Aug 9, 2026 · 1 hr 31 min · 13 segments
For millennia, alchemists obsessed over the Philosopher's Stone, throwing untold amounts of money in to trying to turn lead into gold. But in the 19th century, a highly organized network of…
And I guess we're at the inevitable point now where j- just through sort of this quest for, like, hidden knowledge has created these, these secret societies-
Yeah
... who have then operated in secret for a long time.
They know secrets, and then-
[laughs]
... we- we're at the point now where they're like, "All right, well, let's just fucking, you know, case this joint."
That is the thing.
I mean, it's, it's, it's, it's weirder than I would like.
Like, I'm a rationalist, you know? I like, I wa- I wa-...
I like things nice and, uh, you know, clean and simple-
I don't
... empirical and, and, and, and, and all that.
I don't like this weird shit.
Um-
Yeah
...
but it, uh, makes sense really, like when you think about, you know, these, these groups doing this stuff.
Like, it's people doing things, uh-
Yeah
... it's gonna have an effect on stuff, and it's good to know what that is.
Yeah.
Um, so yeah.
And-
[laughs]
And I guess the, what is the, uh, central, like, underlying thing that is sort of like, uh, keeping this whole occult underground alive and moving is the quest to transmute lead into gold.
And I guess we're at the inevitable point now where j- just through sort of this quest for, like, hidden knowledge has created these, these secret societies-
Yeah
... who have then operated in secret for a long time.
They know secrets, and then-
[laughs]
... we- we're at the point now where they're like, "All right, well, let's just fucking, you know, case this joint."
That is the thing.
I mean, it's, it's, it's, it's weirder than I would like.
Like, I'm a rationalist, you know? I like, I wa- I wa-...
I like things nice and, uh, you know, clean and simple-
I don't
... empirical and, and, and, and, and all that.
I don't like this weird shit.
Um-
Yeah
...
but it, uh, makes sense really, like when you think about, you know, these, these groups doing this stuff.
Like, it's people doing things, uh-
Yeah
... it's gonna have an effect on stuff, and it's good to know what that is.
Yeah.
Um, so yeah.
And-
[laughs]
And I guess the, what is the, uh, central, like, underlying thing that is sort of like, uh, keeping this whole occult underground alive and moving is the quest to transmute lead into gold.
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