Counterflow with Buck Johnson

This week, I welcome back Joe Allen to the show. Joe has a new book out called "Dark Aeon: Transhumanism and the War Against Humanity". This discussion dives into the dystopian future that we are facing with the rise of artificial intelligence and transhumanism. We get into the religious and spiritual lens that many AI proponents see AI through, their end goals, possible dangers we face, and then how to deal with it all. Follow Joe on Twitter here: Sponsors: Amy Mastrine's art:   The Podsworth App: Get 50% off your first order at when you use code BUCK50 at checkout! Visit my website:  Donate to the show here:  Audio Production by Podsworth Media: Leave us a review and rating on iTunes! Thanks!

My guest this week is Father John Whiteford. Fr. John is Archpriest and pastor at St. Jonah Orthodox Church in Spring, Texas. He is also the dean of the southern deanery (Texas and Louisiana) of the Diocese of Chicago and Mid-America ROCOR. Today, we are discussing some themes from a talk he gave at the Ludwig Orthodox Fellowship Inaugural Conference recently. It deals with his realization that once he became an Orthodox Christian, he could no longer support the neoconservative pro-war foreign policy philosophy. We get into the multiple wars that the US has participated in and the eradication of Christians in various parts of the world due to the actions of the US military. This leads us into a discussion on the Yankee mentality and the Southern mentality. The Puritanism of the Yankees has unfortunately won out when it comes to wars and democracy, and that has led to some very bad results. Fr. John feels as though Orthodox Christianity is suited for the agrarian southern heart and mind. We also get into a subject that Fr. John has written and spoken on many times over the decades, and that is Sola Scriptura. This is a wonderful discussion, and I think you'll learn a lot. For Fr. John's speech at the Ludwell Orthodox Fellowship, click here:   Here is Fr. John's blog: Sponsors: Amy Mastrine's art:   The Podsworth App: Get 50% off your first order at when you use code BUCK50 at checkout! Visit my website:  Donate to the show here:  Audio Production by Podsworth Media: Leave us a review and rating on iTunes! Thanks!

My guest this week is Jay Dyer. Jay runs one of the largest podcasts in our space as well as being the author of "Esoteric Hollywood" volumes one and two. He is known for his deep analysis of Hollywood, geopolitics, and culture. His graduate work focused on psychological warfare and film. In this episode, Jay and I get into the non-organic, controlled-from-the-top nature of the 1960's "counterculture" that so many people still think was a grassroots freedom expression. Jay discusses the multiple figures that had CIA ties, military intelligence ties, elite global ties, and so on. From Hollywood to LSD to the music business and from Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles to the Haight Ashbury scene in San Francisco, much of the movement was steered from the top. For more of Jay's excellent content, go here:   Sponsors: Amy Mastrine's art:   The Podsworth App: Get 50% off your first order at when you use code BUCK50 at checkout! Visit my website:  Donate to the show here:  Audio Production by Podsworth Media: Leave us a review and rating on iTunes! Thanks!

My guest this week is one half of the Mystic Sisters Podcast and Substack: she is Amy Mastrine. Amy is an Orthodox Christian and an artist and iconographer. Amy's journey through far-left politics and feminism left her not only spiritually sick, but she became physically and mentally ill as well from her empty political ideology. At times, she couldn't even speak because, instinctually, she knew her ideas were wrong. She went through multiple secular therapists, all of whom weren't prepared to give her the help she really needed. After a journey through atheism, Catholicism, and multiple other churches, Amy found Christ through the Orthodox Church, and her healing began. Her art showed in this transformation as she began to work on icons of Christ, Mary, and the Saints. Amy's story is gripping, and she's open and honest about her pain. For more on Amy and her paintings, go here:   Sponsors: Amy Mastrine's art:   Expat Money Summit:   The Podsworth App: Get 50% off your first order at when you use code BUCK50 at checkout! Visit my website:  Donate to the show here:  Audio Production by Podsworth Media: Leave us a review and rating on iTunes! Thanks!

My guest this week is someone I've wanted to interview for quite a while. He is the proprietor over at The Symbolic World, none other than Jonathan Pageau himself. Jonathan is a French-Canadian icon carver, public speaker, and YouTuber exploring the symbolic patterns that underlie our experience of the world, how these patterns emerge and come together, manifesting in religion, art, and popular culture. He's also the editor of the Orthodox Arts Journal and host of the Symbolic World blog and podcast. In this episode, we discuss the dark issues with AI and where the world is headed in that regard. We discuss how it works as far as "agency" goes, the demonic aspects of it, as well as what not to necessarily worry about. I get into art, beauty, Jordan Peterson, symbolism, and more. This episode is not to be missed! For more on Jonathan and his work, go here:   Sponsors: Amy Mastrine's art:   Expat Money Summit:   The Podsworth App: Get 50% off your first order at when you use code BUCK50 at checkout! Visit my website:  Donate to the show here:  Audio Production by Podsworth Media: Leave us a review and rating on iTunes! Thanks!

My guest this week is back for his second appearance. He is "Nicholas", a writer over at Orthodox Reflections. Nicholas wrote a very good piece titled, "There is No Free Market or Democracy in America", and he's here to dive into the points he makes in it. Largely, we discuss the three mega-companies that own much of what we know as corporate and governmental America. They are State Street, BlackRock, and Vanguard. The 401(k)s and pensions of millions and millions of ordinary Americans are the key to untold power and influence. The big three asset management firms own almost the entire corporate sector and an increasingly large chunk of the residential real estate market as well. How does it change things when the same management firms own everyone and their competitors? We discuss all this and more. Here's the piece we discuss: Sponsors: Amy Mastrine's art:   Expat Money Summit:   The Podsworth App: Get 50% off your first order at when you use code BUCK50 at checkout! Visit my website:  Donate to the show here:  Audio Production by Podsworth Media: Leave us a review and rating on iTunes! Thanks!

This week, we do some things a bit differently! I was a guest on a show published by Ancient Faith Radio called "Everyday Orthodox" hosted by Elissa Bjeletich Davis. I explained my life, almost from the very beginning! We go through my family life, childhood, teenage years, and, of course, my political and spiritual journey. I rarely publish my own story on this show because I like to feature other people, much smarter than me. But I wanted to do some cross-promotion with Everyday Orthodox, and I thought this interview was a very enjoyable one. Let me know what you think! For more information on Everyday Orthodox, go here:   ...or here:  Sponsors: Expat Money Summit:   The Podsworth App: Get 50% off your first order at when you use code BUCK50 at checkout! Visit my website:  Donate to the show here:  Audio Production by Podsworth Media: Leave us a review and rating on iTunes! Thanks!

Auron MacIntyre is back on the show this week, and we are discussing the brilliant ability of the progressive left to set the narrative in the way that makes them appear to be virtuous and good. We get into some of these narratives like, "climate change" and "being against book-banning". The right constantly is put in a mode to simply react to these and try to catch up to the left while not being in the driver's seat. Now, they can simply say that being against their draconian false ways to help the environment, you are simply against conserving the planet. How do we get in front of this phenomenon without just being reactionary and falling into the back-and-forth pendulum swing within the left v. right paradigm? We get into all of this and more in the episode of the Counterflow podcast. To find more of Auron's work, go here:   ...and here:   Sponsors: Expat Money Summit:   The Podsworth App: Get 50% off your first order at when you use code BUCK50 at checkout! Visit my website:  Donate to the show here:  Audio Production by Podsworth Media: Leave us a review and rating on iTunes! Thanks!

This week, our friend Cyprian, a.k.a. Vin Armani, is back on the show. We get into a very sensitive topic, and it's something that has been popping up a lot lately. In what is broadly called the "manosphere", there are a lot of men that pretend to be all for "traditional values" for men and women. The problem is that when they veil their hatred of women with a sort of fake "tradition" narrative, things easily start to become obvious when wealthy AI creators start to push AI sexbots into the market. Many of these men (often single, bitter, and lonely) have openly admitted to preferring an AI Onlyfans bot over a real female in real life. Many of them have a cartoonish version of dating and marriage in their head, and when real humans don't meet that narrative, these men become lonely and angry. This is ripe for AI creators to take advantage of, and it appears to be working. This is a very good discussion, and I think, while it will ruffle some feathers, many will get a lot out of it. To find the Royal Path, go here:   Sponsors: Expat Money Summit:   The Podsworth App: Get 50% off your first order at when you use code BUCK50 at checkout! Visit my website:  Donate to the show here:  Audio Production by Podsworth Media: Leave us a review and rating on iTunes! Thanks!

Julie Mastrine is back on the show today for her 5th appearance. Julie is one half of the Mystic Sisters podcast, and she is the director of media bias at Allsides.com. Today we are breaking down several examples of media bias and propaganda and the code words and methods that media outlets use to propagandize their readers and viewers. I thought I was good at doing this, but Julie is like a Jedi Master at this. This was really fun and very enlightening, and I think you'll find it to be just that and more. To learn more about what Julie does, go to   To watch her and her twin sister, Amy on their show, go here:   Here is the Substack for Julie and Amy, the Mystic Sisters:   Sponsors: Expat Money Summit:   The Podsworth App: Get 50% off your first order at when you use code BUCK50 at checkout! Visit my website:  Donate to the show here:  Audio Production by Podsworth Media: Leave us a review and rating on iTunes! Thanks!

This week, my guest is Tho Bishop. Tho is Editorial and Content Manager for the Mises Institute. In this episode, we discuss the current political environment with the presidential contenders as well as all of the legal issues surrounding Donald Trump. What are the chances that Trump recruits RFK Jr. to be his VP nominee? Who will replace Joe Biden as the Democratic choice for president? One option could spell danger for the Republicans. For more from Tho Bishop, go here:   For the article we reference, go here:   Sponsors: Expat Money Summit:   The Podsworth App: Get 50% off your first order at when you use code BUCK50 at checkout! Visit my website:  Donate to the show here:  Audio Production by Podsworth Media: Leave us a review and rating on iTunes! Thanks!

My guest this week is Nicholas from the Orthodox Reflections site. Orthodox Reflections is a collaborative effort by committed Orthodox Christians to provide thoughtful analysis of the Orthodox Christian faith's interaction with American culture. They featured an article entitled, "3 Harmful Myths Most Christians Believe About Judaism" which I found to be enlightening and very well done, and this is the topic Nicholas is here to chat about. As someone who spent my teenage years attending a Christian, nondenominational, Zionist church, I was not only familiar with these myths that we discuss, but for many years, I took them to be factual. Nicholas is humble, well spoken, and very well informed on this topic, and I think you'll get a lot out of this episode. This is the article that we are discussing:   Please consider going to to check out a great way to support lower income Orthodox parishes and priests! Sponsors: Expat Money Summit:   The Podsworth App: Get 50% off your first order at when you use code BUCK50 at checkout! Visit my website:  Donate to the show here:  Audio Production by Podsworth Media: Leave us a review and rating on iTunes! Thanks!

This week, Michael Witcoff, a.k.a. Brother Augustine, is back with us on the show. Michael has written a new book called, "Fascism Viewed from the Cross". In this book and this discussion, Michael gets into how the Jewish people were viewed by the early Saints, Church Fathers, and Orthodox Monarchs. He also then walks us through how various fascist leaders viewed the Church and religion in general. We get into the way the Orthodox Church views not only the State in general but also which government is the best government. This discussion shows that it can be very tempting to fall off of the Royal Path in either direction, and what the Church calls for is for us to repent and get back onto the Royal Path. Sponsor: The Podsworth App: Get 50% off your first order at when you use code BUCK50 at checkout! Visit my website:  Donate to the show here:  Audio Production by Podsworth Media: Leave us a review and rating on iTunes! Thanks!

This week, I have Father John Strickland on the show. Fr. John serves as priest at St. Elizabeth Orthodox Church in Poulsbo, Washington. He is the author of "The Making of Holy Russia" and the four-part book series called "Paradise and Utopia: The Rise and Fall of What the West Once Was". We are discussing the broad themes of his book series as well as focusing on the fourth book, "The Age of Nihilism: Christendom from the Great War to the Culture Wars". Much like St. Seraphim Rose before him, Fr. John links many of the issues that the West has experienced and continues to experience to the Great Schism of 1054, or as he calls it, the Great Division. He takes us back to Christendom and up through the culture wars of modern-day America, as viewed through the Orthodox lens. This is a wonderful book series, and I think you'll enjoy this interview thoroughly. For more information on Fr. John, his books, his podcast, and his blog, go here:   Sponsor: The Podsworth App: Get 50% off your first order at when you use code BUCK50 at checkout! Visit my website:  Donate to the show here:  Audio Production by Podsworth Media: Leave us a review and rating on iTunes! Thanks!

Today, two of my friends are back with us: Matt Erickson from the Kingpilled Podcast and Adam Patrick from The Age of Information Podcast. We cover the topic of re-orienting oneself towards Truth once new information has been made evident to us. As Adam puts it, centuries ago, people truly were at a disadvantage because of the lack of access to information. However, today, we have so much of the entire history of the world at our fingertips. We have all been in a quest for cohesion and true epistemic sense-making, and we discuss parts of that journey and where we've ended up. I think many of you will find this discussion quite relatable and hopefully also enjoyable. For more information on Matt Erickson, check out the Kingpilled Podcast here:   For more from Adam Patrick, check out the Age of Information here:   For more info on the event with Father Sergius, go here: Sponsor: The Podsworth App: Get 50% off your first order at when you use code BUCK50 at checkout! Visit my website:  Donate to the show here:  Audio Production by Podsworth Media: Leave us a review and rating on iTunes! Thanks!

My guest this week is Fr. Deacon Ananias Sorem, PhD. He is CEO, Founder, and President of Patristic Faith. Fr. Deacon is an Orthodox apologist and teaches Philosophy at Fullerton College and Carroll College. He is the author of several articles and peer-reviewed papers, including: "Searle, Materialism, and the Mind-Body Problem", "Gnostic Scientism and Technocratic Totalitarianism", "An Orthodox Approach to the Dangers of Modernity and Technology", and "An Orthodox Theory of Knowledge: The Epistemological and Apologetic Methods of the Church Fathers". He is also known for his YouTube channel, the Norwegian Nous, where he provides content on theology, apologetics, logic, and philosophy. In this episode, we discuss the scientism that really became the main cultural "religion" being pushed over 2020 and 2021. The cult-like tactics being used harken back to Gnosticism, and Fr. Deacon details where this came from and how we can avoid the snares of scientism. Go check out his page and the great organization Patristic Faith here:   To buy "Let No One Fear Death", please go here: Sponsor: The Podsworth App: Get 50% off your first order at when you use code BUCK50 at checkout! Visit my website:  Donate to the show here:  Audio Production by Podsworth Media: Leave us a review and rating on iTunes! Thanks!

My guest this week writes for several publications, runs the Singularity Weekly substack, and is the tech editor on War Room with Steve Bannon. Joe Allen is here to discuss all things transhumanism, the singularity, technology, and AI. What makes AI evil, if it even is? What is the idea of transhumanism based on? Is there a spiritual nature to all of this, or is it just ones and zeroes the way the pro-abortion crowd believes we are just clumps of cells? We take a deep dive into all of this and more on this episode of the Counterflow Podcast. For more from Joe Allen, go here:   Sponsor: The Podsworth App: Get 50% off your first order at when you use code BUCK50 at checkout! Visit my website:  Donate to the show here:  Audio Production by Podsworth Media: Leave us a review and rating on iTunes! Thanks!

Dr. Clark Carlton is the author of many books, including one of my favorites, "The Life: The Orthodox Doctrine of Salvation". We discuss many of the themes in this book, including theosis, faith vs. works, once saved - always saved, heaven, hell, sin, differences in the Church and the various denominations, and more. Clark Carlton was reared as a Southern Baptist in middle Tennessee. He was enrolled as a Raymond Brian Brown Memorial Scholar at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, when he converted to the Orthodox Church. If you are unsure of what the Orthodox view is on any of the issues listed here, this is the episode for you. For more on Dr. Carlton, go here:   Find his books on Amazon! Sponsor: The Podsworth App: Get 50% off your first order at when you use code BUCK50 at checkout! Visit my website:  Donate to the show here:  Audio Production by Podsworth Media: Leave us a review and rating on iTunes! Thanks!

My guest today is the host of the Part of the Problem podcast and also a well-known standup comedian. He has the largest audience of any podcaster in the libertarian world and has been on the Joe Rogan Experience many times. Today we discuss his ability to see the Trump phenomenon for what it was when many in the libertarian world couldn't. We also discuss the Covid years and how he was able to see through the massive amounts of propaganda being shoved down our throats. We also get into Dave now seeing much of what is going on these days as a spiritual battle rather than just a political battle. Dave gives a very honest account of when he found God and how impactful that moment was to him. For more about Dave Smith, go here:   Sponsor: The Podsworth App: Get 50% off your first order at when you use code BUCK50 at checkout! Visit my website:  Donate to the show here:  Audio Production by Podsworth Media: Leave us a review and rating on iTunes! Thanks!

First of all, Julie Mastrine is back with us as my co-host, and we are interviewing Father Vincent Lampert. Vincent Lampert is an American Catholic priest and the designated exorcist of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis. As you may imagine, he's seen a lot of things that most of us haven't. We dive into his experiences as an exorcist and what that looks like, what it means, what it doesn't mean, and so on. Are demons real? Is possession real? Does it look like it does in the movies? Why does possession happen? Can we open ourselves up to it, even by accident? Is this just a way to deal with a person that needs psychological help? You will hear all of these issues and more discussed on this episode of the Counterflow Podcast. Sponsor: The Podsworth App: Get 50% off your first order at when you use code BUCK50 at checkout! Visit my website:  Donate to the show here:  Audio Production by Podsworth Media: Leave us a review and rating on iTunes! Thanks!