presidential Memorandum, NSPM-7, or “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,” it soon could be. Today we talk about one of the starkest moves into fascism Americans have yet seen from MAGA: what it is, how pre-crimes can soon be reality, and the fear …

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Episode 97: Emma Heming Willis and Michele Bender 1:10:30

1M ago1:10:30

1:10:30

"No two caregiving journeys are alike," writes Emma Heming Willis, the wife of actor Bruce Willis, who was diagnosed in 2023 with Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), a rare form of dementia affecting behavior, movement and language. "But we are connected by the same unchosen thread." In The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope, and Yourself on the…

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Bonus Sample: Death is Just A Doorway 6:04

1M ago6:04

6:04

The People’s Temple in Jonestown, Heaven’s Gate, The Order of the Solar Temple. All cults that ended in tragic mass suicides. How could such lofty aspirations end so badly? For today’s self-contained installment of The Roots of Conspirituality series, Julian explores the shadow side of the anxiety-relieving religious notion that death is just a doo…

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“The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre”: Philip Fracassi with the elder final girl 38:33

1M ago38:33

38:33

Horror author Philip Fracassi talks about his newest novel, THE AUTUMN SPRINGS RETIREMENT HOME MASSACRE, featuring a senior citizen final girl and the shenanigans that take over her life at the retirement home. SourceBy Summer Brooks

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Episode 316 : "The Spookiest Place on Earth" 1:12:09

2M ago1:12:09

1:12:09

Happy October and welcome to the Spooky Era of our "Holiday Magic" episodes! Journey with us today on our recent trip to celebrate Abbey's birthday at Disneyland, just in time for Halloween! In this episode we share some of our favorite ghost stories, urban legends, Easter eggs and history from California's Disneyland, along with some audio recorde…

351
Brief: He’s Coming For All Vaccines 26:28

2M ago26:28

26:28

RFK Jr posted a seven-minute video earlier this week that assures us that vaccines aren't all that great, actually. Derek reads the studies Kennedy references as proof. You might be surprised to learn the HHS Secretary has very selective reading. Show Notes Annual Summary of Vital Statistics: Trends in the Health of Americans During the 20th Centur…

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277: TikTokTylenol [feat Mallory DeMille] 1:02:35

2M ago1:02:35

1:02:35

Did you hear about the pregnant woman who ingested too much Tylenol just to “own Trump” and is now on a ventilator and will likely not wake up, offing both herself and her baby? If you were tapped into social media at all this past week, you likely saw dozens of wellness and right-wing influencers sharing it, each with their own hot take. One probl…