Conspirituality takes a deep dive into the troubling phenomenon of influencers who have curdled New Age spirituality and wellness with the politics of paranoia—peddling vaccine misinformation, tales of child trafficking, and wild conspiracy theories.

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, a disturbing social media trend emerged: a large number of yoga instructors and alt-health influencers were posting stories about a secretive global cabal bent on controlling the world’s population with a genocidal vaccine. Instagram feeds that had been serving up green smoothie recipes and Mary Oliver poems became firehoses of Fox News links, memes from 4chan, and prophecies of global transformation.

Since May 2020, Derek Beres, Matthew Remski and Julian Walker have used their Conspirituality podcast to expose countless facets of the intersection of alt-health practitioners with far-right conspiracy trolls. Now this expansive and revelatory book unpacks the follies, frauds, cons and cults that dominate the New Age and wellness spheres and betray the trust of people who seek genuine relief in this uncertain age.
Each of the three authors has witnessed firsthand the use of fear-based political agendas to manipulate the human desire for spiritual fulfillment. They throw a spotlight on the telltale signs of cult dynamics and expose how influencers have stoked suspicion of public health initiatives. And they show how charlatans and pseudo-doctors encourage their followers to oppose mainstream advice as a form of spiritual quest.
With analytical rigor and flashes of irreverent humor, Conspirituality offers an antidote to our times, helping readers recognize wellness grifts, engage with loved ones who've fallen under the influence, and counter lies and distortions with insight and empathy.

Julian Walker's profile page

Matthew Remski is an ayurvedic therapist and educator who lives in Toronto and on Cortes Island, B.C. in 1993 he founded The Scream in High Park. In 1994 he won the bpnichol Chapbook Award for organon. He has published two novels: Dying for Veronica (1997) and Silver (1998). He is co-founder of Yoga Community Toronto, and co-author, with Scott Petrie, of the ongoing poetical-spiritual-criticism-prayer yoga 2.0. This is his first book length publication in 12 years.

Matthew Remski's profile page

Derek Beres' profile page

"This is a book for right now! So timely. So needed. Conspirituality takes us on a fascinating, engaging, and empathetic journey through the many ways in which harmful pseudoscience and misinformation have seeped into our world. . . . The authors provide a compelling argument as to why the toleration of conspiratorial rhetoric closes minds and erodes critical thinking. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is curious—and we all should be! —about the history and the social and cultural forces behind our current pseudoscience-filled mess.” —Timothy Caulfield, author of Relax: A Guide to Everyday Health Decisions with More Facts and Less Worry

"Conspirituality brilliantly exposes the fusion between conspiracy theories and wellness, while emphasizing the ‘con’ aspect at the heart of both. . . . And far from seeing themselves as too smart to fall for this nonsense, the authors mine their own experiences in cults and coercive movements, having seen them from the inside.” —Mike Rothschild, author of The Storm is Upon Us and Jewish Space Lasers

“Intelligent and compassionate, Conspirituality is full of insight rooted in direct experience and rigorous analysis. The authors are deeply familiar with and curious about their subject. An essential and unique book that captures both the yearning for and devastating effects of conspirituality as a phenomenon and way of life.” —Julian Feeld, co-host of the QAnon Anonymous podcast

“A thoughtful, deeply empathetic exploration of an often disturbing convergence. As fear, paranoia and suspicion continue to seep into the New Age health and wellness worlds, Remski, Beres, and Walker are uniquely well-positioned to be our guides into what they call the ‘sparkling but flimsy’ answers that conspirituality represents.” —Anna Merlan, author of Republic of Lies

“A fascinating, straightforward, well-researched and sobering unpacking of the complex history, and present-day phenomena, of distorted beliefs within New Age yoga and wellness spaces.” —Seane Corn, yoga teacher and author of Revolution of the Soul

"No one knows the explosive intersection of spirituality and extremism more than the authors of Conspirituality, who have been inside these groups and lived to tell about it. In their strongly argued new book, the authors look at the charlatans, conspiracy theorists, and con men of the wellness world—and what we can do to stop them.” —Will Sommer, author of Trust the Plan

“Over the last several years as we doom scrolled social media watching the weirdness and unraveling of the wellness community into a conspiratorial freak-out, the Conspirituality Podcast’s deep dive analysis was a salve. In their book they go a step further, providing important context and histories, positing that maybe the great awakening was realizing these beliefs were lurking beneath the surface all along.” —Stacie Stukin, journalist

“This rigorously researched book will help future generations, or alien overlords, make sense of this bizarre and confusing moment in human civilization. Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, and Julian Walker have established themselves as authoritative chroniclers of conspirituality and its key figures. They are consummate tour guides, revealing all the threads of eugenics, fascism, cultism, moral panics and magical thinking that came together to form a strange tapestry that now influences mainstream policies and institutions, and fuels our culture wars." —Jennings Brown, journalist and host of podcasts The Gateway: Teal Swan and Revelations

“A wild and impassioned ride through the recent history of the wellness-based conspiracy movement, some of its most unsavory characters, and many of its victims and survivors. Full of heart, honesty and immediacy.” —Dr. Theodora Wildcroft, author of Post-Lineage Yoga: From Guru to #metoo

“An urgently needed, compelling and accessible analysis of the deeply troubling proliferation and promotion of conspiracy theories within contemporary spirituality and wellness culture. Combining cutting-edge critique with empathetic context, the authors identify the real threats of conspirituality to societal bonds, public health and participatory democracy.” —Ann Gleig, Associate Professor of Religion and Cultural Studies, University of Central Florida

"This is a groundbreaking and beautifully written roadmap cinto a topic that is so multifaceted, internally diverse and consequential that I would not have trusted anyone to write it except [Walker, Remski and Beres]. The book benefits from their years of immersive experience and deep research on conspirtitualist milieus. A masterful job." —Amarnath Amarasingam, School of Religion, Queen's University

“Conspirituality makes sense of humanity’s latest brain fart with compassion and exhaustive scholarship. Beres, Remski and Walker have earned the mantle of torchbearers against conspirituality, illuminating the disturbing crevices of this befuddling movement and helping the rest of us understand, through impeccable prose, what is fuelling the world’s strangest fever dream.” —Jonathan Jarry, MSc Science Communicator for McGill University’s Office for Science and Society

“With [Conspirituality] the authors do all of us a favour, combining their years of experience and research, and providing a detailed analytical map of this influential contemporary phenomenon. They not only achieve the seemingly impossible task of tracing the through lines across this diverse field of characters but also provide important insights into important historical connections. The book is rigorously researched and academic in its analyses, yet it is also deeply empathetic and at times intensely personal.” —Chris Kavanagh, Associate Professor of Psychology Rikkyo University

“No one knows the explosive intersection of spirituality and extremism than the authors of Conspirituality, who have been inside these groups and lived to tell about it. In their strongly argued new book, the authors look at the charlatans, conspiracy theorists, and con men of the wellness world—and what we can do to stop them.” —Will Sommer, author of Trust the Plan

“Beres, Remski, and Walker manage something remarkable: with erudition and a wealth of experience they expose treachery and danger hiding in places few expect it. And yet Conspirituality is as noteworthy for its captivating storytelling and wit. The result is a book that feels like both a responsibility and a pleasure to read.”—Benjamin R. Teitelbaum, author of War for Eternity