Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · 7d

The Penguin Book of Cults is in the Settle Times:

New October paperbacks err on the spooky side

From horror for a spooky start to the month to nonfiction for those not looking for a fright, these new paperpacks offer something for everyone.

www.seattletimes.com

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · 8d

We need to create a whole new "School House Rock" type series to explain what is happening in 2025.

How the Supreme Court is fast-tracking Trump’s cases on its ‘shadow docket’ | CNN Politics

As President Trump continues to test precedents, the Supreme Court is seeing a high number of “shadow docket” cases. Here’s why that’s so controversial.

www.cnn.com

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · 12d

Here's an interview I did for Some Place Under Neith.

WTF LDS Interviews: Joe Laycock

Podcast Episode · Some Place Under Neith · 09/17/2025 · 1h 10m

podcasts.apple.com

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · 14d

cbsaustin.com/news/local/t...

Texas State to reinstate professor fired over remarks at socialist conference

A professor fired by Texas State University after making remarks at a socialist conference earlier this month will be reinstated, he told CBS Austin on Friday.D

cbsaustin.com

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · 15d

I think this is the same strategy used by Francis. A progressive pope can soothe conservative Catholics by making the exorcists feel included.

Pope Leo XIV sends message to exorcists gathered in Rome

Pope Leo XIV addressed a message to the approximately 300 exorcist priests who gathered in Rome from Sept. 15–20.

www.catholicnewsagency.com

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · 17d

Natasha and I have had a lot of students lately who are majoring in concrete. It seems a bit overspecialized to me, but Texas loves construction and it loves concrete, so maybe they're on to something.

Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · Sep 6

"These are cases where people are in distress, and I don't think it helps to have a couple of people who have no training and no clinical background show up, tell you it's a demon, and walk away with book and movie contracts," Hendrix said.

The demons in 'The Conjuring' movies may not be real -- but the family tragedies are

The lucrative franchise is based on real stories — and the professional ghostbusters who saved the day. But critics say the real-life couple profited off of people's pain.

www.ideastream.org

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · Sep 4

My new book drops October 7: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/771266...

The Penguin Book of Cults: 9780143138693 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

A chilling documentary history of the most notorious cults of the past two thousand years, from the Celtic druids whose ritual sacrifices inspired the folk horror film The Wicker Man all the way up to...

www.penguinrandomhouse.com

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · Aug 27

It's the Raelians.

With shirts off and breasts out, women rally for equal exposure laws on Boston Common

Topless protesters hit Boston Common to advocate for a bill allowing women to bare their chests in public. The protest was co-organized by a fringe religious group based on a belief in UFOs.

www.masslive.com

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · Aug 23

"I’m scared of a scenario where no one thinks for themselves—they just defer to AI for everything—and Elon Musk gets to tell it what to say," Laycock said.

God in the Machine: Inside the Growing AI Religious Movement - Decrypt

Scholars say tech worship isn’t new, but warn that AI faith may stem from loneliness and mental health struggles, not divine truth.

decrypt.co

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · Aug 23

"Catholic Church Sex Abuse Scandals Push Chileans to Join Temple of Satan As Hundreds Apply for Membership"

(This is not TST headquartered in Salem)

MSN

www.msn.com

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · Aug 23

Are those not typical of tantric exorcisms in Mumbai?

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · Aug 16

I'll be in San Antonio October 18 at the Texas Spirit Gathering to talk about a very spooky topic . . . Marian apparitions!

Texas Spirit Gathering

The Texas Spirit Gathering brings together leading experts on the occult and Spiritualist history.

texasspiritgathering.com

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · Aug 13

"🤘🏼😈🤘🏼Dive into the dark, often misunderstood world of Satan with Gary and Dr. Joseph Laycock on Splintered Spirits! This isn't your Sunday school lesson."

Podcast | Splintered Spirits

www.splinteredspirits.com

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · Aug 13

The headline sounds like Dead Alive: "I kick ass for the lord."

He's a black belt in BJJ? Someone with even a little BJJ training should be able to restrain a 62 year-old church lady without slapping her or pulling her hair. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

Martial arts champion priest beat woman during exorcism, police say

A black belt priest allegedly performed an exorcism and beat a 62-year-old female parishioner during a mass in Brazil last Thursday.

www.dailymail.co.uk

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · Aug 9

Hey kids! If you study hard, earn a phd, and get tenure— one day you too can field multiple calls from journalists writing about labubu dolls.

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Alan Richardson @alanrichardson.bsky.social · Jul 31

Turns out decades of writing sentences like “we leverage our core values as pillars around which we nimbly pivot to excel synergistically in the innovation ecosystem” didn’t produce universities that could enunciate, defend, or deploy academic values appropriately when an actual crisis arose.

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · Jul 31

Read to the part where the cops show up nymag.com/intelligence...

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · Jul 28

The arm of Cyprian the Mage.

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · Jul 24

www.asahi.com/ajw/articles...

Son of executed Aum founder acknowledged as new cult leader | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

The second son of executed Aum Shinrikyo leader Chizuo Matsumoto has emerged as the “second-generation guru” and de facto leader of the doomsday cult’s successor group, Aleph, according to the Public ...

www.asahi.com

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · Jul 20

"I am shocked that a Catholic priest is dishing out garbage and misguiding the Catholic families . . ."

Indian priest slammed for ‘defaming’ Virgin Mary- UCA News

Father Ashlyn Chand draws ire for warning about ‘satanic cult’ related to distorted portraits of Mary

www.ucanews.com

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · Jul 17

Penguin is making an audio version of "The Penguin Book of Cults." They're going to have five narrators and they just sent me mp3s of auditions from voice actors. This is probably the only situation in which a professor gets to feel like a big shot director.

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · Jul 16

Full headline: "Cocaine-fuelled stepdad flew into rage over 'ritual exorcism' on 'possessed' boy then kidnapped and stripped elderly imam."

Stepdad flew into rage over 'exorcism on possessed' boy then kidnapped imam

Manchester Crown Court heard Azizur Rahman and Shohad Miah carried out the bizarre plot in Oldham in September 2024

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · Jul 15

In 1974, Michael Taylor was subjected to all-night exorcism in a Church of England church and then went home and murdered his wife. In that case too, it was a charismatic lay "prayer leader" who diagnosed him as possessed and initiated the exorcism.

Gay man subjected to ‘exorcism’ at Sheffield church receives compensation

Matthew Drapper at C of E’s St Thomas Philadelphia was told that ‘sexual impurity’ had let demons enter his body

www.theguardian.com

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · Jul 14

Me, discussing haunted Labubu dolls. (And still getting over bronchitis.) www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFtY...

Why Christian TikTok Thinks Labubus are Demonic

YouTube video by The Antibot

www.youtube.com

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Ro Khanna @rokhanna.bsky.social · Jul 13

Why are the Epstein files still hidden? Who are the rich & powerful being protected?

On Tuesday, I'm introducing an amendment to force a vote demanding the FULL Epstein files be released to the public. The Speaker must call a vote & put every Congress member on record.

220 960 3.7K

Anthony Breznican @brezwrites.bsky.social · Jul 11

The right-wing backlash against #Superman this week got me thinking: Has this happened before?

That led to the discovery of these headline — from April 1940, when the official newspaper of the SS took umbrage at the comic book hero and ridiculed its creators.

My how times change ...

A 1940 newspaper clip from the Springfield Leader and Press, declaring: Superman Poisoning American Children, Irate Nazis cClaim."

"Superman Arouses Teutonic Anger" reads the headline in the Amarillo Daily News"

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · Jul 10

Please share this CFP for the second Gods and Monsters conference at Texas State.

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · Jul 9

Paintings of the Virgin Mary are evidence of a Satanic cult. This finally takes Satanic paranoia to its logical conclusion. It also shows why the paranoia can never be eliminated. You can be in a room full of Christian artifacts and *still* find secret Satanic symbols!

Catholic Priests Warn Of 'Satanic Cult' Circulating Distorted Portraits Of Mother Mary In Homes

www.freepressjournal.in

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Joseph Laycock @josephlaycock.bsky.social · Jul 7

"He personally witnessed the defendant shoving her fingers in the victim's mouth, saying the demons needed to come out. He also saw blood on the victim's chest and bedding. He placed Robinson in custody and took her to Lehigh Valley Hospital for an involuntary emergency health evaluation."

Gracedale Agency Nurse Performing Exorcism Now in NorCo Jail

lehighvalleyramblings.blogspot.com

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