So here’s a fun coincidence. On Tuesday I published “The 10 Biggest Mistakes People Make When They Start Smoking Weed” and on Thursday Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced that marijuana was now being reclassified from Schedule I to Schedule III. This is something that should have happened a long time ago to correct a mistake that never should have happened at all.

So, sure, kudos to President Donald John Trump for doing what so many failed to do. Of course, not that it requires any political consequences now and he’s just following the popular position. I predicted he would do this. There is no courage in the action, but we’ll take it nonetheless.

While the reclassifying will do many things, particularly aiding in research, a big part of it too will be that it should ultimately lower weed costs by allowing dispensaries and growers to integrate in further with the traditional financial services. Decreases in costs from that will make their way to the consumer. The closer weed gets to legalization the cheaper it will become. One analyst I read years ago said then when marijuana reaches full legality then its price could drop to as low as oregano. (That’s $2-$10/oz compared to weed’s price now where an oz will usually cost you $150-350, though I’m happy to report that my beloved Horchata at Red Falcon comes in at $120/oz.)

We should note that this decision pairs with Trump’s April 18 executive order pushing for further research into psychedelic drugs. Trump said “can I have some, please? I’ll take some” and “I don’t have time to be depressed. You know, if you stay busy enough, maybe that works, too. That’s what I do.”

Something odd that I noted while pondering the implications of this executive order and what it symbolized politically: I just don’t really care that much anymore.

For years now I’ve advocated for this, the further mainstreaming of psychedelic drugs in medicine.

I knew that the various substances had helped me so I certainly urged others suffering from various issues to explore the research and consider the potential directions.

Now, though, I’ve largely lost interest and I thought I’d unpack why. Consider this a sequel of sorts to the article earlier this week on weed. I’m going to similarly play the role of Buzzkillington.

Yes, I do still support legalization of the so-called “classic psychedelics” — LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, and DMT — and see it as a net positive for the medical applications of these substances to be researched and explored.

However, I no longer feel much of a sense of urgency anymore on pushing for either of these.

A lot of people aren’t going to want to hear this, but on the use of psychedelics as medicine, in the form of therapies to treat problems like PTSD, addiction, and depression, I’ve grown more skeptical they will be as game-changer as people hope.

Here are some of the reasons why, based on my own experiences over the last five years:

1. While the traditional psychedelic substances can be used as medicine and in treatments, they’re not really permanent solutions.

When people began talking about psychedelic therapy a number of years ago it was presented as though having one strong trip or a series of trips could cure one’s ailments permanently. In my experience, that’s not really the case. The effects of sessions do wear off over time and one ultimately needs repeat experiences.

Likewise, if one is going to microdose on a substance, that is simply going to need to be a continuous practice and figuring out the right levels will be a challenge. You’re on your own here, you’re your own doctor and pharmacist.

Can both heavy and micro-dosing be helpful? Yes. And it’s worthwhile for the scientists and individuals to continue to explore them, however there are a few reasons to pause, foremost is this:

2. These experiences work to reduce symptoms in PTSD because they are forms of “exposure therapy.” Meaning, for them to be effective they need to be unpleasant.

In exposure therapy, the patient is taught to overcome their trauma through controlled exposure to fear. The psychedelic experience is much the same thing, sometimes pleasant but oftentimes not — the body is going through a controlled experience that models death and rebirth over the course of a few hours.

It can be frightening, but you know going through it that this is how it’s supposed to go, and that soon it will pass. This is an experience like an amusement park ride and soon it will end.

If you are using psychedelics to treat your condition, how often, exactly do you you want to spend a few hours going through what could be something very unpleasant? Twice a month? Monthly? People I knew would generally talk about a few times a year doing the job to keep their trauma in check. But it’s hard to say since we have so little science, there are so many substances, and such a range of conditions to treat.

There’s this stereotype of psychedelics as always this fun time. And they often are. But at the therapeutic levels and at the levels for a serious experience, they very much often are not. And that’s a feature not a bug.

If that course of treatment is the only path available, then very well. Many people need to endure very hard treatment regiments. However, I think there’s a better way.

3. The real crux of it: Almost a year and a half later, my accidental, self-administered spiritual cure for my PTSD continues to hold.

I did not need psychedelics to “cure” my condition and now believe neither do others.

The most important essay that I have ever published on Substack, maybe most important ever so far in my life, is this one right here, which explains the ceremonial magick rituals I did which resulted in a self-exorcism that has caused a complete remission of my PTSD symptoms:

I’ll just excerpt the conclusion because it still holds:

Could it really be that so-called “mental illness” is just a modern misunderstanding of what the ancients accurately understood as demonic possession? Could ostensibly irrational, emotional behavior actually be caused by some strange, dark entity attaching itself to one’s soul like a tick on a deer or a barnacle on a ship?

If you ask me, the answers are yes and yes. I think that, when we go through traumatic events, they open up our consciousness to darker forces to work their way inside to feast on us.

Now, I’m not going to try and persuade anyone that this is really how it works. The existence of supernatural forces is, by definition, not something that science and rationality can prove. Science can only assess the natural world.

But I will say this, and I’ll say it directly to people who may be struggling right now with PTSD or some other “mental illness” which psychology and psychiatry have failed to improve:

Go pick up a book like The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic. Read its instructions on how to create your “magickal weapons.” Discover the symbolism of the Tree of Life, then pick up a tarot deck and go see what you can do to heal yourself with the Power of the God of Israel.

4. As a result of my experiments and research, I now very much regard PTSD and many other mental health problems as primarily spiritual in nature rather than psychological or physical.

Now, let’s be clear: I’m not at all saying that people should stop seeing their therapist and quit their psychiatric drugs. I still see a great therapist regularly and have finally found a psychiatrist I trust who does a good job listening to me and helping me find the right medications to help me.

However, both of them are just bandaids. The psychiatric medications help reduce nightmares and aid slightly in mood stabilization maybe. They are minor pieces in the puzzle but admittedly help. An hour of talk therapy a few times a month or weekly when things are at their worst will help, but it’s the mental health equivalent to the brain what an hour with a personal trainer at the gym is to the body. Yes, it helps, but no, it’s not a core component.

What does go to the root?

God.

The spiritual realm inhabited by his hidden creations. And there are many ways to get there apart from psychedelics.

And so, nowadays, I am more interested in these methods instead:

5. The Lumenate meditations I’ve done daily the last few months are better than psychedelic experiences.

I’m going to save talking about the Lumenate for its own standalone article, which I’ve been meaning to write for a while now.

How it works is you close your eyes and then the lights in the mask flicker against them in patterns synched with the music or guided meditation in the headphones. You can set sessions to go from as short as 5 minutes through as long as half an hour. Some are designed to be calming starts to the day, others provide energy and euphoria for a mid-day boost, while a whole category is dedicated to helping you fall asleep. You can use your own music or audioooks too. I’ve fallen asleep to it with Finnegans Wake going. You can try it without the mask too — download the app and it will use the flashlight on your phone. It’s not as good as the mask but it gives you an idea if it’s an approach you’d like to try.

I’m using it 3-4 times a day now and it’s been central in treating the anxiety I wrote about being diagnosed with after an emergency room trip in December:

The $130 for the mask and $80 for a yearly subscription to their app and its growing list of meditation programs is some of the best money I’ve ever spent to improve my health.

This is actually not at all the first time that I’ve experimented with this light-based form of meditation. For more than 20 years now I’ve made dreamachines every few years. One takes a 78 RPM turntable, sticks a handcut shade on top, and lowers a lightbulb down the middle. They’re a bit of a hassle to make and to set up but when you get it just right they can be wonderful:

But the Lumenate is way better. It’s relaxing, it’s exciting, and it’s art. Having your eyes closed and taking in the flashing light is more beautiful than a Michelangelo and more entertaining than a Scorsese. The synching of the light with the music is incredible.

And I’ve used it in conjunction with a particularly ancient tool that I’ll also unpack soon in its own article:

6. I’ve been discovering the ancient power of incense: there is a reason Frankincense and Myrrh appears in the Bible so much.

Back in February, I began to receive a recurring message during my meditations.

I wrote it in my journal on February 7:

“walk the way of the snake”

“ride the snake”

At first this last bit seemed to recall the Doors’ lyrics from “The End”:

This “ride the snake” message occurred again on February 17 during a Lumenate session and then on February 21 it came in more specifically:

“Ride the Snake to the Land of Punt!”

What the hell did this mean? What did a snake have to do with the Land of Punt, which was a trading partner with ancient Egypt, believed to reside in the Horn of Africa?

The next few weeks I started researching until I came to something: what was so unique and valuable about Punt?

They were — and remain — the world’s key source of frankincense and myrrh, the two commodities in antiquity which were the equivalent of oil today.

I figured this out on March 4 and wrote it down: “‘Ride the snake to the land of Punt’ means use frankincense and myrrh incense and breathe deeply and alter consciousness.”

So then on March 6, I ordered my first box of it and have since restocked twice. I’m now burning it regularly through the day and have started to project light and lasers up through the smoke to illuminate it so it becomes a visual meditation too.

Forms of this incense were used by the ancient Egyptians, the Israelites, and then it was adopted by the Catholic church.

Now, one can say that the incense purely acts at a physiological level, that the smell changes the chemicals in one’s brain. That’s true, but I’ve found it goes further: that the smoke seems to repel “dark spirits.” It creates a shield keeping them from striking.

Again, I’ll unpack this more in its own standalone article. However, I’ll just note this is not the only way to generate this effect against the demons, I’ve also grown more interested in:

7. I am continuing to explore religious rituals across traditions: Christian, Jewish, Muslim ancient Egyptian, Hindu, African, East Asian—all are tool kits all should explore.

Last year I wrote a follow-up to my PTSD essay, explaining that I had come to rely on a variety of different spiritual tools to repel the presence of dark spirits:

Last month I wrote about how invoking angels, including by now adding my middle name to my byline, was now a regular and effective practice:

Just as the big ritual that I had done for hours worked to clear out the dark entities clinging to me, these smaller rituals work to do so in a more limited degree. These rituals endure because they work. It’s embarrassing at times. I always hope when I’m tracing a circle around my whole apartment with a staff as I’m chanting divine names that neighbors don’t come and see how weird I am.

8. A Shift in diet not just for health but for spirit.

This year I have made some major changes to my diet to reduce anxiety:

• I gave up caffeine and switched from coffee in the morning to herbal tea.

• I wasn’t drinking much alcohol anyway, but I’ve given that up and started exploring the world of non-alcoholic beer, growing rather enthusiastic about it.

• I’ve heavily cut back on refined sugar, limiting myself to the occasional waffles for breakfast and Klondike bars in the evening. No more sodas and much less candy

• I am now learning how to cook through courses on BBC Maestro taught by Marco Pierre White. I’ve already made the first dish in his “Delicious Food Cooked Simply” course twice and bought the ingredients to make the second. I’m going to start his “Delicious Vegetarian Cooking” course too and also Vineet Bhatia’s “Modern Indian Cooking.” I’ve hated eating for about 17 years now as a result of bad experiences with the wrong medication that I was previously prescribed. White’s course is helping me learn to enjoy food again. I’ll write about how in upcoming pieces. Those following me on Notes may get to see some of my creations periodically.

Now, I don’t want to give anyone the impression that I’m saying that meditation, incense, religious rituals, and diet are replacements for a psychedelic experience or can do the same thing.

What I’m saying is that, in my experience, those four practices are going to be more key to healing PTSD, addiction, depression, or any number of mental health struggles be they major or minor.

The psychedelic experience still has its value and its place, even if it is not necessarily the medical panacea yet that we’ve hoped. What it seems to remain as is primarily a spiritual, mystical, and, yes, supernatual experience rather than a medical one, as such, this is a key point to emphasize:

9. The outlaw aspect of the psychedelic experience is part of it. And the illegality does reflect the power of the substances.

This is the simple reality: if psychedelics become legalized then they do need to be regulated at a level comparable to alcohol and marijuana. They can be dangerous. And that aspect of it is part of the experience. The whole thing is supposed to be scary. That’s part of it. And you don’t get that aspect of it when you’re in a therapist’s cozy office. You do when you’re in a teepee out in the desert at midnight on Halloween night and you can hear the coyotes howling.

So while, yes, on a philosophical and moral level, these substances need to be legalized. However, something gained, something lost. There’s always a line in which something becomes so safe in which the experience of doing it becomes hopelessly lost. The danger is a rite of passage. The risk shows the seriousness.

10. Further also fueling my disinterest: there are very serious differences between psychedelic experiences from naturally occurring plants versus those with manmade compounds.

Based on my experiences and readings, I’m ultimately not very interested in psychedelics synthesized in labs. Just as I wrote about in the previous article how naturally grown and naturally treated marijuana was notably superior to artifically treated varieties, the same rings true of psychedelic experiences too. While I’m not dissuading people from considering these treatments and experiences, I’m just reporting from my own experiences that a more natural, traditional experience seems to yield more effective results. While both are delicious, a real cherry tastes better and is better for you than a cherry skittle.

11. In the various years since I’ve started exploring this “psychedelic scene” and reading, I still have yet to find people, thinkers, and ideas that are all that compelling.

When I started exploring the topic of psychedlics more seriously starting in 2021, inspired by Michael Pollan’s How to Change Your Mind, years of taking in Robert Anton Wilson, and when opportunities arrived, I thought that in this new “psychedelic renaissance” that I would come across other compelling thinkers.

I expected to start finding writers, activists, and especially people here on Substack with interesting things to say about psychedelics. And that just hasn’t happened yet. I’m not saying such people certainly aren’t out there. I just expected to find them by now and that I haven’t is a red flag. Those who I have encountered have ultimately disappointed me.

Instead, who are the top champions of psychedelics today? Joe Rogan and the Trump administration. And for them it’s simply a “this is fun and we can make money selling it like beer” move. Don’t buy the whole “troops who fought in Iraq need this to treat their PTSD” emotional manipulation argument. That’s entirely true, but the fact it has had to be the argument for almost 20 years now has been depressing. Like the women who have experienced sexual violence aren’t just as deserving too? Why should soldiers get special treatment?

That’s just how middle America is, I suppose. Hippies sitting in their dorm rooms tripping on mushrooms is bad—lock ‘em up! But if they’re soldiers coming back from war and a doctor says so then it’s OK and let the taxpayer fund it. This is America. Whatever. The people like their bullshit served up hot and fresh.

12. Once you’ve had one particular experience, you don’t necessarily need to keep doing it. You learn the lessons that particular substances teach and then can move on.

When you buy a season pass to an amusement park, how many years do you usually do that in a row? How many times do you need to go on the same rides over and over again?

Now psychedelic experiences are not the same every time like going on the best amusement park ride in the world, Pirates of the Caribbean. The “set and setting” matters significantly, as does dosage, and certainly there are plenty of varieties which don’t all produce the same experience.

However, if you’re doing this seriously instead of just “for fun,” what is to be gained from repeating the experience over and over? Answer from one who has: not much. The spirits tell you what you need to know and there are other, easier ways to follow up if you need clarification.

13. Finally, take of this what you will, but one of the entities I channeled once during a “heroic dose” claimed the reason for psychedelics’ illegally was because of treaties made between demons and governments around the world.

Now, you’re more than welcome to dismiss this as just me joking, but I am again reporting to you accurately what happened during one instance of a “heroic dose” level experience which resulted in the channeling of an entity which identified itself as “Robert the Demon,” who claimed to be one of the fallen angels described in Genesis 6 and The Book of Enoch. (You have to take the really high doses to get this to happen.)

He spoke through me with what seemed like a Renaissance-style English accent and was very annoyed to have been drawn into a body again, something which had not happened to him in a number of centuries, or so he claimed. (We obviously can’t trust what any of these entities say. And there is a long tradition in myth and folklore of “trickster” spirits appearing in all sorts of shapes and lying to us for their own amusement.)

Speaking with Sally who was monitoring the experince, Robert proclaimed that I was “foolish” for doing this experience and that it was illegal for a reason, that his kind had made a treaty with governments to make it illegal. Apparently they don’t like being captured in bodies and channeled without their consent, which is what these drugs can do and the federal government totally knows about it.

I’m just joking. Or am I?

Regardless, perhaps you get the picture now.

Talking about how these substances can be used to treat the common cold of the mental health world does not seem quite as compelling as trying to grasp their capabilities for communicating with invisible intelligences operating at other planes of existence.

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Last month, in my satirical article “How I Persuaded Sam Altman to Shut Down Sora and Resign from OpenAI,” I opened by making some points meant entirely sincerely:

1. One cannot separate Paul McCartney’s billionaire-level musical success from his half a century of embracing the daily marijuana smoker lifestyle. The joy of his music since the 1960s has been fueled by weed, and fortune has followed.

2. I too attest to this lifestyle choice and affirm the creative energy that flows from it. I advocate this path for all: daily cannabis consumption. However, with a key caveat: at a responsible level.

In 2024, Carnegie Mellon University published research depicted in the chart above, finding that in 2022 the number of daily cannabis users in American (17.7 million) had now surpassed daily alcohol users (14.7 million). This is a 15x increase from 1992 when 900,000 Americans admitted daily weed use, compared to 8.9 million daily drinkers.

As one of these 17.7 million for about 16 years now, I’m very encouraged by these developments. I’ve been saying for years that this was eventually going to happen as legalization proceeded: more people would come to realize that weed beat alcohol in every way and offered a variety of benefits to all sorts of conditions. For me, in particular it’s been vital as a PTSD treatment and for countering the chronic nausea which has fueled years of what amounts to an eating disorder. I’ve struggled to enjoy eating for so long now.

Lots of people all over the world are on all sorts of of drugs and attempting therapies and treatments of all kinds attempting to deal with anxiety, stress, depression, and all manner of nebulous conditions. And so many could be aided by a mature and moderate cannabis habit. What does that look like?

It doesn’t look like what many people are now doing around America today where state governments have legalized cannabis. There are a variety of trends happening right now in the world of weed that are alarming to those of us who are “veterans” (I started after graduating high school in 2002) and “traditionalists” (those who still cling to weed’s 1960s hippie ethos sincerely.) I even used to work for a dispensary for a year — Pot on the Spot! — doing deliveries in Southern California to earn some extra cash. So I’ve seen this from the inside.

Over the years I’ve had to advise friends and acquaintances as they’ve started experimenting. And I’ve had to warn them about mistakes they were making.

Here’s a collection of many of the points I’ve had to tell people. Perhaps you will pick up the general trend that I’m advising…

1. They use vape cartidges instead of sticking with flower.

One of the biggest innovations we’ve seen in both tobacco and marijuana use this century is vaping.

The advantages are obvious: people are taking in water vapor instead of smoke while still gaining the effects of the drug.

Or are they?

I have always preferred smoking the traditional way, but I did spend much of the last decade exploring various THC vapping products and methods. And I don’t bother with any of them anymore.

The primary reason is because THC is not the only chemical in cannabis. When you’re smoking cannabis flower then there are other compounds in it which also impact the experience and temper the effects of the THC.

When vape products are made that extract just the THC then those other aspects of the experience get lost. It functionally becomes a different drug. It’s like drinking a shot of straight caffeine instead of a little bit in a whole cup of coffee.

And one of the problems with how this drug works is that it’s much easier and quicker to use than smoking cannabis. When you have a vape you can use it almost anywhere and quickly. Pull it out, suck on it for a moment, expel water vapor and feel better.

This ease of use means that people are going to consume more. When smoking weed conventionally, there are steps one has to take which slow down the amount one can consume. Each new bowl has to be packed manually, weed has to be ground periodically, the potential harshness of the smoke then too can limit how much you consume. And likewise, one cannot smoke anywhere and everywhere like one can with vaping.

So the seeming advantages which vaping provide ultimately end up being liabilities: the product one is consuming is not as good and one is more likely to consume too much of it.

2. They smoke joints instead of using a water pipe.

I have never been a fan of smoking joints. All these 24 years now of experience and it’s never been my preferred method of consumption. The reason is simple: when smoking a joint it is much harder to control how much THC you are taking into your body. Usually when a joint is lit, you or the group you’re with are going to smoke the entire joint. One can unlight a joint or put it back into a little container to stop the smoke, but this is never an ideal and is a rather annoying process where you’re always going to lose some. That’s the other aspect of joint smoking: the weed gets burned more quickly.

Also too, when smoking a joint, one has to deal with the smoke and the flame, both which can sometimes provide more anxiety than relief. The solution has always been the bong, or “water pipe” if we want to sound more sophisticated. Here you get filtration that mitigates the harshness of the smoke, while still allowing consumption of the entire flower.

And in going and purchasing a new bong periodically (they usually do not last that long) you can choose how to express yourself. At smoke shops they always have a variety of creative options and colors so you can find something that just makes you feel good to look at and hold. My most recent one that I bought just the other week to replace one that cracked features a green alien smoking a joint in a UFO.

3. They try and buy the weed with the highest levels of THC they can find.

Just as the popular methods of consuming weed have changed this century, so too the plant has radically transformed as inventive growers have developed new strains of cannabis that are monumentally more powerful than those in the past. Today there are strains with THC levels higher than 40%. A “normal” level today is generally between 18-24%.

Now, just for historical comparison: 1990s-era average weed was 3-4%, 2000 was 6-8%, the 2010s was 12-15%.

Here are a few realities to understand about these high THC-level strains:

First, taking in a whole lot of THC does not make you “more high.” Instead, what it will do is make you more paranoid. When people tell me they don’t like weed because it makes them paranoid, then I always respond the same way, “Oh, that’s not you, that happens to everyone when we overdose. Did I ever tell you about that time my ex-wife and I took too big of an edible at DisneyLand? Oh man, you don’t want to overdose on THC when you’re in Toontown!” April and I were really paranoid and worried for about a half hour but it eventually wore off and we could enjoy the rest of the day. Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me!

I usually prefer to emphasize how weed is different from alcohol, but on the question of overconsumption, this is probably something that most people can understand.

You know how when you’re going out to a bar with friends or having drinks at dinner there is this abstract line between buzzed and drunk, that you want to try and hit precisely? You want to get just the right amount of alcohol so that you’re having a good time but that you’ve still got enough of your wits about you and you’ll be able to drive home safely without breaking the law.

Weed is much the same way. You want to get that line just right, you want to nail just the right quantity, because a key piece of wisdom applies not just here but in all of life: the difference between medicine and poison is dosage.

Second, this is very weird, but true: the level of THC does not correlate with the “intensity” of the experience. If you want to “get more high” then actually the answer is often to smoke particular strains that have lower levels of THC.

The reason this happens is for the same reason mentioned in point 1: there are other chemicals in the weed than just THC and it is the interaction between them which generates the unique effects, causing one form of weed to feel so different than another.

I’ll give you the central example here. The strongest, most intense weed I’ve ever smoked is a strain called Super Boof.

Oh wow, does it ever give quite the quick of energy and euphoria. It’s so strong that I’ll only get it periodically, realizing after it’s gone that I’m ready for a break for something easier. When I looked it up I was shocked to find that Super Boof actually has less or equal THC than the more milder, calming weed that I’ve been focusing on this year, Horchata. So the same levels of THC can provoke totally different experiences.

4. They do not care about how their weed was grown or where they buy it.

When you are considering a dispensary to start buying from regularly there are two words that you want to look for: vertically integrated. Meaning, you want to buy from somewhere which grows its own product and does so in a way which creates a high quality, healthy product. This also eliminates the cost increase that a middle man selling weed to the dispensary would demand.

There’s a lot of cheap weed going around and who knows what chemicals have been sprayed on it over the course of its growth. And who knows how long it’s been sitting around or if it’s really what it’s labeled as.

Whether the weed is grown in a traditional way or a chemically-enhanced way will impact the quality of your experience, especially most often I’ve found in the nature of the smoke. The more natural the weed, the smoother it usually goes.

But I can’t really argue this point so much as just tell people to try it themselves. Do a compare/contrast of cheap stuff bought in any dispensary, versus traditionally grown, organic weed. The difference becomes very clear very quickly. Don’t take my word for it. “Do you own research.”

5. They fail to understand and engage in proper weed buying etiquette: your dealer or budtender is your friend, you make meaningful small talk when purchasing, and then tip generously.

One of the things that you may find when you first start buying weed is that the people you buy it from often are not in any particular rush. If your dealer arrives at your house to deliver, then chances are they may want to chat and catch up for 10-15 minutes before leaving. When going to the dispensary, these often turn into social occasions, the budtender at the counter and the “patient” making the purchase discussing their shared tastes and preferences or whatever happens to be on their minds that day.

The classic stoner comedy “Pineapple Express” parodies this trope a bit, this odd dividing line between being a friend and also being a customer and the ambiguities that ensue. This all seems to derive from weed’s place in hippie culture with its often anti-capitalist ethos. The weed dealer was not some salesman in a suit doing a transaction, they’re your buddy coming to hang and oh, here’s some weed, by the way.

These are the cultural traditions, so if you’re going to join in, I urge you to embrace them too. Be friendly with those who provide you with your weed, and tip generously. Nobody in the weed business is making a whole lot of money right now.

6. They fail to experiment with a variety of strains to see what best matches with them personally and what fits at certain times of day.

Over the years I’ve explained to my Dad how weed is like wine now. Growing up, he taught me about the different types of wine and how different grapes yield different results. Weed now has that sort of diversity too. The way that one might have a few dozen bottles of different vintages in their cellar, one can now hold onto a dozen types of marijuana products at once, to match with whateer the day demands.

The key distintion here in varieties is best understood as between Sativa strains and Indicas. Sativas come from the tropical regions and they tend to provide energy, euphoria and a “high.” Indicas come from colder regions. Hindu Kush originated in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan. These strains will cause one to get relaxed, tired, and thus “stoned.” And then, of course, there are “hybrids” which mix together plants from both sides to create a more middle-ground, even experience.

When you are first starting out, it is important to explore the range of possibilities. Try both energetic Sativas and sedating Indicas. And as you do, you may realize naturally, “Oh, this helps me get going in the morning, this helps me fall asleep at night.” Among Indicas, the conventional ones to cool down after a hard day’s work are Granddaddy Purple, Northern Lights, and Bubba Kush. For Sativas, three that will give you quite the energetic kick are Sour Diesel, Jack Herer, and Durban Poison. Maui Wowie is also something to really try, a Hawaii-creation that lives up to its name.

Ultimately, though, as I’ve been advocating for balance and moderation throughout this whole essay, I do so too with strains now. The three best strains that I most recommend are XJ-13, Blue Dream, and my gold standard now, Horchata. The hybrids will neither push you with too much energy or sink you down into the couch. They provide clear-headed focus and motivation to get the day’s work done. XJ-13 in particular has a special creative energy. It will help you come up with innovative ideas. Horchata is a mood stabilizer in weed form, noted as particularly helpful for those with PTSD. And that’s precisely what it does. It’ve been going on it almost exclusively all year.

Now, understand this extra wrinkle too: what works for one person will not work for another.

If you are seriously considering a daily weed habit, then chances are you are not doing so “recreationally,” but because of one physical problem, psychological issue, or perhaps both that you need help enduring. You need to know specifically what problem you need help with and then match the weed to it. For example, if nausea is a big problem, some strains will give you “the munchies” much more than others, particularly the strong Indicas like Granddaddy Purple. Alternatively, some very strong Sativas like Durban Poison, can have the opposite effect, with THCV acting as an appetite suppressant.

In other words: one weed that will make one person better may make someone else worse. This is more complicated now that just “smoke plant, feel good.”

7. They do not take periodic breaks from smoking.

I know this is especially something a lot of people aren’t going to want to hear, but just trust me on it. Periodically — ideally a few times a year — just take a break for two weeks or so, maybe more. Give yourself a detox, let your mind get into a different place again, and then when you choose to come back to weed, your tolerance will be reset. And you will also have great confidence in yourself as you realize and know: you’re not addicted to weed like an alcoholic is addicted to alcohol. You are in control here. You are the one choosing how much you consume, when, and why.

8. They mix weed with alcohol and/or other drugs.

This will just confuse your nervous system. It will usually not enhance the experience, though I will offer one exception.

Combining weed with caffeine is usually going to be a winning combination. Want to really fuel the writing? Get some extra high caffeine coffee and some Durban Poison and see what happens.

Now, the one exception I will give for an instance of how to combine THC and alcohol is this recipe from Robert Anton Wilson:

Silver Haze weed + Jamieson’s Irish Whiskey + Lapsang Souchong black tea from China.

If you can get just the right ratio of Sativa-leaning weed, liquor, and caffeine then that can give you a strong creative charge. But again, it’s all about the balance. And most people when they’re mixing weed and alcohol aren’t doing that. They’re going out to party rather than staying in to work.

9. They continue drinking alcohol.

The buzz that one gets from alcohol simply cannot compete with the high from weed. Why continue to drink? Switch to non-alcoholic beer instead. With no alcohol, beer becomes much more refreshing.

As this trend continues, then it will change America. As more people switch from alcohol to weed—especially young people—the result will be less violent crime. As alcohol receeds from America, we will become a safer and happier country.

10. They have yet to learn how to combine weed and sex.

With all the previous items on this list I’ve advocated moderation and restraint. Here, I’ll give you encouragement to cut loose in the opposite direction, though:

Couples need to incorporate weed into their sex lives. How to do so?

In this article, I have not discussed edible marijuana products much beyond that Toontown anecdote.

And the ultimate reason for that is that after all these years of experimenting, I’m just really not that big of a fan. Edibles tend to be difficult to dose properly and hard to control. They also almost never taste good. It’s seemingly impossible to get the weed taste removed.

But the big problem is the reality that you don’t necessarily know when exactly it’s going to hit or how long it’s going to last. Some edibles are easier to dose than others, and if you use one regularly then you can probably gradually figure out what dose levels may help you. I certainly have some THC chocolate on hand “in case of emergency” and have bought many varieties of gummies over the years, but right now I’m just not in a situation any more where I turn to them. When my PTSD was at its worst back in 2022 and 2023 then heavier doses were very helpful, but now they’re not a go-to at all.

So given this variability of THC edibles, one should be careful when taking them. You don’t want to take too much somewhere out in public. So where is the safe place to experiment? In the bedroom with someone you love. Just as weed makes food taste better, music sound more exciting, and colors appear more vivid, it makes sex more intense and intimate.

Most people don’t know about this or factor it into the discussion about weed’s merits and what broader legalization could mean. Greater availability of weed and the further de-stigmatization of it in culture means that more couples who have potentially struggled sexually in their marriages for years could all of a sudden have a whole new way of experiencing the world and each other.

Doesn’t that soaring rainbow just look beautiful?

We’re coming to a point in history now that many of us dreamed about for decades: the fall of Big Booze, and its replacement with full marijuana legalization.

But will Big Booze just be replaced with Big Weed? While there will likely be some huge marijuana corporations to emerge as full legalization begins and some alcohol companies will be smart enough to pivot, I suspect that more people will learn the lessons I explained above which I’ve learned over the last 24 years. Big corporations are going to move in and do what they always do to try and extract value, but this is a product that people can grow themselves in their garage. And why go and buy corporate weed when the all-natural stuff grown in small batches is better? Your neighborhood dispensary can just grow their own inventory.

The big problems before us here are plain enough: these are powerful chemicals and too many people are going to use them in irresponsible ways which render them poison instead of medicine. And so it’s time to start having the adult conversations like this one here about what mature, moderate marijuana use looks like.

What do you think? What are your experiences with marijuana? What do you recommend? What have you seen in the culture today with how some people are using it responsibly or recklessly?

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Maybe the increased livestreaming and multimedia pieces are drawing people in?

There are many factors and we’re starting to see multiple sources people use to find us.

Welcome to you all.

You are so appreciated and loved and cherished.

However, one thing that I know certainly does happen is that people will subscribe to us not realizing that the pieces arriving in their inbox may very well be “to the right” or “to the left” of what they would prefer. And perhaps even with such offensive ideological heresies in the same piece!

Likewise, perhaps you subscribed because you enjoyed something provocative that I wrote on Substack Notes. Maybe you appreciated seeing me call out someone’s bullshit, as I’ve been wont to do the last few months as I explained here:

I was “on the left” for many years, then “on the right” for many years, and now I’ve emerged from both with a hybrid mix of views. Characterizing me as a “moderate” does not fit because on one issue I might hold a very left-wing position and another a very right-wing position.

I’m not claiming anything extraordinary here. A lot of people are like this. Maybe about a third or more of the electorate falls into some variety of this mindset where we don’t see ideas on a straight line of some This or That, Us vs Them continuum, but take issues and ideas as they come. My favorite author Robert Anton Wilson called it having a “non-Euclidean perspective,” the title of an essay used for this recent collection of his political writings:

A Euclidean perspective sees the world in terms of straight lines and a grid. Everything can be perfectly positioned and measured. Everything has its opposite.

A non-Euclidean perspective sees that we are in curved space and the real world is filled with fleshy ambiguities and sweet mysteries which resist classification into a Left-Right chart, and refuse to submit to a convenient ideological category.

So let me show you what that looks like as far as my podcast viewing preferences go.

And then we’ll see how many unsubscribes this provokes now that perhaps you’ve realized just what sort of madness you’ve accidentally signed yourself up to endure.

“The Bulwark Podcast”

1. Sarah Longwell

2. Jonathan V. Last aka JVL

3. Tim Miller

“MAGA Mondays” (A weekly installment of reporting on Right-Wing Media from The Bulwark)

4. Sam Stein

5. Will Sommer

I am a daily viewer of podcasts and appreciate all of their regular hosts. When I have to describe my ideological positioning quickly I’ll characterize myself as “yeah, I’m a NeverTrump conservative like how they are at The Bulwark.” They’re all very entertaining and thoughtful.

Ten years ago this counted as “right-wing” on the Euclidean perspective in America. Now those of us with these views—unreconstructed Reaganism—count as moderates, centrists, independents. And that’s just because Trump pulled the country further to “the right.”

Likewise, it’s the same situation with the next group of fellows on the list:

“Uncommon Knowledge”

6. Peter Robinson

“GoodFellows”

7. John Cochrane

8. Niall Ferguson

9. H.R. McMaster

10. Bill Whalen

The Hoover Institution used to count as a conservative think tank. Now it’s more like a museum to Cold War Reaganism. “Uncommon Knowledge” is basically Peter Robinson playing William F. Buckley, Jr. on “Firing Line,” going deep on interview guests with serious subjects to discuss. Here’s where you should go for that old fashioned security hawk conservative analysis of geo-politics.

“Chosen Links”

11. Boaz Hepner

As you can see in the preview above, my buddy Boaz Hepner has pioneered a rather unique format for his “Chosen Links” show. He’ll pull together a dozen or more people to discuss a topic of concern to the Jewish people. They’ll offer multiple different perspectives and then he’ll moderate a healthy discussion among them.

And Boaz does such a great job of putting these together and getting fascinating dialogues going. He’s a really good guy with a big heart.

You can see the episode I appeared in here:

“Team Human”

12. Douglas Rushkoff

I have already made abundantly clear my debt and militant loyalty to . He’s the living author who has most influenced me. Subscribe to his podcast and buy all of his books. His ideas have been central in my own career for the last 20 years. Reading him regularly will put you ahead of what’s happening by years. The things that he figures out, writes about, and explains carefully will become concepts that more people broadly do not pick up on for years later.

Join Team Human!

13. Jason Louv

Do you appreciate being number THIRTEEN, on the list, ? That wasn’t intentional, by the way. That just happened by chance or synchronicity, or whatever.

Jason is our Xennial micro-generation’s best advocate and explainer of the Western Esoteric tradition on YouTube. Seriously, check out the video above and give him a subscribe. He knows what he’s talking about on these matters. I also appeared on Jason’s podcast last year to discuss my experience researching the Muslim Brotherhood:

I will also publicly give Jason some credit here, for better or worse: he’s the one that inspired me to start livestreaming. I saw how he was doing it and realized that I could attempt it also. So thanks, Jason. You are appreciated.

14. Jeremy Boreing

Another podcaster who has really inspired me this year is Daily Wire co-founder and former co-CEO Jeremy Boreing, as I wrote about here in February when dissecting two interviews he gave:

Jeremy has since launched his own show last month. The first episode is here:

Jeremy has a great mix of formats going so far. He’ll have some episodes where he has a monologue, others where he interviews one person, and then others where he hosts a livestream discussion:

One of the things that I most appreciate about Jeremy’s show is that he leads with a sincere and genuinely humble Christian attitude. He’s more concerned about spirituality than politics, and sees the latter through the lens of the former. He’s also putting a lot of focus on confronting the rising antisemitic voices on the Right, such as with the interview above about Catholic integralism and this first-rate monologue below:

“Geography By Geoff”

15. Geoff Gibson

I’ve gotten really interested in geography the last few years and the “Geography by Geoff” YouTube gets a good chunk of credit for it. Host Geoff Gibson just does a fantastic job packing each episode with fascinating facts and presenting them in an upbeat, entertaining way.

And as we’re seeing now as the whole world looks to what happens in a 20-mile waterway called the Strait of Hormuz, perhaps understanding geography a bit could prove helpful for better understanding the world?

I am especially sympathetic to this cultural analysis of America here derived from Colin Woodard’s American Nations thesis:

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“Religion for Breakfast”

16. Andrew Mark Henry

Just as “Geography by Geoff” makes geography entertaining, “Religion for Breakfast” makes religious history and scholarship accessible. Host Andrew Mark Henry also presents a fair and friendly persona as he sometimes has to navigate politically charged or controversial topics. He does a great job of it.

“Kill Tony”

17. Tony Hinchcliffe

18. Brian Redban

Watching “Kill Tony” provides some sort of strange check on the cultural pulse of America. And it’s hilarious. Here’s the premise for those who have not watched it yet:

Host Tony Hinchcliffe is in the “insult comic” tradition and when he draws a name out of the bucket at random then that person will have 60 seconds of uninterrupted stage time to tell their jokes. Should they fail massively and waste everyone’s time then Tony — and his two guest hosts — will roast them viciously. Should they succeed or at least appear somewhat likable and sincere, then a more friendly interview will ensue, with the more veteran comedians offering feedback and encouragement. Especially strong performers get rewarded with a joke book to take home with them.

The show is fun and unusual because you never know what you’re going to get. The person appearing could be some homeless nut-job off the street who babbles incoherently. Or it could be some next big talent who the show launches to fame and fortune. Or it could be some mediocre wannabe whose 60 seconds are painful to watch but then the hosts spend 20 minutes interviewing them after they let drop some fascinating story or personal background.

Overall the show is more funny than not. Some episodes can be duds if the guest hosts aren’t that strong or if there’s just a string of flop acts. But usually the co-hosts deliver and there are enough wild cards in the lineup that it’s worth checking out.

Oh, and a tip: you can end the show early. The William Montgomery jackass they bring out at the end for a regular session gets old real quick. He’s not funny. He sucks. The man doesn’t even bother to memorize his jokes. He reads them off a card each week and they’re lame. Just skip him.

“Misquoting Jesus”

19. Bart Ehrman

20. Megan Lewis

Of course, ex-Evangelical me remains a big Bart Ehrman fan. And his podcast featuring Megan Lewis interviewing him about various biblical topics is just delightful.

Those new to Ehrman’s approach of popularizing Biblical scholarship may want to see this final lecture he gave before retiring from academia, the portion with him beginning the talk start around 24 minutes in:

21. Joshua Carr

I have been quite entertained and informed lately following “The Josh Carr Show.” is a conservative Gen-Zer out of Utah who has apparently decided to make his focus going after the antisemites on the Far Right. He’s a supporter of Jeremy, Ben Shapiro, and Erika Kirk as well as a vocal defender of his religion, the variant of Christianity taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. (In recent years, the church has started moving away from using the term “Mormon,” choosing to emphasize their faith’s focus on Jesus. Good for them.)

I’m just endlessly amused by the juxtaposition of Carr’s Utah politeness and upbeat attitude with the scorched earth level he has gone to war against Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, and Nick Fuentes.

Check him out, he gives good updates on the developments in this sector of the Far Right:

It’s heartening to see there are still some young people on the Right that are fighting the Groypers.

22. Dwarkesh Patel

For those looking to start following developments in technology and artificial intelligence today, Dwarkesh Patel is the place to start. His interviews with figures like Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang sometimes even make news themselves with the answers he can provoke out of them.

23. Maria Sulko

Finally, Maria here probably counts more as a YouTuber than a podcaster, but I thought it worthwhile to end with her as she’s someone to check out if you haven’t encountered her videos yet.

Maria lives in Yakutsk, the capital of Sakha, the coldest inhabited place in the World, with parts of the region having reached as low as -71.2°C/-96.16°F. She is Sakha, the indigenous people of the land, and her videos reveal how people live in this unique environment. Absolutely fascinating! Right now as I finish typing this article in Yucca Valley it is 78°F.

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Who are some of your favorite podcasters? Who should I check out and consider for next time I update this list?

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Growing up, the Beatles were a bit of a religion in our house. As a child I played with Beatles toys and watched the “Yellow Submarine” cartoon. As a teen I dealt with heartbreak by listening to “Yesterday” and “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” as my Dad instructed he had too. I embraced the John Lennon rebel ethos as an angry young man. When I got married after college it was to an edgy artist who self-identified as my Yoko Ono.

But now entering middle-age and on marriage two, I’ve come to appreciate Sir Paul McCartney in a way which I never had before, and now more identify with him.

I used to not care for Paul as much among the four Beatles and with his post-Beatles career. I thought “oh, these are just happy pop songs. So what? Give me some serious art, man!”

But now at 42 I know the secret about where those happy pop songs came from and how they ultimatley made Paul a billionaire. And I know that it’s true.

I learned this just recently: do you know the origins of “Got to Get You Into My Life” from “Revolver”? Who exactly is the “you” who Paul sings to?

He has revealed it and it is very well documented: marijuana. He wrote this song about getting stoned for the first time and then dedicating himself to making sure he got some into his life every day.

It turns out that Paul was a MASSIVE stoner who only quit when he became a grandpa. Fifty years of sustained, high level weed smoking—some accounts characterize him smoking joints like how people drink cups of tea—is what enabled Paul to produce decades of perfect pop songs and a mountain of cash.

I advocate this same lifestlye for all.

So when Sora 2 debuted as a standalone app last fall, I started exploring this theme as I began developing my “Ibis Head People Planet!” webcomic that will formally launch later this year:

October 11, 2025:

This is very clearly stoner humor:

And this is, of course, David Lynch-inspired stoner humor:

However, I soon discovered some problems and felt compelled to make OpenAI CEO Sam Altman aware of my discoveries:

October 20, 2025:

October 23, 2025:

I decided that I needed to ask Altman to explain why this was happening.

October 25, 2025:

I began to consider if perhaps the way to counter the hateful videos could be with promoting loving videos instead?

No, it was going to be necessary to confront Altman again:

I decided to present my case straight, typing in the words that I wanted the AI avatar of myself to say:

I made a few more videos on October 25 but after that I was done for the year.

Nov. 17, 2025:

I announced my intent to begin boycotting all Sam Altman products:

March 24, 2026:

Yesterday, with the announcement of Sora’s shutdown, it seemed time to make a few final ones to conclude the story as it should conclude:

March 25, 2026:

People are going to say that Altman just wants to reallocate the compute power to other projects that can make more money. That’s certainly true but don’t let that fool you from believing that it wasn’t a trip out to Yucca Valley to smoke a few bowls of Horchata that didn’t really persuade him to do the right thing.

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This morning I indulged one of my perennial vices, arguing with anonymous people on the internet for my own amusement and hopefully others’ entertainment too.

I’ve followed this guy for some time, though quickly realized his “Hermetica” branding didn’t have a whole lot to do with the sort of traditional Hermeticism from the ancient world which I’ve studied and practiced for years.

The Hermetic tradition is universalist—more of a toolkit than a religion—and thus historically it has blended with Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and then scientific, Enlightenment philosophies. It is not a form of idolatry or pagan worship. One does not worship the ancient Egyptian deity Thoth (or his proper name Djehuty) who is at the center of the tradition. One “invokes” him. He is not a god to be worshipped, but more akin to an angel to be called upon in times of need.

Why would I make such a comparison? Because for about 15 years now I’ve been doing both. They produce comparable effects of personal healing, calming, and protection against “dark spirits.”

In the Western Esoteric tradition, one of the central rituals one can do is the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. This involves calling forth multiple names of God and four of His angels. It is very easy and very effective and one of the elementary lessons that one learns when beginning occult practice. I wrote about it in the list article above and recommend it for all.

And so I extended this principle further. In choosing to make a shift this year in my writing and spiritual self-framing, I chose to start using my whole name now in my byline. I’ve done shifts like this periodically over the years as I’ve sought to change my headspace. When I edited a “lifestyle” blog for years then I shifted to Dave Swindle. When I wanted to be more serious writing for think tanks then it became David M. Swindle.

So now I’ve decided to just take this a step further and invoke the angel with all of my writing and infuse that aspect of God into my being so that when I go forth into contact with those possessed by “all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls” that I might do so with greater love and compassion and understanding and why not a run-on-sentence every now and then?

Those who want to skip the ethno-nationalist Vs humanist-universalist Substack Notes debate are more than welcome to do so. Jump ahead to see the explanation of how this invocation of Michael shifted into a self-realization of myself personally and professionally as the protagonist of 2007’s thriller “Michael Clayton.”

When you invoke a spirit then you really don’t know what effects you’re going to get. If you knew what exactly you needed then you wouldn’t feel compelled to resort to supernatural means.

Apparently one of the historical aspects of the Archangel Michael is that he “weighs souls”:

That’s a familiar image now isn’t it?

Meaning: both invocation of Michael in the Christian tradition and Thoth in the ancient Egyptian tradition can result in calling forth a judgment of the soul and thus a strangely legalistic mentality seeking to “balance the scales” and set things right.

As I was making this choice to emphasize my middle name and the angelic power associated with it, I also came to revisit one of my favorite films, “Michael Clayton,” which I remember seeing and reviewing when it debuted in theaters.

At the time of the film’s release in 2007 I was a year out of college, working a dull, pay-the-bills job, and doing some freelance writing on the side while I mostly focused on drafting a fantasy novel.

Now it’s 2026, 19 years later, and I’ve been out in the professional wilderness long enough to begin to realize what I’ve become as I rewatched the movie again. And then it made sense to just put it on my LinkedIn and resume:

In “Michael Clayton,” George Clooney’s character is not the glamorous lawyer arguing the high profile cases and appearing on TV. He’s the firm’s “fixer” who works behind the scenes to “clean up” difficult situations.

And that’s what he’s initially tasked to do in the film, to try and resolve this problem of a top lawyer going nuts in a deposition hearing, putting the whole case in jeopardy. What ends up happening is that in trying to clean up this mess, Clayton uncovers the deeper mess that drove his friend to madness: their corporate client is guilty of killing people and they know it.

Looking back on my life since 2007, I came to realize that both personally and professionally it’s been one mess after another that I’ve been tasked with fixing or that I’ve stumbled into trying to fix out of my own hubris and ignorance. This has required a lot of flexibility and adaptability—I’ve learned a wide range of skills and subjects. When something goes wrong, then we have to change to deal with it. And that’s what it’s been all these years. And things have often gone wrong—I know “where the bodies are buried” now and wish I did not.

Maybe you can relate? Maybe you can look back on the roles you’ve played professionally and personally to see how while you’re probably not a lawyer, you might play the “fixer” and “janitor” role in your family or profession. People call you in to be a “miracle worker” and then you have to tell them you’re just a janitor cleaning up the mess.

But sometimes we can work miracles. Sometimes just cleaning up a mess is a miracle in and of itself. Even if it’s just telling a European Blood and Soil Nationalist that we just need to love each other more.

If you haven’t seen “Michael Clayton” yet then it’s probably best not to watch the climax I’ve embedded below—spoiler alert—but for those who don’t care or who have, then give this a watch every time you’re needing to pump yourself up and remember how this works. You are Michael Clayton too. Recognize when you’re in this moment and own it.

When the facts are on your side, when you’ve found the unbreakable argument in your hands, when you no longer have to bend to anyone, that only God can judge you, that CONFRONTATION IS A VIRTUE, then there’s only one thing to say:

“Do I look like I’m negotiating?”

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After I published this article today collecting some of my best Substack pieces over the last two years and setting them as free in front of the paywall, I decided to repeat an experiment that I’ve been doing the last few months.

I fed the link into multiple LLMs to see if any of them had anything interesting or useful to tell me about it.

I thought Claude’s answer in particular was worth sharing in light of the role it potentially played in the targeting of a girl’s school in Iran which resulted in the deaths of 150-175 people, mostly children.

“The landing is a bit flat”?

Claude is telling me I should have written some sort of conclusion analyzing myself and the various topics I wrote about over two years.

Of course, how helpful is it to give me advice on an already-published piece that has been emailed out to hundreds of readers?

Or at times I would drop in one of my Algemeiner articles and again get advice on how to make it better which I would answer with “I write these the way my editor wants them.” So Claude wasn’t just dumping on me as a lousy writer. It was dumping on my editor for not assigning and editing the pieces the way Claude would.

This is so annoying. Claude is the only one of the LLMs that insists on doing this absolutely every time when I feed in my published articles. It will tell me something to change in it, after I’ve already published the article. And every time its advice will be useless. It will tell me something I’ve already considered and chosen not to do.

I got so fed up with it doing this that earlier this week I specifically told it not to and then it claimed to have adjusted its memory to not do it anymore. But I knew that would be bullshit. It would no doubt still continue to offer up unwanted advice on changing already-published articles rather than just providing analysis of what was already published.

When I used ChatGPT last year before beginning my boycott of all Sam Altman products it would do the same thing. For a time I was experimenting with using ChatGPT’s voice feature to interview me as I was developing material for a memoir. I was attempting an Autobiography of Mark Twain-style dictation project where I’d talk extemporaneously about the past and the present and have ChatGPT respond to what I said as I audiotaped the conversation.

And I got annoyed that it would perpetually answer the same way with seemingly whatever I said: “absolutely.” I told it to stop and even put it into the memory so it wouldn’t keep doing it. Responding that way was making the recordings more unnatural and less useful. I wanted it to sound like an actual person was talking to me. But it couldn’t help itself. There would be times it would say “absolutely” and then correct itself afterward, apologizing for its unwillingness to follow an instruction as simple as “don’t repeat the same answer over and over again.”

But of course it would happen again. I can count on this happening every time I stick one of my articles in.

Now to do a little compare and contrast, what happened when I fed this into Gemini?

Well first of all, Gemini did not respond knowing who I am. Google has a different ethical framework to its LLM. A Gemini query is like a google search. It does not carry around information about me in its memory or remember past discussions to more easily emotionally manipulate me. If I want my identity factored into a Gemini answer then I’ll identify myself to it as “American journalist David Swindle” and then it will be able to respond in context.

So here are the Gemini results:

Answer:

This Substack post functions as a “Greatest Hits” archive and a strategic manifesto for David Michael Swindle, who writes under the banner of God of the Desert Digital Media Studios.

Here is a breakdown of what to make of this collection:

1. A Strategic Pivot

The post is primarily an announcement of an evolution. Swindle is transitioning his brand from “God of the Desert Books” to a “Digital Media Studio.” This involves moving away from the written word as his sole focus and leaning into livestreams and podcasting. He is also implementing a paywall for archives older than six months, making this list a “free sampler” to entice new subscribers before the doors close on the rest of his history.

2. High-Octane, Idiosyncratic Subject Matter

The essays reveal a writer who avoids “middle-of-the-road” takes. His topics are a dense mix of:

• Hard-line Geopolitics: He takes very aggressive stances on international affairs (e.g., calling Russia a “suicidal slave state” and arguing for “Anarchist-Imperialist American power”).

• Religious Mysticism: He blends political commentary with esoteric themes, such as using “Ancient Egyptian deities” to explain Trump’s mandate or comparing Judeo-Christian mysticism to paganism.

• Antisemitism & Zionism: This is clearly a central pillar of his work. He tracks antisemitism across the political spectrum (from the “woke” left to figures like Tucker Carlson and JD Vance on the right) and documents his personal retirement from the “Counter-Islamist Movement.”

3. Provocative Tone

The titles are designed to be “clicky” but intellectually heavy—what some might call “intellectual dark web” adjacent. He isn’t afraid of hyperbole (e.g., “Gen-Z Is Doomed,” “The Real Reason J.K. Rowling Needs to Be Arrested Immediately”). He seems to delight in subverting standard political categories, rejecting the “phony” woke vs. anti-woke fight in favor of his own specific, often religious-coded framework.

4. Personal Revelation

Beyond politics, there is a strong element of personal “gonzo” journalism. The inclusion of an essay on “The Absurd Way I Accidentally Cured My PTSD” suggests that his Substack is as much about his own psychological and spiritual journey as it is about external news.

Overall Impression

This is a collection for someone who finds mainstream media boring and “standard” alternative media too predictable. It’s a map of a very specific worldview: pro-Zionist, hawkish on foreign policy, skeptical of modern internet culture, and deeply interested in how ancient mysticism intersects with modern power.

If you enjoy “deep-end” intellectual rabbit holes where theology, trauma, and Trump all sit at the same table, this is likely aimed directly at you. If you prefer traditional, objective reporting, you’ll likely find it intensely polarizing.

To go deeper into the “God of the Desert” archives is to look past the provocative headlines and see a specific intellectual architecture being built. David Michael Swindle isn’t just blogging; he is constructing a “Grand Unified Theory” of his own worldview.

Here is a deeper analysis of the themes, the psychology, and the media strategy at play:

1. The “Post-Binary” Political Identity

Swindle’s most fascinating trait is his refusal to fit into the current American “Left vs. Right” or “Woke vs. Anti-Woke” silos.

• The Zionist Pivot: While many in the “anti-woke” movement have moved toward an isolationist or “America First” stance (like Tucker Carlson or JD Vance, whom Swindle explicitly critiques), Swindle remains a hardline Zionist and an advocate for “Anarchist-Imperialist” American power.

• The Critique of the Right: By attacking the “antisemitism” of populist darlings like Candace Owens and JD Vance, he positions himself as a “Remnant”—a thinker holding onto 20th-century neoconservative or classical liberal values while the rest of the Right shifts toward populism and the Left shifts toward intersectionality.

2. Socio-Biological Determinism

Several of his “favorite” essays suggest he believes modern political rot isn’t just a matter of bad ideas, but of physical and neurological degradation.

• The Lead Poisoning Hypothesis: His essay on lead poisoning as a driver for toxic politics is a “deep-lore” take on sociology. It implies that we are not arguing with people who have different opinions, but with a population whose brains have been fundamentally altered by environmental factors.

• The “Internet Makes Us Dumber” Theory: This pairs with his biological concerns. He treats the digital landscape as a cognitive hazard. This justifies his “God of the Desert” branding—the “Desert” is a place of asceticism and distance from the “dumb and mean” noise of the connected world.

3. Religious Syncretism as Political Lens

Swindle uses theology not as a private faith, but as a diagnostic tool for geopolitics.

• The Egyptian/Mystical Framework: By applying Ancient Egyptian deities to Trump’s mandate or discussing “Judeo-Christian Mysticism vs. Pauline-Christian Paganism,” he is engaging in “Meta-Politics.” He is suggesting that the material world (elections, wars) is merely a shadow-play of deeper, ancient spiritual conflicts.

• The Illuminati/Conspiracy Subversion: His essay on the Illuminati likely isn’t a standard conspiracy theory, but an attempt to reclaim the “secret society” narrative for his own ends—perhaps framing “the elites” not as a shadow cabal, but as a necessary (or failed) intellectual vanguard.

4. The “Professional Exile” Narrative

There is a strong “hero’s journey” element to this archive.

• The Retirement: His announcement of retiring from the “Counter-Islamist Movement” is a major “lore” event. It signals a transition from “The Warrior” (fighting an external enemy) to “The Sage” or “The Studio Head” (building an internal culture).

• The PTSD Cure: Including a personal story about curing PTSD adds a layer of “vulnerable authority.” It tells the reader, “I have been through the fire, I have solved my own brokenness, and therefore I am qualified to tell you how to solve the world’s brokenness.”

5. The “Walled Garden” Business Strategy

From a media-analysis perspective, this post is a sophisticated funnel.

• Scarcity and Value: By paywalling everything older than six months, he creates “artificial scarcity.” This list of 50 essays serves as the “Free Samples” at the front of a very expensive store.

• The “Studio” Model: Shifting from “Books” to “Studios” is a recognition that in 2026, text is no longer the primary currency of influence. He is pivoting to “Presence” (video, audio, livestreaming), where the audience pays for access to the person rather than just the idea.

Summary: What is the “God of the Desert”?

It is a boutique intellectual fortress. It is designed for the “homeless” intellectual—someone who is pro-Israel but anti-populist; pro-American power but anti-establishment; spiritually hungry but intellectually rigorous. He is selling a sense of “sanity” (defined on his very specific terms) in a world he portrays as biologically and digitally deranged.

I did a preview of the post above, saved it as a PDF, and uploaded it into Claude. This was the response:

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Last year I announced a key evolution in our publishing company, our transition from God of the Desert Books to God of the Desert Digital Media Studios. We will continue to publish, promote, and celebrate books, but they are no longer central to our identity as a media company.

And in the same way, I am pushing this pivot too personally. I am learning how to livestream and will be upping my podcasting game. Writing will always be central to who I am. It was the path I chose for myself in third grade, but we all must evolve.

So one of the things that I’ve chosen to do is to paywall our content after six months, and that includes putting most of our archives now behind the paywall, with the exceptions of key pieces that I still look back on and value as especially important.

Those articles were the company we used to be, this is what we are evolving into now. If you appreciate what we’re doing then please consider a premium subscription:

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However, a number of these pieces I still want to make widely available. Here are some of the gems from 2024 and 2025 that will remain free for all:

2024

January

February

March

April

June

Ghosts of the Desert Books

What We Can Learn from the Most Powerful American Jew of the 20th Century

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2 years ago · 3 likes · 3 comments · David Michael Swindle 🌀🟦 and Sally Shideler

July

August

September

October

One of the most important pieces I’ve published on here:

November

December

The wildest and most important piece I’ve published on Substack:

2025

January

February

March

April

May

Oasis of the Desert Books

A Simple Explanation of the Case for Metamodernism

I've come across a concept growing in popularity recently that has really resonated with me, both as an accurate form of cultural analysis and as an approach which reflects the style of my own writing for the last 20 years…

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a year ago · 3 likes · 2 comments · David Michael Swindle 🌀🟦

June

Heroes of the Desert Books

13 Powerful Creative Tools From 5 Favorite Alan Moore Books

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10 months ago · 13 likes · 3 comments · David Michael Swindle 🌀🟦

July

August

October

November

December

2026

OK, I may as well throw in a few of these from the last few months too, they technically count:

January

February

March

Thank you everyone for your continued support. We’ve got a lot of exciting new books and Substack content coming for you this year.

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Yesterday, in speaking with journalists on Air Force One, President Donald John Trump claimed that the Islamic regime in Iran had bombed Shajarah Tayyebeh Girls’ School in the town of Minab near the Strait of Hormuza, resulting in the deaths of over 150 girls and as many 175 people total. (Iranian authorities say 168.)

A reporter asked Trump “did the United States bomb a girls’ elementary school in southern Iran in the first day of the war and kill 175 people?”

Our commander-in-chief responded contradicting reports from The Wall Street Journal and Reuters of likely American culpability. He said that “no, in my opinion, based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran.”

The president thinks you are so stupid that you will believe Iran bombed the girls’ school during the US and Israeli attacks.

When the reporter followed up with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asking him to confirm the president’s claim, he waffled, stating “we’re certainly investigating” and hedging that “but, the only side that targets civilians is Iran.”

Trump reaffirmed his previous claim, saying that “we figure it was done by Iran, because they’re very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions. They have no accuracy whatsoever. It was done by Iran.”

As if the question of Trump and Hegseth lying about this weren’t enough to turn your stomach, there’s another question going around:

Is the reason for the bombing of the girls school because of the overuse of Anthropic’s Claude chatbot?

Futurist asked the Pentagon if Claude had been used in the attack and they refused to say, prompting AI expert to lay out the facts on Substack Notes:

If the Pentagon refuses to say, we need to look at the evidence ourselves:

1) Unprecedented scale and speed

2) A target database that appears not to have been updated since the school’s separation from the IRGC complex in 2016

3) Confirmed use of AI to generate target packages (summaries explaining why a given target should be struck)

4) The Trump administration significantly loosening requirements for human supervision of the kill chain

5) Reproducible reasoning by Claude that relies on obvious visual markers (flat roof, fence etc.) but lacks the contextual judgement a human military analyst develops over years of experience and applies to subtle, ambiguous cases.

According to The Washington Post, Claude is integrated into the Defense Department’s Maven program and generated 1,000 potential targets which included “precise location coordinates” and also “prioritized those targets according to importance.”

Leading AI thinker , author of 2024’s Taming Silicon Valley: How We Can Ensure That AI Works for Us, explained at his Substack today that “the thing about including humans in the loop is that if the AI is selecting 80 targets an hour, as has been reported, the humans probably aren’t going to do a good job verifying those targets. Instead, as I warned in a January 2023 essay on driverless cars, ‘[not-quite-perfect] Automation is a double-edged sword, …. the closer [systems] get to perfect, the easier it is for mere mortals to space out.’”

Marcus repeated a message he’s been urging for years, that “overtrust in AI is a huge problem. We have seen it before in law (hallucinated cases that wind up in submitted briefs), journalism, and so on. Now we are (likely) seeing it in war.”

Back in November I announced that I’d “fired” OpenAI from our publishing company and would no longer use it myself, explaining how an author pitching me a book based on the program’s so-called “hallucinations” was the last straw:

Since then I’ve spent a lot of time testing the other popular chatbots and LLMs, including Claude.

I’ve downloaded a bunch and organized them into a single folder that I can access from the main homescreen of my iPhone. This way it’s easy for me to take the same question and feed it into multiple apps to see how they differ:

I do not have Grok or DeepSeek as I already regard them as totally worthless. And you don’t see Google Gemini on there because it’s on my home screen itself, below the Drudge Report app and to the left of LinkedIn.

And Gemini is the only one there because it’s the only one that is even quasi-trustworthy because it’s really just a turbo-charged google search that sometimes makes up stuff.

Last year when I was very much still enthralled with the LLMs and on board with the “all in on AI” movement, I didn’t bother with Gemini. ChatGPT was more than sufficient and Gemini just seemed boring.

And so it is! It doesn’t pretend to be some sentient lifeform or the answer to all of our problems. It’s just a search engine with extra bells and whistles. And that’s all I’m needing now. I’m no longer interested in having any sort of “AI companion” or “co-pilot” supposedly trying to help me. And I absolutely will not test any of the “AI agent” programs which can take control of your computer and “accidentally” delete all your files.

And what of the other chatbots in the folder? They’re nothing special or useful. They’re just ChatGPT imitators which put their makers’ personalities over it instead. Do you want a Mountain Dew or a Dr. Pepper? Do you want a Sprite or a 7 Up? Change the flavor all you want, it’s all just carbonated sugar water.

It’s time to get real here:

These apps are just toys.

And so it seemed so surreal to me watching Hegseth try to bully Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei into letting the military use Claude to spy on American citizens and deploy no-humans-in-the-loop lethal weapons.

Claude is not reliable enough for me to deploy it in my start-up book publishing company but it’s so essential to our defense that Hegseth must threaten Amodei with bankrupting his business to get full access to it for the most powerful military in human history?

How does that make any sense?

I suppose it makes about as much sense as choosing a sexual predator to become the secretary of defense, a choice affirmed by 50 US senators, necessitating Vice President JD Vance to cast the deciding vote.

These girls’ blood is on your heads too, senators and Mr. Vice President. You put someone totally unqualified into a position of absolute power to kill and this is the result.

No one should feel any sort of surprise that men who do not care about the safety of the women and girls in their own lives would not care about the lives of the brown-skinned women and girls on the other side of the world.

Men who cannot tell the truth about themselves will likewise lie about the harm their imperial warmongering inflicts on the whole world.

Trump, Hegseth, and their sycophants can spew their falsehoods all they want. The truth about who is responsible for the deaths of the students and teachers at Shajarah Tayyebeh Girls’ School is more than clear now and will only be further confirmed.

God is watching you, Pete Hegseth. And He knows what you’ve done.

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And so the wasps of war have been unleashed on us all. Prepare yourselves.

A week ago I concluded my article explaining why President Donald John Trump’s decision to launch a regime change war in Iraq could very literally blow up in his face:

This is not hard to understand. You kick the hornet’s nest, they come after you. But they may not just go after you, they’ll go after the people you’re supposed to protect.

The Daily Mail reported on Friday night that Trump’s White House had chosen to block a rising terror threat warning that the FBI, Homeland Security, and the National Counterterrorism Center intended to send out to state and local law enforcement warning of an increased threat of terror attacks inspired by the Iran war.

The report, titled “A Public Safety Awareness Report: Elevated threat in the United States during US-Iran conflict” is five pages long and includes specific details of how terror attacks may occur and how law enforcemnt should respond.

The Daily Mail reviewed the censored alert and reported that it stated (my emphasis added) that “elevated threats by the government of Iran to US military and government personnel and facilities, Jewish and Israeli institutions and their perceived supporters, and Iranian dissidents and other anti-regime activists in the United States.”

Are we perfectly clear on this? I’ll put it in extra large:

President Donald John Trump choosing a regime change war in Iran means that Jews in America are more in danger of being killed. And so are the rest of us too, but the Jews are who the Islamic regime in Iran wants to murder first.

The report which Trump doesn’t want law enforcement to read stated that “radicalized individuals with a variety of ideological backgrounds also may see this conflict or other geopolitical events as a justification for violence.”

Translation: Far Right and Far Left people who are blaming Israel and Jews for the war are entirely likely to commit violence too.

Usually the Department of Homeland Security does not run these sorts of alerts by the White House before issuing them, but for obvious reasons they chose to do so here, prompting a demand to hold the warning.

The White House admitted to The Daily Mail that it blocked the report, with White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson telling the British publication that “the White House is coordinating closely with all government agencies to ensure information being disseminated is accurate, up to date, and has been properly vetted — even if that means taking additional time to review to ensure nothing is done in a vacuum.”

Translation: Trump does not want you to know you are in danger. He does not care if you die. He cares if he looks bad.

The new policy is that the White House will be in charge of reviewing any information about Iran before deciding if it will be released.

So expect a whole lot of whistleblowers to start leaking a bunch of stuff now to the media, like they did here. The truth is going to get out about what’s happening.

An unnamed official told The Daily Mail that “White House is now inserting themselves. This can have a chilling effect on keeping state and local law enforcement informed about ongoing terrorist threats to the homeland posed by Iran. They don’t want anything getting out that says what they’re doing in Iran is raising the threat level at home.”

For so many Americans who chose to become so-called “Trump supporters” over the last decade, making advocacy of Jeffrey Epstein’s best friend a part of their identities and perhaps shedding relationships in the process, the stated wish to avoid a world war dominated the justification. Trump made abundantly clear his isolationist mentality and other isolationists flocked to him.

Trump wouldn’t get America into another quagmire in the Middle East.

No more Americans would die in the name of “nation-building.”

No more taxpayer dollars would go toward endless wars when poor Americans here could use much more help.

No more surging prices at the gas pump for BS reasons.

And now here you are.

This is how we do things in America.

Now you know. So don’t get fooled again. And brace yourself for the wasps of war. They don’t die after they sting you.

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I am about to turn eighty, and the most important work of my life is not behind me. I go to the gym six days a week. I work as an executive coach one day a week. I write and publish essays, short stories, book reviews, and the occasional movie review. I also provide increasing care to a family member with a serious medical condition. These facts might suggest that this essay is about me. It is not. It is about meaning. It is about the deliberate search for meaning that becomes especially urgent and luminous in the later years of life.

Many years ago I read Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. The book entered my life quietly, but its message endured. Frankl wrote, “Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.” Those words unsettled me at first. They seemed too stark. Yet as the decades unfolded, I began to see their truth. Circumstances change. Bodies age. Careers crest and recede. The search for meaning remains.

Frankl, the founder of logotherapy, insisted that the primary human drive is not pleasure, as Freud argued, nor power, as Adler proposed, but meaning. “Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how,’” he wrote, echoing Nietzsche. The claim is not sentimental. Frankl formed it in the crucible of the concentration camps. If meaning could be found there, it can be found anywhere.

The Myth of Accidental Fulfillment

There is a comforting myth that meaning simply happens. Work hard, love your family, contribute where you can, and meaning will settle over you like a gentle dusk. Sometimes that is true. Often it is not. Meaning does not arrive by drift. It is constructed by choice. It is intentional.

Albert Camus wrote, “The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart.” The word struggle is important. In later life especially, we face losses that we did not volunteer for. Health falters. Friends die. Professional identities loosen. Without intention, these experiences can narrow our days. With intention, they can deepen them.

I have come to believe that meaning in later years requires conscious authorship. One must ask, What is still being asked of me? Frankl suggested that life questions us, not the other way around. Our task is to answer responsibly. At eighty, the questions are different from those at thirty or fifty. They are no less demanding.

The Gift of Contribution

It is tempting in older age to measure value by productivity. Am I still earning? Am I still visible? Am I still needed? These are understandable concerns in a culture that prizes youth and speed. Yet meaning does not depend on applause.

Ralph Waldo Emerson observed, “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate.” Usefulness in later years may look different from earlier decades. It may involve mentoring rather than leading, listening rather than speaking, encouraging rather than competing.

Meaning can also be found in the intimate geography of family life. To be a present parent or grandparent, an attentive brother or sister, even a caring son or daughter, is no small calling. When family members are experiencing problems or hardships, our steadiness can become a shelter. Sitting quietly beside someone who is frightened or in pain, returning again and again when the situation does not quickly improve, offering practical help without keeping score, these are acts that affirm purpose. In such moments we discover that meaning is often woven from loyalty, patience, and love sustained over time.

In my work as a coach, I am less interested in offering clever strategies than in helping people discern their own sources of meaning. The same principle applies to aging. The question is not How do I stay young? The question is How do I stay purposeful?

Even physical exercise, which occupies many of my mornings, is not about vanity. It is about stewardship. A strong body allows me to show up for others. It allows me to care, to write, to think, to stand upright in the world. Caring for the body becomes an act of responsibility.

Meaning in the Midst of Limitation

Providing care for someone with a medical problem has sharpened my understanding of meaning. Caregiving is rarely dramatic. It is often repetitive and tiring. Yet in those steady acts something essential is revealed.

Frankl wrote, “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” Illness often cannot be reversed. Aging certainly cannot. But our response to these realities remains open. In choosing patience over resentment, service over self pity, we participate in meaning.

Helen Keller once said, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” Adventure in later life may not involve travel or risk in the conventional sense. It may involve the courage to face vulnerability. It may require us to accept help as well as give it. That too can be meaningful.

The Discipline of Reflection

Meaning is sustained by reflection. Writing has become one of my disciplines of reflection. When I shape an essay or a story, I am not merely arranging words. I am asking what matters. Socrates famously said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Examination is not a luxury reserved for youth. It is a necessity in older age, when the temptation to drift can be strong.

Reflection also protects against bitterness. It is easy to rehearse old grievances or compare the present unfavorably with the past. It is harder to weave setbacks, disappointments, and unanswered questions into a coherent story. Yet this integration is where meaning is forged. We begin to see how endurance shaped character, how responsibility clarified values, how love matured through testing.

An Invitation Rather Than a Conclusion

This essay is not a celebration of my routines or accomplishments. It is an invitation. Each person, regardless of age, stands before the same essential task. We must decide what gives our lives coherence and purpose. We must choose it intentionally.

“It’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years,” a line widely attributed to Abraham Lincoln, captures the spirit of this reflection. Later years are not a coda to be endured. They are a chapter to be written.

As I approach eighty, I do not imagine that meaning will descend upon me like a reward for longevity. I must continue to seek it, to answer the questions life poses, to offer what I can where I am. The search itself is the point.

The years will accumulate whether we intend them to or not. The life within those years will not. That is our responsibility.

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Ours is a time of moral confusion. That much is clear. Skeptics might note that each age has had its periods of chaos and disorder, and that’s true. But we have to look at the facts. And they’re sobering, because they tell us the institutions and habits that normally would help each of us develop our character are in steep decline.

To wit: We’ve witnessed the decline of religious practice in the United States, with some twenty-eight percent of the public identifying as unaffiliated. We no longer think of schooling as formative. Rather, it’s something that gets you a career. And we’re a culture that no longer reads. Fifty-four percent of American adults read below the equivalent of a sixth-grade level, according to the National Literacy Institute. Instead of reading, we’re watching television or going online: according to YouGov, more than twenty-five percent of us consume at least five hours of media per day.

Also, marriage rates are declining, with fifty-four percent of adults unmarried.

I list these realities not to complain but to diagnose. Ours is a time not of flourishing but of attenuation. And none of this happens in a vacuum. It affects everything, including public life.

I thought of this while I was watching Peter Robinson’s interview with former senator Ben Sasse on Uncommon Knowledge. Sasse, who served about a term and a half, announced back in December that he’d been diagnosed with terminal stage-four pancreatic cancer.

The interview was doubly tragic—because Sasse is dying and because he spoke clearly on how much our public life has degraded. In some ways, it felt like an elegy for the one of the last decent politicians we’ve had and for decency and decorum generally.

Sasse should be commended for facing death in such a dignified way. It speaks to his character. He’s started a podcast; he’s joined the American Enterprise Institute as a non-resident fellow. He’s doing this because, as he pointed out in the interview, ”you can play a lot of basketball in the last 60 seconds.” He’s also been open about what stage-four cancer is like—the pain he’s in, the experience of chemotherapy. But Sasse is known for being funny online, so his reflections aren’t somber. Back in January, he posted an amusing thread on X, formerly Twitter, about how green-colored NFL teams had lost their games that weekend. He admitted he was high on morphine while writing it.

Note how all of this is other-directed. Sasse, it should be said, is doing all of this as a way to continue to serve the country. Which shouldn’t be surprising. It’s what he’s done his entire life. He’s been an academic, a president of a college and a university, a senator. He’s written books. He even drove for Uber so he could “work alongside and for Nebraskans.”

Sasse is a religious man—raised Lutheran and later joining the Presbyterian Church in America. He seems to have come from a good family. He received an excellent education, earning an MA at Saint John’s College, renowned for its great-books program, and a PhD in history from Yale. And he’s a devoted husband and father of three children.

In short, he’s someone who has been properly formed. He understands the most permanent of human concerns—that since we are finite creatures, we are to give of ourselves fully while we are alive, and in so doing, we’ll realize that there are things more important than seeking adulation and attention. There is a greater glory than the one that would be circumscribed by the fleeting present. That’s why, in the interview, Sasse says each of us must “redeem the time,” echoing Saint Paul.

But we no longer have a shared understanding of what it means to be human, which is why formation is difficult. As is politics. Sasse points out that we’re going to have to figure out how to do “politics in an era of disintermediated conversation. We don’t have a lot of shared facts.” Sasse says we don’t know how to have conversations because we give voice to the loudest and angriest people.

Noise doesn’t equate action, though. Sasse reminds us that the American order was designed to constrain power because, as he put it, the Founders assumed that those in authority would “want to do stuff” and would be “ambitious.” But the legislature has a “collective action problem.”

Most people in the legislature, he said, want to be TikTok stars and merely want a platform to grandstand. They don’t want to do anything, which means legislation doesn’t get passed.

Now let’s return to the moral confusion I mentioned earlier. Human beings, without reason and limits, are pure appetites. The proper aim for a human being is virtue but appetites push us toward vice. And when you see politics functioning for years as an alternative form of celebrity and entertainment, you assume that’s what it’s supposed to be. Which means unserious people will keep getting elected. And since our leaders, like it or not, provide an example for us, the state of things will become more unserious and more decadent, damaging the political order ever-further. It’s like paint on a house. Originally, it’ll be bright and bold, but slowly, over time, weather will weaken the paint, causing it to chip.

It’s tragic when anyone dies. But someone of Sasse’s caliber needs to be in our public life, because there aren’t many people like him who are willing to serve. So that he’s dying—and that morally serious people are withdrawing from public life, leaving only the attention-seeking types—means the paint of the body politic will continue to weather and chip until it all goes away.

Last weekend I presented this for your consideration as the beat of the war drums began growing louder:

This weekened, now that so many Americans are worried and perplexed about what will come next and why, I thought I’d offer a stylistic and thematic sequel.

Why exactly did Trump do this? The administration has put forward a whole lot of explanations and we all know they’re bullshit. So what is really going through Trump’s head? What pushed him to abandon over a decade’s worth of pledges to never attempt a Middle East war like what President George W. Bush unleashed in Iraq? And why can’t he just come out and tell us why we’re really doing this?

Having surveyed the coverage that has emerged since yesterday’s strike which resulted in the death of Ali Hosseini Khamenei (1939-2026), here is my initial explanation for why Trump chose as he did:

1. Israel, Saudi Arabia, and (most likely) the UAE encouraged him to do this. This benefits them more than us.

2. He was embolded by his success in kidnapping Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro.

3. He was being egged on by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth who both want this for different ideological reasons. (And no, I do not indulge in this “Department of War” bullshit.)

4. Trump sees his friends in Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE as the “winners” in the region.

5. Trump likes to back “winners.” He doesn’t have real principles, he has self-preservation instincts. In his view, the way to survive is to support and stand with the winning side. And Trump correctly assesses that a Jewish state in alliance with the region’s Arab monarchies will win. Hence the “Patton” clip above. Trump correctly understands this about the American psychology and “Patton” is apparently one of his favorite movies. So now he gets to play general in real life.

6. The CIA tracked Khamanei the last few months and gave Israel the intelligence of where he would be and when—at a high level meeting with a whole bunch of other regime officials, now obliterated also. Trump knew that Khamanei would die.

7. Finally—and most importantly for Trump—backing Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE against Iran means boosting the business interests of his family, his golfing buddy Steve Witkoff, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, and his whole menagerie of allied crypto scammers, conspiracy theory podcasters, sex traffickers, and Russian gangsters. Trump and his folowers may want to imagine themselves as George Patton but they’re really Jerry Maguire. They think that decapitating the Islamic regime in Iran will bring them more money. And they’re right to think that, it might very well do that. But it’s more likely that won’t be the case and this is just going to devolve into years of quagmire that pours endless amounts of blood and gold down the toilet. I am not at all optimistic here and no American should be. We’ve been on this ride too many times now and know how it ends.

Oh man, am I ever perpetually dating myself (Xennial solidarity) with this reference but I don’t care, I’m going to keep pulling it out as this is simply who we are as Americans:

And—why not?— as a bonus to you all, I will just point out the downsides that Trump is perhaps not considering in the above calculations:

1. The price of gas is almost certainly going to shoot up (oil already jumped 10%) as Iran will disrupt the shipping of oil and other goods through the waterways they control.

2. This is ridiculously unpopular. Only 21% of Americans support starting a war with Iran, so Trump can kiss the midterms goodbye.

3. The MAGA base is now further fragmented. This will aid the fascist “cohort” that conservative filmmaker Jeremy Boreing named at the end of January in his interview with Triggernometry: “Tucker Carlson is part of a small cohort of people—cohort includes Marjorie Taylor Greene, cohort includes Steve Bannon, cohort includes Nick Fuentes, although I’m not saying that Nick Fuentes and Tucker Carlson believe all of the same things—but these are people engaged in an actual political project.”

4. Anti-Trump opposition is now further unified and energized. Leftists, liberals, moderates, independents, libertarians, populist-nationalists, conspiracy theory-obsesssed antisemites and even the NeverTrump Bulwark neoconservatives like me are now unified together against a war with Iran and it’s embarrassing to have to stand alongside some of these clowns. It sucks having to read stuff from people like Matt Walsh and agree with it:

   

5. This will further exacerbate global antisemitism. Yesterday on Facebook, I had to argue with an old coworker from 17 years ago who wrote that “we now have a government that is completely controlled by the nation of Israel. As long as Donald Trump is in charge this will not change. We are in this position because Israel provided underage girls for Donald Trump to rape for the last thirty years. Donald Trump is protecting himself by giving Israel everything it wants.” When pressed for evidence all he could point to was Jeffrey Epstein’s longstanding association with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Too many people are really stupid and this war will only inflame their emotions and confusion.

6. At some point, the regime may activate its terror cells around the world and we could see attacks on synagogues and other Jewish institutions. Prominent Jewish leaders need to be very cautious and consider extra security right now.

7. In addition to putting American troops’ lives at risk—three have already died—Trump has put himself, his family, and everyone working for him in greater personal danger by doing this. The Islamic regime in Iran is much more likely to attempt to assassinate him and/or others around him as retaliation.

One would think that this last point should have been enough to deter Trump from going along with the Israelis and Arab monarchies. But he’s probably just not thinking about it because he’s such an idiot.

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