A blunt, unsentimental dive into propaganda, ideology, and the contemporary cult of belief.
Host Todd Thompson dissects how both corporate and collectivist power structures manipulate guilt, fear, and identity to keep the herd in line. From Ellul and Chomsky to Didion and Camus, the show fuses political philosophy, field experience, and gallows humor to expose how revolutions become religions, and how “progress” often hides new forms of control.
The X-Pod is an autopsy of the narratives that shape us: digital Marxism, moral theater, and the algorithmic priests of the new faith. Expect philosophy with scars, historical context with teeth, and the rare luxury of an honest sentence.
Episodes
Wednesday Aug 06, 2025
Wednesday Aug 06, 2025
The Sacred Lie: Enlightened Masses, Media Manipulation & Digital Pentecostalism
In this sharp-edged, high-density solo episode of the Toddzilla X-Pod: Escaping the Cave, Todd Thompson takes a sledgehammer to the sacred myth of democratic wisdom. Are “the people” really wise and self-governing—or are they dopamine-driven echo chambers manipulated by narrative engineers?
Using thinkers like Walter Lippmann, H.L. Mencken, Edward Bernays, Jacques Ellul, Jonathan Haidt, and Neil Postman, Todd dissects the machinery of consent and the myth of the Enlightened Voter. He explores how social media rewires brains, how propaganda evolves into an ecosystem, and why moral outrage trumps rational thought in the Age of the Algorithm.
Highlights include:
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The myth of the rational electorate and the machinery that exploits it
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Bernays’ vision of democracy as a theater of persuasion
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Jonathan Haidt’s “elephant and rider” model as the operating system of tribal politics
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Tristan Harris, humane tech idealism, and why you can’t out-design human nature
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Digital Pentecostalism, identity marketplaces, and the religion of The Crowd
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A scathing rejection of both populist saviors and technocratic elites
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The call for epistemic rebellion and radical individual thought in a conformist age
Fast-paced and intellectually packed, this episode hits propaganda, technology, digital addiction, tribal identity, and ideological theocracy in under 30 minutes. Not for the faint of thought.
Stream now and don’t miss Todd’s weekly shortwave show on WBCQ The Planet—Mondays at 10PM Eastern on 7490 kHz.
More audio and written content on Substack and YouTube.
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