From productivity hackers to dating coaches, from crypto bros to wellness influencers, when did the internet get taken over by gurus? Helen Lewis investigates. More
From productivity hackers to dating coaches, from crypto bros to wellness influencers, when did the internet get taken over by gurus? Helen Lewis investigates. More
Available Episodes
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Bonus Episode: Gigachads and Sigma Wolves
After The New Gurus was released, there was one question Helen Lewis was asked far more than any other: why are so many gurus men? Stuck for an answer, she journeys into the world of the Manosphere - home to 'Gigachads' and 'Sigma Wolves'.
Joining Helen on her journey is a reporter who once got (consensually) punched by the world's most Googled man, Andrew Tate, plus the former Love Island contestant and now successful podcaster, Chris Williamson. Helen also takes to the mat to find out why three of her original subjects - Sam Harris, Joe Rogan and Russell Brand - all studied the same hardcore martial art.
What do men want? The answer, it seems, is very long podcasts.
Producer: Tom Pooley
Sound design and mix: Rob Speight
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith
Original music composed by Paper Tiger
A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4
18/04/2023
28:30
8. Prophets of Doom
Jessica Lanyadoo thinks civil war is coming — she has seen it in the stars. But it isn’t just astrologers who think we’re living through an age of upheaval. Peter Turchin, a Soviet-born professor who studies historical cycles, has already seen one political system collapse in his lifetime. He calls this decade the Turbulent Twenties.
Could our collective anxiety explain the rise of the new gurus?
The New Gurus is a series about looking for enlightenment in the digital world.
Written and presented by Helen Lewis
Series Producers: Morgan Childs and Tom Pooley
Story consultant: Geoff Bird
Original music composed by Paper Tiger
Sound design and mix: Rob Speight
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith
A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
26/12/2022
28:35
7. Bitcoin FC
When Peter McCormack made a fortune investing in Bitcoin, he knew exactly how to spend it - buying his local football team. Helen Lewis travels to the ground of Real Bedford FC, where you can buy a half-time bacon butty in Bitcoin, to hear whether McCormack’s faith has been shaken by the "crypto winter".
How are McCormack and other crypto gurus like Layah Heilpern keeping the faith as the price of Bitcoin tumbles?
The New Gurus is a series about looking for enlightenment in the digital world.
Written and presented by Helen Lewis
Series Producers: Morgan Childs and Tom Pooley
Story consultant: Geoff Bird
Original music composed by Paper Tiger
Sound design and mix: Rob Speight
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith
A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
26/12/2022
28:24
6. Daygamers and Daydreamers
At Oxford University, fellow students remember Tom Ralis as a quiet, nerdy biology student who played percussion in the college orchestra. But even then, he had one ambition - to become a guru.
He reinvented himself as Tom Torero, a pick-up artist who approached women in the street for dates - a practice known as “daygame”. His transformation led to tragedy.
The New Gurus is a series about looking for enlightenment in the digital world.
Written and presented by Helen Lewis
Series Producers: Morgan Childs and Tom Pooley
Story consultant: Geoff Bird
Original music composed by Paper Tiger
Sound design and mix: Rob Speight
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith
A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
26/12/2022
28:34
5. Gazing into the Abyss
In 2018, a New York Times article anointed a group of taboo-breaking intellectual provocateurs as the 'Intellectual Dark Web'. David Fuller was one of those who found this loose grouping of dissident gurus like Jordan Peterson, Joe Rogan and Sam Harris intoxicating – enough to leave the mainstream media and start his own YouTube channel.
But, four years on, he is left wondering - where did it all go wrong?
The New Gurus is a series about looking for enlightenment in the digital world.
Written and presented by Helen Lewis
Series Producers: Morgan Childs and Tom Pooley
Story consultant: Geoff Bird
Original music composed by Paper Tiger
Sound design and mix: Rob Speight
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith
A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
From productivity hackers to dating coaches, from crypto bros to wellness influencers, when did the internet get taken over by gurus? Helen Lewis investigates.