The AI Slop Machine is Worse Than You Think [feat Mallory DeMille] (Conspirituality podcast #308)

Many of the ads and videos you see for supplements and health and fitness products (which might be scams) are being churned out using AI, and generating huge incomes for the creators of the videos, in addition to sales for the vendors.

Two months ago, we recorded Episode 291: My Chinese Buddhist Israeli AI Guru, surveying the growing field of AI slopfluencers churning out wellness supplements via Amazon affiliate links. At the time, we weren’t clear on who was behind these accounts.

Then Mallory DeMille went down a YouTube and TikTok rabbit hole and found the men making millions from these accounts. Today we’re going to look at what they’re doing, how they’re doing it, and the cultural and racial dynamics at play in their slop.
Interview:

https://www.conspirituality.net/episodes/308-the-ai-slop-machine-is-worse-than-you-think-mallory-demille

2 simple tests to see how your fitness compares with elite older athletes - The Washington Post

Measure your strength, power and coordination with these two simple fitness checks...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2025/10/16/fitness-test-senior-athletes/

From strength training in your 20s to yoga in your 80s: how to reach peak fitness at any age | Fitness | The Guardian

Can you hold a 60-second plank? How about tying your shoelace in mid-air? Here's how to test your fitness in every decade of life…

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/may/31/how-to-reach-peak-fitness-in-every-decade-of-life 

 

Brief: The Cult of Crossfit (Conspirituality podcast)

When cultural and psychological anthropologist Katie Rose Hejtmanek set out to study Crossfit, she knew she had to throw herself into it fully. For seven years, she traveled to “boxes” around the world while committing herself to her local Brooklyn box. What she uncovered was a rabid fan base that deeply values community and a business model that offers a refreshing response to unfettered capitalism—as well as the misogyny, racism, and militarized Christian themes that inform this beloved and despised fitness regimen. She joins Derek to discuss her new book, The Cult of CrossFit: Christianity and the American Exercise Phenomenon.

Interview: 

https://www.conspirituality.net/episodes/brief-the-cult-of-crossfit

5 Exercises That Fix 95% Of Your Problems

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI4AW9Jis40

How fit are you? 11 ways to easily test your strength, balance and mobility – and make them all better

Can you touch your toes, get up from a chair using just one leg, hold a plank for 30 seconds? If you want to take care of your body, the first step is to take stock of it…

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/dec/19/fit-test-strength-balance-mobility-plank-body

Harris praises John Kelly for sending ‘911 call’ to the US over Trump’s fitness to serve

"He's going to sit there – unstable, unhinged, plotting his revenge, plotting his retribution, creating an enemies list," Harris said. "My list will be a list of how I address and continue to address the issues that you all are raising this afternoon and evening. It will be a to-do list about how we can impact the American people."…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/24/kamala-harris-cnn-town-hall-pennsylvania-john-kelly

Paul Ryan faces GOP blowback after saying he won’t vote for Trump (MSNBC)

Ryan replied, “That’s a part of it. I think it really is just character at the end of the day, and the fact that if you’re willing to put yourself above the Constitution ― an oath you swear when you take federal office, whether as president or a member of Congress, you swear an oath to the Constitution ― and you’re willing to suborn it to yourself, I think that makes you unfit for office.”

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/paul-ryan-faces-gop-blowback-saying-wont-vote-trump-rcna156709

Biden’s doctor declares him “fit” and able to carry out his duties - The Washington Post

As Biden faces scrutiny over his age, his physician says he "fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations"…

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/28/biden-medical-exam/

Biden’s physician says he is ‘fit for duty’ at 80 years old | The Hill

President Biden is fit to execute the demands of his job, his physician said in a memo following a physical exam on Thursday, writing he "remains a healthy, vigorous, 80-year-old male."…https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3862215-bidens-physician-says-he-is-fit-for-duty-at-80-years-old/

‘Fascist fitness’: how the far right is recruiting with online gym groups

"The danger of these groups lies, firstly, in their emphasis on transforming activists into soldiers that might be motivated to commit acts of violence. And, secondly, in the community they create, where members start to associate sometimes real, positive change in their lives with fascism," said the organisation's annual assessment of the extreme right...

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/mar/06/fascist-fitness-how-the-far-right-is-recruiting-with-online-gym-groups

In 'Mr. 80 Percent,' An Intimate Portrayal Of Surviving Prostate Cancer (On Point)

The story of a Boston Globe reporter who decided to document his life with prostate cancer via a new — and very personal — podcast.
Interview:
https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2020/09/25/prostate-cancer-an-all-too-common-disease-thats-rarely-talked-about

Higher step counts could lower risk of early death, study finds

It may be worth dusting off the fitness tracker when you head out on your government-approved stroll: researchers have found higher step counts are associated with a lower risk of early death. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/24/higher-step-counts-could-lower-risk-early-death-study-finds

Napolitano: Trump's 'dog whistles of lawless behavior' call into question his fitness for office | TheHill

Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano said Monday that President Trump's "foul language" and "dog whistles of lawless behavior to many of his supporters" call into question "the president's fitness for office.”
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/469963-napolitano-trumps-dog-whistles-of-lawless-behavior-call-into-question-his

'Extremely stable genius': Trump defends his mental fitness as he tears into Pelosi - POLITICO

"She's not the same person. She's lost it," Trump said of Pelosi.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/23/trump-stable-genius-1342655

Pelosi says Trump wants to be impeached and is angry that House Democrats are not moving in that direction - The Washington Post

President Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi traded insults Thursday in a high-stakes power struggle between the two party leaders, with the president calling her “crazy Nancy” and the Democrat suggesting his White House aides and family “should stage an intervention for the good of the country.”...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/schumer-calls-trump-a-get-nothing-done-president-as-blame-game-continues-after-aborted-white-house-meeting/2019/05/23/304db368-7d4e-11e9-a5b3-34f3edf1351e_story.html

Don’t like the gym? Do these simple activities instead - The Washington Post

While writing this paragraph, I stood up and sat back down five times, swiveled a bunch in my chair, walked to the kitchen to make a pot of tea, brushed my dog, made my bed and performed at least six seated leg crisscrosses with my feet raised a good 12 inches off the floor. To the casual observer, this might look like a bad case of procrastination, but it all counts to boost my non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or NEAT, which is essentially the energy I burn when I’m not sleeping, eating, resting or deliberately exercising.....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/if-you-build-more-activity-into-your-day-you-might-be-able-to-skip-the-workout/2019/04/29/8755dd2a-61f1-11e9-bfad-36a7eb36cb60_story.html

Kellyanne Conway’s husband calls for ‘serious inquiry’ into Trump’s mental state: ‘It’s nuts — it’s a disorder’ - Raw Story

Prominent Republican attorney George Conway called for a 'serious inquiry' into President Donald Trump's mental health. Conway, who is married to White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, is a longtime conservative activist in Washington, DC. Conway, labeling Trump as "Summa Cum Liar," posted of video of Trump inaccurately claiming Judge Amy Berman Jackson exonerated him on...
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/03/kellyanne-conways-husband-calls-serious-inquiry-trumps-mental-state-nuts-disorder/

This Is the Effect Working Out Has on Your Bones - VICE

How active you are as a kid affects your bones forever. ....
https://tonic.vice.com/en_us/article/ne5zg8/this-is-the-effect-working-out-has-on-your-bones

2 forms of exercise are the best way to stave off the effects of aging — here’s how to incorporate them into your life - Business Insider

If you're searching for an all-natural way to lift your mood, preserve muscle tone, and protect your brain against the decline that comes with aging, look no further than the closest mirror. One of the most powerful means of reaping these benefits is exercise - and in many cases, you already have everything you need to get it: your own body. ...
http://www.businessinsider.com/best-exercises-slow-aging-2018-4