Against Everyone with Conner Habib (Against Everyone With Conner Habib)

I talk with scholar and author Mitch Horowitz about why the occult matters in a time of chaos. We talk about the radical possibilities it might offer today, the ethics (and the unethical) of esotericism, and more.

In the first in a series of episodes on occult & esoteric christianity, I talk with Rev. Jonah Evans - cohost of The Light In Every Thing podcast and Christian Community priest - about why esoteric christianity matters now more than ever.

I talk with Lisa Romero about the esoteric answer to the question of our time: What is to be done?

“The study of movement is a science of the imperceptible...” In the final episode of my series on scientific concepts, I talk with historian of science and culture, Janina Wellmann, about the mystery of motion, movement, and stillness.

I talk with anarchist philosopher of magic, Federico Campagna, about recreating reality as our most urgent political project.

To celebrate Michaelmas, I discuss what evil is (and isn't) and how to overcome it.

Our inner lives do matter, more than ever, in this moment. But how do they matter, and how can we offer them up to the tasks of our time? And what if some of us get those inner conditions properly oriented to the spiritual work of the world we're in, but most people don't? Will any of it make a difference?
To discuss this, I welcomed author and teacher Lisa Romero back to the show.Lisa and I talked about these themes before on the show, on AEWCH 257, but now we develop them more deeply here, particularly in relation to how the world is unfolding.

In the second ep of my How To Live Beyond series, Lisa Romero and I talk about moving past entheogens and magic without condemning them + why they're not up to the challenges of our time... and what to do now instead.

I talk with writer, author, and esoteric health practitioner ARE THORESEN.

The language of inevitability is upon us, and it is a cruel language, one that allows no discussion of freedom or our ability to direct things. The future - a terrible future - is filled with AI, the effects of climate crisis, fascisms, and wars. And our present - a terrible present - is only going to get worse.

In other words, we're given a unified picture of where we're going and what's happening and how to feel about all of it.

Of course, the language of inevitability can only show us relatively little. A narrow look at presumed (or manipulated) outcomes.

The future is as wide open as ever.
Difference and mutability is closer to the truth: whatever happens will happen differently, to different places, and to each and every one of us.

Why? Because material laws and spiritual laws flourish differently in each person's life. We all have our own levels and areas of understanding, aptitude, capacity, and education. We all express differing variations on one theme, but that theme is the cosmos.

This is the starting point for my conversation with occultist, veterinarian, and author, ARE THORSEN. Are has been on the show many times, most recently on AEWCH 243, when we talked about illness, health, and the end of materialism. Also on AEWCH 205 on Ragnarok, and AEWCH 116 on demonology & nothingness. His most recent books, The Four Doors and Fading and Merging are available via Amazon. Other recent books (which you can order via independent bookstore through the links here) include Meeting Michael: Further Communications from Spirit Worlds and Travels on the Northern Path of Initiation: Vidar and Baldur, the Three Elemental Realms and the Inner and Outer Etheric Worlds.

On this episode, we discuss the technique of connecting with the spiritual world, and more specifically why meditation isn't enough... we need to walk into the spiritual world. And how?

I talk with novelist, essayist, playwright, and organizer Sarah Schulman about bringing utopianism and reform together in the political and cultural realms.

I talk with money teacher and listener favorite PILAR LESKO about the spiritual realities of making, spending, and gifting money in challenging times.

I'm joined by geomancer, legendary artist, and founder of the OHO Movement, Marko Pogačnik, to discuss lithopuncture and elemental beings. This is one of those episodes that gets strange in the best way possible.

I talk with cultural theorist and nature philosopher ERICA BERRY, author of Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell about Fear.

This is the third episode in a series of episodes about how science and scientific concepts intersect with our lives!

I break down Jacques Lacan's psychoanalysis/philosophy with theologian Peter Rollins + we discuss how it can be applied to culture/politics/economy.

I talk with author, tarot reader, and actress Rachel True about tarot in politics, philosophy, and practice.

I turn to my favorite money-worker, Pilar Lesko, for a spiritual perspective on quantities, financial integrity, and spiritualizing money beyond "abundance."

In the last installment of my esoteric christianity series, I talk with my sister, Laura Scappaticci, about my encounter with the works of Rudolf Steiner, why they matter now... and also how not to encounter them.

Gang of Youths frontman Dave Le'Aupepe.returns to the show to talk about wrestling with the angels of music and time.

I talk with wildlife biologist and the co-host of my favorite podcast, Tooth & Claw, about what happens when animals attack people, and why it makes for such a good story. The second episode in my series of episodes on how science and scientific concepts intersect with our lives.

I do a deep dive on the work of scientist, psychoanalyst, Marxist, and criminal, Wilhelm Reich... both on my own and with Dr. James Strick. It's a whole episode examining Reich's theories and experiments, as part of my series of episodes on how science intersects with our daily lives!

In the second episode in my esoteric and occult christianity series, I talk with writer and spiritual teacher Lisa Romero; and she offers a potent spiritual exercise.

I talk about the radical proposition of reincarnation.

This is the first in a series of episodes on How To Live in 2025, focusing on the thoughts, feelings, and actions we need to thrive, develop,  create, and resist. At the end of each of these episodes, I’ll offer an exercise - a thought exercise, spiritual exercise, or practical exercise - that brings an experiential dimension to what I and the shows guests talk about. That way, you won’t only be participating by listening, but you can actually bring some of the vitality of the conversation forward.

The theme and action of this episode is ENVISION.
And my guest is ROB HOPKINS.

Rob is the author of From What Is to What If: Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want and the forthcoming Falling in Love with the Future. He's also the host of the excellent 100-episode podcast, From What If to What Next which features a different conversation with big thinkers on each episode. He's also a founder of the Transition Network, which works via multiple initiatives (planting trees, local food sufficiency, alternate modes of transport, mental health support, and more) to usher towns and communities out of their entanglement with cultural, political and economic death, and into thriving and healthy sufficiency.

Writer/artist/activist Una Mullally returns to AEWCH to talk utopia, folkloric animals, and the radical changes ahead.

I talk about all things gay and queer with the hosts of the Bad Gays podcast and author of Bad Gays: A Homosexual History, Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller!

Mark O'Connell and Peter Rollins talk with me about immortality and God + Sara Gran & Una Mullally talk with me about art and integrity on part two my 3 part series celebrating 200 episodes of AEWCH!

Listener favorite Peter Rollins and I talk about 6 pivotal moments in our own spiritual development, and what they might mean from the other's perspective!

I talk about developing a spiritual anchor in the face of material goals and political chaos with T.K. Coleman of The Minimalists!

I talk timeline jumping, freedom, love, individuated spirituality, and more with energy mechanics worker Pilar Lesko.

I talk with journalist, activist, and artist Una Mullally about what happens after collapse and how we can learn to draw strength from the destruction of who we once were.

I talk about horror, fiction, and transhumanism with Catilin Doughty and Mark O'Connell live in Dublin + Offer a contemplation on the podcast and the value of novels (including Hawk Mountain!)

I talk with authors/teachers/organizers DEAN SPADE (Mutual Aid) & SHULI BRANSON (Practical Anarchism) about how to get out of the mindset of the state as the election approaches, and how to think about creative and real engagement with the political instead.

Michaelmas is the esoteric christian celebration of the Archangel Michael. How can connecting with the impulses of the holiday show us how to co-share their burden of those who are suffering; strengthen love through our will; and leave the path of empowering violence?

I talk with journalist, artist, and activist Una Mullally about how catastrophizing helps keep things on the wrong track, and how to face four challenges of our time - fascism, climate change, AI, and the groomer moral panic - with new ways of thinking/feeling/acting. This is a transformative conversation!

I talk with bestselling horror author Paul Tremblay about why horror moves and repels us.

I talk with organizer and activist Dean Spade about spirituality in organizing on the fifth installment of my How To Live in 2022 series!

Why is white magic so ill-defined? And why is it vital for our spirituality today AND if the occult is going to continue to matter? I begin this short series of episodes by looking at Saint Brendan the Navigator and how his seven-year voyage from Ireland to North America, as well as my encounters with him, can help us understand what white magic is.

I talk about the esoteric pathway of my hometown with powwow practitioner Robert Phoenix!

Mortician Caitlin Doughty talks with paranormal investigator John E.L. Tenney + therapist Chris Donaghue talks with religion critic and journalist Caelainn Hogan as I kick off my 3 part series celebrating 200 episodes of AEWCH 200!

I talk with poet Stephen Sexton about poetry, console games, and magic.

I talk with rapper and activist Vic Mensa about meditation, sexuality in hip hop, why identifying with a dream is as important as resistance, oh and that time Vic snuck into Stonehenge.

On this challenging episode, I talk with author and psychoanalyst Avgi Saketopoulou about how to reframe what trauma is, and how to think beyond consent.

I talk with Swedish journalist and author Marit Kapla about her chronicle of everyday life in Sweden.

This is the is the sixth and final episode in a series of episodes on How To Live in 2025, focusing on the thoughts, feelings, and actions we need to thrive, develop,  create, and resist. In other words, tools that don’t merely deaden us in the frantic pursuit of survival, but that assist us in nourishing ourselves, each other, and the world, all together.

This time, the theme is READ
and my guest is ALEXANDER CHEE.

At the end of this episode, the exercise is a little different. First we do a reading for you, the listener, in the world and its anxieties and challeneges. We consider what they are, how to approach them, and how not to approach them. Then, Alex and I do a reading for what you could be reading... We draw a tarot card and let it give book recommendations.

Alex the author of three books, most recently his essay collection How To Write An Autobiographical Novel, and also two novels, Edinburgh and The Queen of the Night.

In the second episode in a series on occult & esoteric christianity, I talk with Rev. Patrick Kennedy - cohost of The Light In Every Thing podcast and Christian Community priest - about how esoteric christianity and religion meet.

Author Sara Gran joins me again to discuss occultism, obscurity, and the unknown in fiction.

In the fourth of my episodes on horror, I talk with new horror star CJ Leede (Maeve Fly) and seasoned master Paul Tremblay (The Cabin at the End of the World, The Beast You Are) about the burdens and pleasures of writing such dark material.

I talk with occult and paranormal scholar Terje Simonsen about the uses and misuses of the paranormal.

In the first episode in a series of episodes about how scientific concepts intersect with our lives in surprising ways, I talk with author of In Light Years There's No Hurry, Marjolijn van Heemstra about the way that conceptualizing space differently can heal and transform us in the face of the challenges that confront us today.

The conclusion of my 3 part series celebrating 200 episodes of AEWCH, featuring mystic podcaster Duncan Trussell in conversation with occult teacher Lisa Romero on Spirit, and new age scholar Mitch Horowitz in conversation with anarchist organizer Dean Spade on hope.

I talk with philosopher and activist Srećko Horvat about why we need to liberate time & space if we want to avoid the destruction of everything we love. So, yeah, we should probably get on that.

I talk with philosopher and writer Zena Hitz about the importance of learning for its own sake in this third episode in a series on How To Live,

On Thursday, March 28, myself and journalist & organizer UNA MULLALLY, presented the event THE BEGINNING IS NEAR in Dublin, where we talked about the end of the world and what comes after that. It marked in person with frequent AEWCH guests, philosopher and activist SREĆKO HORVAT, and cultural critic and writer MARK O'CONNELL.
The event marked Srećko's first speaking engagement in Ireland, and also my first attempt at creating an "AEWCH event" in Ireland. I'd love to do many more.

The night was broken into halves: first, we talked about apocalypse. Then we had a short break and spoke about renewal. What arose was a challenging set of indications and prospects, failures and pathways.

Some questions that came up:

• Is the apocalypse always happening?

• What does the esoteric tell us about how to live beyond apocalypse?

• What is the role of art in renewal?

• Why is it important to evade the political realm?

• What is the use of hope?

Enjoy the episode!

On the last episode of 2022, I talk with meditation teacher and listener favorite, Michael Lipson (prev. on AEWCH 139) about: meeting strangers • on being afraid of spiritual reality • jouissance • keeping individuality while meeting the other • longing for connection • what happens when out desires conflict with our ethics • needs vs wants • the spiritual being with a TV for a head • magic and the Moon • why every life matters even though we reincarnate • the three loaves of bread as an occult secret • Simone Weil and affliction •

In this second episode on a series on horror, I talk with masters of the genre Sara Gran (Come Closer, The Book of the Most Precious Substance) and Nathan Ballingrud (North American Lake Monsters, The Strange) about creating forceful and frightening art, the fear of not knowing the truth (and the fear of investigating), why horror films scare us in a different way than horror novels/stories, and more.

Why is white magic so ill-defined? And why is it vital for our spirituality today AND if the occult is going to continue to matter? This is the second episode in a two part series on white magic, and on this one, I strive towards a definition by giving seven points.

I talk esoteric christianity and friendship with historian Anne Weise, whose book on Holocaust victim Alfred Bergel - and his friendship with anthroposophist Karl König - is both deeply poignant and utterly relevant. This is the fourth episode in my series about esoteric christianity.

After a short break, we're back - and AEWCH 228 guest SHULI BRANSON returns to discuss anarchism, spirituality, and peace. This is a special crossposted episode with Shuli's excellent new podcast, The Breakup Theory!

I invite my favorite Norwegian occultist acupuncturist veterinarian, Are Thoresen, back on the show to encounter materialism and see where it falls short. Time, space, physics, animal communication, healing... nothing is off the table in this episode.

I talk with psychotherapist Charlotte Fox Weber (author of What We Want: A Journey through Twelve of Our Deepest Desires) about why therapy matters, and about what our desires/fantasies can and can't give us.

I talk with Memorial author Bryan Washington about process, identity curation, and intensity in fiction. Plus: My US book tour dates!