The Veriditas Podcast: Heterodox Thoughts on Sex, Politics and Culture

Episode 7: Politics, Economics, and Culture with Professor Gigi Foster

Episode 7: Navigating Complexity: Politics, Economics, and Culture with Dr. Gigi Foster
In this episode of the Veriditas Podcast, Petra engages in an in-depth conversation with Gigi Foster, a Professor of Economics at the University of New South Wales and founder of Australians for Science and Freedom. They explore the distinguishing aspects of the current political and cultural moment, societal dissonance, and the impact of algorithm-driven realities. Dr. Foster reflects on her heterodox upbringing and its influence on her balanced perspective that values social welfare. The discussion navigates through her professional background, the importance of assessing policies like lockdowns through cost-benefit analysis, and the unintended consequences of such policies on the economy and society. They touch on the long-term psychological and economic effects of COVID-19 policies, and the rising inflation in post-pandemic times. Dr. Foster underscores the importance of open dialogue and institutional reform to rebuild society and prepare for future challenges. The episode also includes mentions of upcoming events and conferences aimed at fostering these essential conversations.
00:00 Introduction to the Veriditas Podcast
00:57 Guest Introduction and Background
02:02 Heterodox Thinking and Influences
04:43 Economics and Social Welfare
08:30 Political Perspectives and Leadership
12:43 Personal Background and Resilience
16:48 Life in Pittsburgh and Move to Australia
23:30 COVID-19 Policies and Economic Impact
33:01 Introduction to Co-Author and Research Background
33:17 Historical Perspective on Quarantine and Public Health
34:45 Assumptions and Evidence in Lockdown Policies
36:15 Mental Health and Wellbeing Costs of Lockdowns
41:17 Economic Impact and Lost GDP
42:15 Collateral Damage and Long-Term Effects
46:58 Media and Public Perception During COVID
54:38 Accountability and Future Reforms
01:03:12 Introduction to ANCO Capitalism
01:03:28 The Birth of Brownstone Publishing
01:04:08 Collaborations and Blogs
01:04:51 Estimating the Impact of COVID-19
01:05:23 The Science Behind Excess Deaths and Prevented Lives
01:11:07 Economic Consequences of COVID-19 Policies
01:13:40 Inflation and Lockdown Policies
01:21:26 The Importance of Public Discourse
01:22:12 Upcoming Events and Conferences
01:28:49 Concluding Thoughts on Collaboration and Hope
 
Bio
Gigi Foster is a Professor with the School of Economics at the University of New South Wales, having joined UNSW in 2009 after six years at the University of South Australia.  Formally educated at Yale University (BA in Ethics, Politics, and Economics) and the University of Maryland (PhD in Economics), she works in diverse fields including education, social influence, corruption, lab experiments, time use, behavioural economics, and Australian policy.  Her research contributions regularly inform public debates and appear in both specialised and cross-disciplinary outlets (e.g., Quantitative Economics, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of Population Economics, Journal of Economic Psychology, Human Relations).  Her teaching, featuring strategic innovation and integration with research, was awarded a 2017 Australian Awards for University Teaching (AAUT) Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning.  Named 2019 Young Economist of the Year by the Economic Society of Australia, Professor Foster has filled numerous roles of service to the profession and engages heavily on economic matters with the Australian community.  As one of Australia’s leading economics communicators, her regular media appearances include co-hosting The Economists, a national economics talk-radio program and podcast series premiered in 2018, with Peter Martin AM on ABC Radio National.
 
References
Gigi Foster Sanjeev Sabhlok (2022) Do Lockdowns and Border Closures Serve the "greater Good"? A Cost-benefit Analysis of Australia's Reaction to COVID-19. Connor Court Publishing.
Paul Frijters, Gigi Foster, and Michael Baker (2021) The Great Covid Panic: What Happened, Why, and What To Do Next. Brownstone Institute.
Gigi’s blog on Brownstone: https://brownstone.org/author/gigifoster/
Australians for Science and Freedom (ASF): https://www.scienceandfreedom.org/
ASF Covid Collateral film screening: https://www.scienceandfreedom.org/event/bring-a-friend-movie-night-documenary-film-screening-covid-collateral-renowned-specialist-panel-qa/
Gigi’s recently censored TEDx talk, ‘The Manipulators’ Playbook’ now hosted on Rumble: https://rumble.com/v6tart1-the-manipulators-playbook-gigi-foster.html
You can also read a transcript of the talk here: https://brownstone.org/articles/the-manipulators-playbook/
Two articles on the censorship by TEDx of Gigi’s talk
Maryanne Demasi, ‘When Ideas Become Too Dangerous to Platform’, Brownstone Institute, June 6, 2025.
Lance D Johnson, ‘TED talks suppressed a presentation about MANIPULATION because it exposes global power structures, their narratives, and tactics’, Natural News, June 9, 2025.
 
Inflation:
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-world-catastrophe-wrought-by-covid-lockdowns/
 
Miscarriage:
James Thorp - obstetrician talking about miscarriages: https://www.jpands.org/vol28no1/thorp.pdf
Michael Nevradakis, ‘Another Study Shows Higher Miscarriage Rate Among Women Who Received COVID Vaccines’, Children’s Health Defence, May 5, 2025. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/spanish-study-high-miscarriage-rate-covid-vaccine-women/
Mental health declining in Australia since the Covid-19 public health policies
https://www.aihw.gov.au/suicide-self-harm-monitoring/risk-factors/covid-19
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-05/abs-data-shows-mental-health-anxiety-depression-rising/102928618
https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/professional/youth-mental-health-enters-dangerous-phase
https://www.who.int/news/item/02-03-2022-covid-19-pandemic-triggers-25-increase-in-prevalence-of-anxiety-and-depression-worldwide#:~:text=In%20the%20first%20year%20of,has%20changed%20during%20the%20pandemic
Mainstream recognition regarding the ‘collateral damage’ of Covid-19 pandemic policies:
https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/rights-and-freedoms/publications/collateral-damage-report-australias-covid-19-pandemic

Episide 6: Feminism, Politics, and Class: A Discussion with Edie Wyatt

Exploring Feminist Politics, Class Struggle, and Ideological Conflicts with Edie Wyatt
In this episode of the Veriditas Podcast, Petra engages in an in-depth conversation with Edie Wyatt, exploring her perspectives on feminist politics, class struggles, and ideological conflicts within the gender-critical feminist movement. The discussion ranges from critiques of classical liberalism and gender identity ideology to personal reflections on Edie's upbringing in a working-class family, her journey through academia, and her experiences with political activism. They also delve into the contentious dynamics within the feminist movement, particularly the tensions between different factions and the role of social media in shaping public discourse. This episode provides a comprehensive look at the complexities and challenges facing contemporary feminism and broader societal issues.
00:00 Introduction and Initial Greetings
00:12 Shared Academic Backgrounds and Political Views
01:38 The Role of Classical Liberalism and Personal Ideology
03:31 Separation of Church and State
04:08 Weber's Influence and Understanding Perspectives
09:05 Personal Stories and Early Life
12:32 Challenges of Growing Up in Poverty
17:17 Education and Political Awakening
28:39 Feminism and Women's Rights
35:06 Defining Feminism and Its Political Impact
37:21 Critique of Modern Feminism and Media Representation
39:18 Internet's Role in Shaping Public Discourse
42:07 Middle East Politics and Feminist Perspectives
50:59 The Evolution of Leftist Politics
01:06:39 Internal Conflicts in Feminist Movements
01:09:36 The Structural Oppression of Women
01:09:55 The Role of Government and Market in Women's Protection
01:10:30 Workplace Protections and Male Pattern Violence
01:11:41 Chesterton's Fence and Feminist Conflicts
01:13:07 Debates on Feminist Politics and Genspect
01:13:19 Controversial Figures and Feminist Critiques
01:14:48 Class Issues and Gender Recognition Act
01:17:50 The Internet's Impact on Feminist Discourse
01:25:41 The Monetization of Feminist Conflicts
01:36:35 The Rise of Postliberal Feminists
01:41:39 Concluding Thoughts and Future Conversations
 
Bio
Edie is my real name but Wyatt is a maternal family name. I like to write about politics, God, culture and stuff. My specific interest is in the way governments are removing the rights of women by using gender identity ideology to redefine the legal vessel that holds all the rights of women, sex. I am also interested in talking about the life of women in the different stages, as well as grief and loss that has been a constant part of my life. I will share recipes as well as stories. That's it.
Edie’s author page at The Spectator: https://www.spectator.com.au/author/edie-wyatt/
Edie’s Substack, Culture & State.
Edie’s podcast, Welcome to the Dollhouse.
 
References
Edie’s Substack: https://msediewyatt.substack.com/ 
Edie’s writer page at The Spectator: https://www.spectator.com.au/author/edie-wyatt/ 
Edie’s podcast with Kit Kowalski, Welcome to the Dollhouse.
Edie Wyatt, 'My White Privilege Didn’t Save Me. But God Did', Quillette, December 7, 2020. 
Edie Wyatt, 'The Middle Class Takeover of the Left: The Left-Wing Political Appropriation of Grassroots Through Elitist Social Policies', Savage Minds, April 34, 2022. 
Edie Wyatt, 'The Classical Liberal Case for Feminism', The Spectator, 31 July, 2024. 
Edie Wyatt, 'AGP-gate: The Emerging Class Politics of Gender Critical', Culture & State, Substack, November 20, 2023. 
On this subject, see also:
Andrew Doyle, ‘The Bullying Fringe of the Gender-Critical Movement’, Dec 11, 2024, Substack.
Stella O’Malley, 'The Split', GenSpect, 11 November 2023.
Meghan Murphy, 'Why are women up in arms about a man in a dress?' November 16, 2023. 
Heather Heying, 'Autogynephilia at the GenSpect Conference', Natural Selections, Substack, November 13, 2023.  
 
Thanks for listening. Please support the Veriditas podcast by becoming a subscriber on Substack here.
 

Episode 5: Navigating the Complex World of Digital Rights and Censorship: An Interview with Andrew Lowenthal

This week in the pod I interview Andrew Lowenthal, all round expert on the censorship industrial complex and whip smart digital rights activist come COVID contrarian. In this conversation, Andrew and I discuss his background in digital rights and activism, his work with the Twitter Files, and the investigation into the misinformation and disinformation industry. He shares insights from his time working with NGOs in Southeast Asia, highlighting the evolving challenges in the field of digital liberties. He reflects on the shifts in progressive politics, the impact of government and corporate control over information, and the broader implications for freedom of speech. The conversation delves into how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced public discourse, government policies, and civil liberties. The episode also covers Andrew's current work, a project on U.S. government spending related to narrative control, and his upcoming book on the censorship industrial complex.
 
00:00 Introduction and Initial Greetings
01:08 Discussing Backgrounds and Personal Stories
02:39 Exploring Identity and Cultural Reflections
03:18 Controversial Topics and Social Issues
08:48 Professional Background and Digital Rights
13:35 Misinformation and Disinformation in Southeast Asia
19:13 Involvement with the Twitter Files
27:16 Censorship and Government Influence
31:54 Reflections on Liberal Democracy and Civil Liberties
46:09 Reflecting on Missed Opportunities
46:47 Isolation and Silencing of Dissent
47:35 Contradictions in the Rebel Community
48:22 The Role of Big Pharma and Trans Activism
48:47 Academic Perspectives on Power and Control
49:47 The Digital ID and Freedom Debate
50:30 Critique of Naomi Wolf and Public Perception
54:24 The Impact of COVID-19 Policies
01:01:27 Government and Big Tech Censorship
01:06:19 Database on Misinformation Funding
01:14:52 The Censorship Industrial Complex
01:17:32 Concluding Thoughts and Future Plans
 
Andrew’s bio
Andrew Lowenthal (Director) is a leader, writer and researcher. He worked closely with Matt Taibbi on the Twitter Files, breaking stories on the Virality Project, the Atlantic Council, and Australia’s censorship regime, and was the lead researcher and project manager for the Censorship Industrial Complex exposé. He also helped coordinate the Westminster Declaration.
He is the co-founder and former Executive Director of EngageMedia, an Asia-Pacific digital rights and open technology non-profit. He is a former fellow of Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, the Harvard Film Studies Center, and MIT’s Open Documentary Lab.
He writes on Substack at Network Affects and Racket.News, and tweets at @naffects.
 
References in the show
Andrew Lowenthal’s non-profit digital rights organisation – liber-net
Andrew’s forthcoming book - The Censorship-Industrial Complex, Skyhorse, 2025.
Andrew’s Substack – Network Affects - https://networkaffects.substack.com/
Liber-net’s searchable database of U.S. government grants awarded to fight ‘mis/disinformation’. Racket news reported on the database here.
 
Key articles and interviews
 
Twitter Files
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter_Files
Twitter Files Substack - https://twitterfiles.substack.com/p/1-thread-the-twitter-files
Andrew Lowenthal, ‘Twitter Files Extra: The Covid Censorship Requests of Australia's Department of Home Affairs’, Racket news, May 24, 2023. 
Australian Government Department of Home Affairs. Countering Violent Extremism. 
Counter Extremism Project. Australia: Extremism and Terrorism. 
Matt Taibbi, ‘Australia's Creepy Covid Cops’, Racket news, May 24, 2023.
Matt Taibbi, ‘The Twitter Files: The Censorship Industrial Complex with Matt Taibbi’, William F. Buckley Institute, Yale University, April 23, 2023. 
Kenan Malik, ‘The Twitter Files should disturb liberal critics of Elon Musk – and here’s why’, The Guardian, January 1, 2023. 
John Storey, ‘Australia Censored Episode 3: Free Speech and Civil Liberties Online with Andrew Lowenthal’, Institute of Public Affairs, 23 February 2024. 
Patrick Hannaford, ‘“It was horrible”: Pregnant mother arrested during Covid reveals the ‘huge strain’ her two year legal battle had on her and her family’, Sky News, July 10, 2023. 
James Dowling, ‘AstraZeneca vaccine withdrawn after fatal blood clot revelation’, The Australian, May 8, 2024. 
Engage Media. The Pandemic of Control: Digital Authoritarianism and COVID-19 in the Asia-Pacific. 2021.
Mattias Desmet, The Psychology of Totalitarianism, Chelsea Green, 2022.
Michel Foucault, The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perception, Routledge, 1994. Originally published in 1963
Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951.
Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, Pantheon Books, 1988
Toby Rogers, ‘There is no political left; what appears like leftism today is BlackRock, the WEF, & the CIA engaged in left cosplay’, UTobian, May 29, 2023. https://tobyrogers.substack.com/p/there-is-no-political-left-what-appears
Naomi Wolf, The Bodies of Others: The New Authoritarians, Covid-19 and the War Against the Human, Skyhorse Press, 2024.
C.J. Hopkins, Fear and Loathing in the New Normal Reich: Consent Factory Essays, Vol. IV (2022–2024), Skyhorse, 2025.
Giorgio Agamben, The State of Exception, University of Chicago Press, 2004.
Giorgio Agamben, Where are we Now? The Epidemic as Politics, Rowman & Littlefield, 2020.
Petra Bueskens, ‘The Paradigm Wars, Part-3: A Wrench in the Fabric of Reality: A New Paradigm’, UK Column, 26 June 2024. 
Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, Knopf. 2007.
QALY – Quality Adjusted Life Year.
Matt Taibbi, ‘Big Brother is Flagging You’, Racket News, 10 November, 2023. 
Michael Shellenberger on X, ‘Victory! Stanford Shuts Down Censorship Operation’.
Julia Steinberg, ‘My First Job, at the Stanford Internet Observatory, The Free Press, 19 June, 2024. 
Atlantic Council. Digital Forensic Research Lab.
Martin Kulldorff interview, ‘Fired by Harvard for Getting Covid Right’. UnHerd, 15 March, 2024. 
 
Liber-net’s new database
Greg Collard, ‘Do Your Own Research: Liber-net's Misinfo Grant Database’, Racket news, May 6, 2025. 
Rebekah Barnett, ‘How the US Government funded narrative control operations around the globe’, Dystopian Downunder, April 17, 2025. 
SOMA: Disinformation Observatory.
Peraton - https://www.peraton.com/
Emilia Terson, ‘Victoria's coronavirus 'single-person bubble' begins — and it's complicated for some singles in lockdown’, ABC News, September 13, 2020. 
Gigi Foster with Sanjeev Sabhlok, Do Lockdowns and Border Closures Serve the “Greater Good”? Connor Court Publishing, 2022.
 
Please support the Veriditas podcast by becoming a subscriber on Substack here.

Episode 4: "Conspiring to Ignite”: Exploring the Fourth Industrial Revolution with Jacob Nordangård

In this episode of the Veriditas Podcast, Dr. Petra Bueskens hosts Swedish author and researcher Jacob Nordangård to discuss his unique journey from a teenage heavy metal enthusiast to a PhD in Science and Technology Studies. Nordangård shares insights into his studies on the historical and financial roots of global management systems, including climate change and the fourth industrial revolution. The conversation delves into the influence of the Rockefeller Foundation and other powerful groups on environmental movements, the education system, and public policies. Additionally, Nordangård discusses his latest work, which blends his academic research with spiritual and creative pursuits through music and writing. Throughout the discussion, he emphasizes the importance of integrity, truth, and spiritual connection in the face of technocratic control and societal shifts triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
00:00 Introduction to the Veriditas Podcast
01:05 Guest Introduction: Jacob Nordangård
01:57 Jacob's Journey: From Music to Academia
06:57 Exploring the Climate Change Narrative
19:26 The Rockefeller Influence
29:39 Challenges in Academia
38:28 The Media's Role in Perpetuating Bias
39:10 Margaret Sanger and the Rockefeller Controversy
42:06 The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Environmentalism
44:29 Public-Private Partnerships and Global Governance
47:39 The COVID-19 Pandemic as a Catalyst
58:29 Personal Journeys and Spiritual Awakening
01:17:11 Concluding Thoughts and Future Directions
 
Referenced in the interview
 
https://jacobnordangard.se/en/about/ 
 
Jacob Nordangård, The Global Coup d'État: The Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Great Reset, Skyhorse, 2024.
 
Jacob Nordangård, Rockefeller: Controlling the Game, Skyhorse, 2024.
 
A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order Paperback (2004) by William Engdahl 
Bellagio Centre, Italy - https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/fellowships-convenings/bellagio-center/
Mathew Josephson, The Robber Barons: The Great American Capitalists, 1861-1901 (1962) - https://www.amazon.com.au/Robber-Barons-Matthew-Josephson/dp/0156767902.
Agenda 21 - https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/outcomedocuments/agenda21
Agenda 30 – https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda 
Greta Thunberg to sail across Atlantic for UN climate summits: Teenage activist to travel to US on racing yacht to cut environmental impact of travel 29 July, 2019 - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/29/greta-thunberg-to-sail-across-atlantic-for-un-climate-summits
Richard E. Brown, Rockefeller Medicine Men: Medicine and Capitalism in America (1979), University of California Press. https://www.amazon.com.au/Rockefeller-Medicine-Men-Capitalism-America/dp/0520038177
The Corbett Report - The Rockefeller Medicine Video (2013) - https://corbettreport.com/rockefeller-medicine-video/
The Ludlow massacre - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_Massacre
Amy Westervelt, ‘Ivy Lee: The Godfather – the man who started it all’ (2021) https://drilled.media/news/ivy-lee
 
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Episode 1: Jennifer Bilek - Transgenderism is the reproductive front of transhumanism

Episode 1: Jennifer Bilek - Transgenderism: The Reproductive Front of Transhumanism
In this inaugural episode, host Petra Bueskens sits down with investigative journalist Jennifer Bilek to explore the intersections of technology, transgenderism, and transhumanism. Bilek shares her decade-long research into the philanthropic and financial backing of the transgender movement, revealing a complex web of big money from various sectors driving what she identifies as a new industry of 'embodied dissociation.' The conversation delves into the political, economic, and social implications of this funding, highlighting the deep connections to broader transhumanist agendas.
Guest bio: 
Jennifer Bilek is an investigative journalist who has tracked the funding of the gender industry for over a decade. She is author of Dispatches from The 11th Hour, a platform highlighting the connections between technology, transsexualism, and transhumanism. Her research into the philanthropic backers of the gender industry has been utilized for legal briefs, and platformed in myriad publications, films, and other media in the US and internationally. She has appeared on The Megyn Kelly Show, Steven Bannon’s War Room, and James Patrick’s Big Picture, and on various feminist platforms and podcasts. She has been featured in films such as No Way Back (2023), Gender Transformation (2023), and The Gender Delusion (2023). Her work has been published in numerous books and magazines, among which: First Things, Tablet, Human Events, The Federalist, The American Mind, and in the feminist anthology, Female Erasure.
 
Links to articles, books and podcasts discussed in the show 
Jennifer's new book -Transsexual Transgender Transhuman: Dispatches from The 11th Hour https://www.spinifexpress.com.au/shop/p/9781922964106v
Jennifer Bilek - The Billionaire Family Pushing Synthetic Sex Identities https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/billionaire-family-pushing-synthetic-sex-identities-ssi-pritzkers
Jennifer Bilek - The Billionaires Behind the LGBT Movement - https://firstthings.com/the-billionaires-behind-the-lgbt-movement/ 
Jennifer Bilek - Trans Ideology Awash with Big Money from Big Biomed and Big Pharma -  https://newsweekly.com.au/newsweekly/life-marriage-family/58023-gender-politics-trans-ideology-awash-with-big-money/
Fourth Industrial Revolution - https://www.weforum.org/focus/fourth-industrial-revolution/ 
Martine Rothblatt - From Transgender to Transhuman - https://www.amazon.com.au/Transgender-Transhuman-Manifesto-Freedom-Form/dp/0615489427 
Terasem - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terasem_Movement 
Trish Wood is Critical - episode 248: David Affler and Ann Bauer on Switching Sides - https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/david-affler-and-ann-bauer-on-switching-sides/id1513237951?i=1000669492980