October 2, 2026 • 64 mins
The annual Bilderberg Conference is one of the world's most elite get-togethers. Aristocrats, banking tycoons, arms dealers and more claim this is just a few pals getting together to hang. They also claim these meetings result in no actual laws or policy -- yet as Ben, Matt, and Noel discover in the second chapter of this two-part episode, these claims are... cartoonishly untrue. Despite noble intent, people at the top of a society rarely question that society's structure. Bilderberg is a bubble. And, soon, that bubble may burst.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
From UFOs to psychic powers and government conspiracies, history is
riddled with unexplained events. You can turn back now or
learn the stuff they don't want you to know. A
production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Hello, welcome back to the show. My name is Matt.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
My name is Noel.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
They call me Ben. We're joined with our guest super producer, JJ,
the Causeway, Pauseway. Most importantly, you are you, you are here.
That makes this the stuff they don't want you to
know previously. In an earlier episode, we looked around, guys,
and realized that for almost two decades in to the
(00:54):
life of our show, We have never aired an audio
investigation on the Bilderberg group. Until now.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
It's because we're terrified of them.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Yeah, and we're terrible at our jobs. That's not true. Well,
you'd think we would have gotten to it, man, because
like we said on the last episode, it really is
one of the big fives. Maybe that's too many. But definitely,
you know, you could count on one hand how many
mega secret societies people know about and talk about. And
the Bilderbergs are definitely one of them, though probably the
(01:26):
one that people know the least about. I certainly didn't
know much.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Definitely the one we want to know more about. But
shout out to Chatham Rules, right? We are never going
to know what this what these specific people are. talk
about in detail, we can guess. And like you were saying, Noel,
we did have an entire first chapter of this series.
(01:53):
So fellow conspiracy realists, if you have not heard the
first chapter of our series on the Bilderberg group, please
stop here. We're going to, we'll hang out with you
and listen to that first episode of Because if you don't,
what we're about to get into may make us sound nuts.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
That's okay. I'm okay with that. I've made peace with that, Ben.
Is this a real quote? Golf is an affront to
God and we're against it? What?
Speaker 2 (02:24):
What?
Speaker 1 (02:26):
That is a real quote from Dr. James Stout.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
What a thing to say. What a position to hold.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Oh, yeah. I remember that.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
We just talked to that dude. He said that in
this show, you can find it on Netflix right now.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
I wasn't there for that one.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
That makes sense. This is not printed.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
This was said IRL. Well, we need some, uh, we,
we do need some levity before we get into the
deep water. So I have to ask you, uh, Well,
I have to tell you, you were very much missed
in our interview with Dr. Stout. We tried to do
you proud, and I have to know, man, what's your
opinion on golf?
Speaker 3 (03:04):
I quite enjoy golf video games for whatever weird reason.
I don't really care about that many sports-type games, but
something about playing golf games, even old ones, like NES ones,
where you have the little swing gauge and you have
to time it just right and then get your line,
your target lined up. But no, I don't have much
(03:27):
use for it in the world particularly, especially living near
the East Lake Golf Course, which really clogs up traffic
when the PGA is in town.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
I'm so happy to hear that because Matt and I
are texting James right now. And Dr. Stout's main question
is how you feel about gold. Cool.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Well, I'm on the fence, man. I mean, I'm sort of.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
You're on the green.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
I'm ambivalent. I also grew up very near the Augusta National. Yeah,
there it is. That's us texting.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Oh, do it.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Don't worry, James. We're talking about texting you right now
on Netflix.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Matt, hit him with an emoji at the end.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Definitely. Was there a golf club or a ball or
tee emoji? Hit him with that one.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Guys, talking about secret societies, I grew up near and
in the shadow of the Augusta National Golf Course where
they hold the Masters, which is like the ultimate of
ultimate kind of exclusive golf courses, clubs, and tournaments where
a lot of shady deals have been made throughout history,
I'm sure.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Some Bilderbergs hung out there.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Gosh, just on the links. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
They're doing their thing. They're definitely, I would posit, been
members of the Bilderberg group at the Masters. Statistically, they
had to be, right?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Yeah, but if you're a member of the Bilderberg and
you're at the Masters, you are not down there with
the masses hanging out, you know, with the lines being
real quiet, waiting. Oh, something cool happened. Yay! What?
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Instead, you are in a very exclusive high security area
and you have a peasant who comes and tells you
what happens on the golf course.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
In between deals.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yeah, in between deals. Here are the facts. So for
a quick recap, the official Bilderberg narrative tells us that
one of the world's most exclusive get togethers, right? Something
very close to the legends of Illuminati. It begins on
May 31st, 1954, because a small group of very concerned
(05:35):
Europeans with no ulterior motives were really worried about a
third world war. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
I mean, that's not something that we're not worried about today.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Well.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Well, boy, back in 1954, the fires were burning cold, guys.
And it is important to note that this meeting took
place at Hotel de Bilderberg in Oosterbeek in the Netherlands.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
That means East Beek.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
And it wasn't just like, everybody, all right, everybody get in.
We're going to have this quick meeting and we're going
to get out. It was basically a conference, the way
you imagine any conference these days that lasts two or
three days. And it's multiple people talking.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
It's a big deal.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Everybody breaks for lunch at like 1 p.m. I don't
know what time they have lunch. But it's a big
organized thing.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Yeah. And they try to Noah's Ark it in the
first meeting. And they say, OK, we're going to choose
two people as representatives from each country. And one of
them is going to be what we think is conservative.
And one of them will be what we think is liberal.
And we're going to just sort of let these people
(06:50):
do their hot takes, off-the-record discussions. You run a banking institute.
Are you a Nazi or were in the past? Fine,
grab a sandwich. Tell us what your take is on
monetary policy in Germany or something. And they don't officially
(07:13):
make decisions in this group, though. That's the idea. But
the problem is, as we found in chapter one, the
official Bilderberg line about no policymaking decisions during the conference
is impossible to prove or disprove. And I think, guys,
we're pretty sure that decisions are in that cabal.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Well, I mean, especially as we're seeing now with the
way this current administration is kind of carrying itself in
terms of like pay to play type stuff that they
don't even seem to be bothering to hide. It really
does go to show how so many of the things that,
you know, government officials say they will and will not
do are a matter of like decorum and just kind
of history and legacy rather than like actual actionable ways
(08:02):
of preventing these things from happening.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
A hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
I wonder if we can just read a couple of
things from that Bilderbergmeetings.org website really quickly just as a recap.
Because they do say every year approximately like 120 to
130 political leaders, sometimes more, sometimes less. They're experts from industry, finance, labor, academia,
and the media. They go there. Two-thirds of the people
(08:28):
who are there are from Europe. The rest are from
North America. one third of those people from those different
places are from politics and government and the rest from
other fields. So it really is, you're talking about it
being impossible to prove if those kinds of deals happen, Ben,
and according to the rules, the deal cannot happen there.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
But what does for sure happen is this.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Between all of these folks who are in these high
level positions and that moment is sometimes all it takes to,
especially when one of those people was just talking for
45 minutes about, oh, I don't know, eugenics or whatever
they were going to talk about that year in 1954.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Sure, maybe they were talking about cars, but definitely eugenics. Also,
that's the point. That's the reason we keep going back
to these statistics, folks, because if you look at the
official claims of Bilderberg, and then you look at what
happens before and after this annual conference, you have to realize,
(09:35):
like you were saying, Matt, you hang out at a
barbershop long enough, you.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
Get a haircut. And you might also get a shave.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
You might also get a shave. And we might get
a shave for this one, folks. We looked at the
Illuminati in depth. I think we did some pretty solid
myth-busting along the way, but... The Bilderberg Group is genuinely...
dangerous we have some solid evidence to prove it and
(10:05):
this is where we're gonna pause for uh what we've
started calling schrodinger's sponsor.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
There might be an ad break here or not we'll
find out right now.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
You guys remember schroeder from uh The Peanuts cartoons? He
played the piano. Yes! Nothing to do with anything. Bad
break here?
Speaker 1 (10:24):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Let's see.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
And we're either back or have been here the entire time.
Here's where it gets crazy. Guys, let's talk a little
bit about why these conspiracies are so, beat me here,
are so f * * * ing plausible. You got
to look at, we always say it, Matt and Noel,
you have to look at the board members of any
(10:48):
big organization. You have to learn a little bit more
about the past and present of those individuals and their
connections with other people in that demographic. And Matt, I
remember we were talking off air before we went into
chapter two. and you found some interesting folks, right?
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Oh, yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Well, I've got a huge list here. We named a
lot of them in the first episode, and those were
the current steering committee as of 2026. Shout out Stacey Abrams. Yeah,
Stacey's in there. There's all kinds of interesting people in there.
The editor-in-chief of Bloomberg LP, John McElhoyt. He's in there
hanging out. Nadia Shadlow of a big old think tank,
(11:35):
the Hudson Institute. You'll find him. You can find him.
Lord Mark Sedgwill.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Oh, I love it, Lord.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Can we also just really quickly, I've been watching The Gentleman.
What a show. Can we just say real quick, we're
also not implying that just because you're a member of
the Bilderberg group means that you're inherently some sort of
evil doing Nazi type, right?
Speaker 1 (11:52):
No. We're just saying you're in the same room.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
You sure are.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
We're saying that historically- you have been hanging out at
a problematic conference. And just for an example of why
we think these conspiracies are plausible, you can look through
past years when the notices of attendees or participants have
(12:17):
filtered out. And you'll see folks like, of course, Henry Kissinger. Boo.
And you'll see folks like David Petraeus went in 2015,
CIA director.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Come on, man. Isn't he a general as well, of note?
Speaker 1 (12:34):
He is, he is. He what?
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Seems like, oh, we talked about that in the other episode.
It seems like a good idea to put a military
person with lots of wisdom and experience in that role
rather than just an appointee.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
But who knows?
Speaker 3 (12:46):
What do I know?
Speaker 2 (12:47):
What do I know? CIA, FBI, just let them, whoever
run them.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Cash the Patels, roll the dice.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
That's what I'm saying. Now, that is the current and
then former steering committee members. If you go to the
website builderbergmeetings.org, you can also find a huge list of
former steering committee members. The folks that come together and say, hey,
this is where we're going to have our meeting this year,
our conference. We are going to figure out the financing
(13:16):
for food and all this other stuff. And then, you know,
a bunch of other wealthy, powerful people come and they
have a grand old shindig. But the steering committee, they're steering, okay?
On this website, you can find This person, who is
listed at the top of the list for former steering
committee members. Bernard of the Netherlands.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
That's his title? He goes by Bernard of the Netherlands?
Speaker 2 (13:41):
He's also known as Bernard, Prince of the Netherlands. Prince
of Lippe-Biestefeld.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
Oh, good, Matt.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Here's the best one, you guys. And I'm not kidding.
This is directly from Britannica. Bernard Leopold Frederick Everhard Julius
Kohart Karl Gottfried Peter.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Peta. Peta. Peta.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
There we go. Guys, I mentioned the gentlemen a moment ago,
and I think it's on my mind because of how
it does a really good job of showing this aristocracy
and this landed gentry class that we don't really have
in the same way here. But it does involve their
ability to infiltrate politics and you know, essentially impose their
(14:25):
own business interests onto lawmaking bodies.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
And a lot of those meetings happen off the books.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
In smoky lounges and things like that.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Yeah. They're also kind of silly when you think about it.
Evil is often, sadly, kind of silly.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Evil wears a funny hat.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Right, right. There's some decayed aristocrat saying, My grand uncle
told me that mother would love this idea. Right. And spoiler,
I think it, Noel, is it the film, The Gentleman,
or is it the series where they have the secret
cannabis farms? This is correct. That is mild spoiler. Not really.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
It happens in the first episode. But, yeah, it's the
most Guy Ritchie thing Guy Ritchie has done since, like,
Snatch and Lock, Sock, and Two Smoking Barrels. I highly
recommend it. Matt, you told me about it initially, and
I slept on it. And then our boss and buddy, Connell,
reminded me of how much he was enjoying it, and
so I dug in, and I've been digging the crap
out of it.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Very good.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Dude, heck yeah. Well, guys, would you mind if we
took a few more moments to talk about Bernard of
the Netherlands?
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Please, God.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Okay, here's why we're talking about him.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
He was a chair.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
There's a list on that website that shows, you know,
the members. There's a huge list. These are the former
steering committee members. You've got honorary secretaries general and you've
got chairs. So the chairperson of the steering committee. Bernard
is at the top of the list of the chairpersons
of the Bilderberg meetings. He was the son of Prince
Bernard Casimir, the nephew of Leopold IV, the last reigning
(16:03):
prince of Lippe-Bistefeld. And in 1933, Guys, he was a
member of something that I've never encountered before. Something that
calls back to our recent conversation, Noel, you and I
had with Antonia Woloshin. This guy was a member of
the Reiter SS, the Calvary of the German Army. Schutzstaffel,
(16:27):
I don't know how to say that correctly, but yeah,
that SS, the German one.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
You're killing it with your pronunciations today, man.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Well done.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
Wait, so the SS, that's not to be confused with
Hitler's guard?
Speaker 2 (16:39):
It is the SS, but it is a version of
that where they all rode horses. It's basically a cavalry.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
The mounted SS. Yes, yes. In 1933, he was a
member of that.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Then in 1936, while hanging out in Paris, France, he
was working with this thing called IG Farben, which is,
at least according to Britannica, a complex merger of German
manufacturers of dye stuffs. That's the word Farben.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Farben's color, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Pharmaceuticals and chemicals. Yes, it was a giant chemical cartel. Guys,
so just imagining... That the first chairperson of a thing,
like the first person at the head of this thing
you want to create is a prince with this kind
of background. It just begins to maybe make the public, us,
(17:37):
the we people of the world, begin to ask questions, right?
It's that thing... Huh. I wonder what that's all about.
If that guy's leading this thing. So we've talked about
cartels in the show quite a bit. Uh, cartel is
just a bunch of people that are working together, right?
Speaker 3 (17:51):
Consortium.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
They're cooperating with each other for the betterment of all.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Sometimes doing some vertical integration. Ben, as we've learned over
the years of what vertical integration is like with companies, um,
In this case, with chemicals, you know, and pharmaceuticals and
dyes and things like that. Well, here's a note about
IG Farben, again from Britannica. It's a long one. Strap in.
During World War II, IG Farben, IG Farben, established a
(18:19):
synthetic oil and rubber plant at Auschwitz in order to
take advantage of slave labor. The company also conducted drug
experiments on live inmates.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
Oh, jeez.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Human experimentation. After the war, several company officials were convicted
of war crimes. In 1945, IG Farben came under Allied
authority because, you know, the Allies won World War II
and all. Its industries were to be dismantled or dismembered
with the stated intent, quote, to render impossible any future
(18:51):
threat to Germany's neighbors or to world peace, unquote.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
Ben, Matt, sorry. This is like the Bayer Company.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
As well.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
This is to do with the... Yes. Talk about corporations
being able to shake off these kinds of troubled histories.
I mean, they're still around, flipping aspirin, aren't they?
Speaker 2 (19:08):
This is why history is so important, you guys, because
I honestly never would have known this if we weren't
doing this episode right now today. Just finish this little
piece in Britannica to give us that history. In the
western zones of Germany, because we just talked about how
the Allies are going to break this whole cartel up, right? However,
In the western zones of Germany, especially as the Cold
(19:31):
War advanced, this is just what we talked about, Noel.
As the Cold War advanced, this disposition toward liquidation lessened.
It started to go away. And eventually, the western powers
and the West Germans agreed to just split up IG
Farben into three independent units. One called host h o
(19:52):
e c h s t bayer and b a s
f the chemical corporation or whatever chemical company whatever they're called.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
They make the videotapes that's how i put them And
what we were talking about, too, on that episode with
Antonia was this kind of goes in lockstep with their
sort of slowdown regarding denazification. This idea that we're going
to make a big show of it. We're going to
do the thing. We're going to make the people pay.
And then maybe a little less so and a little
(20:20):
less so until there's a new status quo that involves
some of the same power players that had some very,
very troubled backgrounds.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
And shout out to Britannica. for their diplomatic euphemisms. And
we're huge fans of Britannica. I love reading them, actually.
Shout out to lessening disposition for liquidation.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
Yeah, exactly. I was trying to translate a little bit, 100%.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Well, I mean, again, there's a realization, hey, there's an
enemy we all need to be worried about. Let's put
our powers together. Even if, you know, you were experimenting
on human beings at Auschwitz, it's fine. It should be
known that this cartel, IG Farben, isn't one big thing
where everybody, every group, every company, every manufacturer is doing
(21:13):
the exact same thing. But as several places have put
it that I've seen, it was decentralized in the manufacturing,
in the things that they did. But there was centralized leadership, right?
So there were people making the decisions up at the
top about what they were going to do to test
(21:33):
these chemicals on humans.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
I just have to say, I googled, wasn't the Bayer
company racist before you had mentioned them? And the AI
overview response was, yes, the Bayer company has a deeply
dark history rooted in the systemic racism, anti-Semitism, and human
rights atrocities of the Nazi regime.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Yeah, we've talked about, Ben, I can't remember the episode
right now off the top of my head, but we've
talked about Bayer in depth. in a couple of places.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Yeah. Really breaking it down. Yeah, you know, no corporation
is perfect, but if there was a bad guy award,
Bear would be one of the companies that gets a shout-out.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
So if you're still with us here, we're talking about
the first chairperson of this secretive organization and things that
he was a part of. It should be noted that
the Prince of the Netherlands... at some point, a little
after 1936, when he was in Paris hanging out with
IG Farben, he did decide to, I believe, lead the
(22:32):
Dutch against the Nazi forces. So he did, in some way,
change his mind, switch sides or something. We can't say
anything to the motivations or any of that stuff, but
he did find love when he was there in Paris, guys,
so that may have changed some things. But for our
purposes today, For thinking about the Bilderberg Group and why
(22:53):
it is so conspiratorial for so many, there's one last
thing in here in the biography of Prince Bernard, or
Bernard of the Netherlands, that I think maybe shows us
what the Bilderberg Group could do, potentially, and you would
never understand it was happening until you read some news
(23:14):
like this. In 1976, Prince Bernard was implicated in a
bribery scandal involving the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. After initial revelations
in the United States Congress, a special Dutch commission found
that he had accepted large sums of money from Lockheed
for promoting Dutch purchases of aircraft manufactured by the company.
(23:39):
To me, it doesn't... You can't prove that anything happened
at a Bilderberg meeting to make that happen, right? That
bribery scandal.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
Sure, because that guy goes to a lot of meetings
that are very similar to the demographics of Bilderberg.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Shaking hands with people constantly in palaces and nine-star hotels.
They make those, by the way.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
Just kidding.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
But this guy just, for him to be the head
of this thing and to be involved in all of
this stuff, it does truly, fully give me pause. And
I do wonder how many other people, when you hear
something like that, You go, oh, yeah, God. And he's
only one on the top of the list here. To
give you one more, the second person on that list.
(24:28):
So we got a prince at number one. The second
on the list is Alec Holm of the Hercel, a.k.a.
Sir Alec Douglas Holm, a.k.a. Alexander Frederick Douglas Holm, 14th
Earl of Holm, a.k.a. Baron Holm of the Hercel of Coldstream, a.k.a.
Lord Dunglass.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
The best of all of them. Lord bless.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
This dude was a British foreign secretary, then prime minister
for a full year over there in Great Britain. Then
he was the conservative opposition spokesman in the House of
Commons on foreign affairs, then a foreign secretary again. And
it just this dude ran in those power circles.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
Right.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
And he is the second chairperson. I haven't even looked
up Walter Scheel or Eric Roll of Ipsden or Peter
Carrington or Etienne Davion or Henri de Castry or Victor Halberstadt.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
I could listen to you pronounce aristocrat names, you know,
for a whole podcast worth of time.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
It's just so strange. It's almost as if it's. royalty
or near royalty? What do you call that, Ben, when
it's just a lord or an earl or something? It's
not quite the full monarchy?
Speaker 3 (25:45):
Sorry, yeah, what is that called?
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Aristocracy, right?
Speaker 3 (25:47):
I think that's right. Okay.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
But I mean, what you're kind of talking about, Matt,
is sort of the undergrounding of monarchy. You know, like
those decisions are still happening and filtering through those elite bloodlines.
They're just not happening so much in the public eye.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Yeah, not above the full.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
We're going to pause here for a word from our
sponsors and we'll be right back. Hopefully, guys, hopefully.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
All right, we're back with more about the Bilderberg Group.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
At this point, we also have to talk about the money,
not just the underpinnings of a monarchical group. Can I
say that?
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Monarchical?
Speaker 1 (26:32):
You can.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
You done did.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
But that's not the right word, right?
Speaker 2 (26:35):
I think it is.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
I would say monarchical. If it's not, then it should be.
And I think it is now.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Sorry, everyone. I'm still learning English. What we know, what
I think these excellent points show us is that the
big issue is doesn't just go back to nepotism doesn't
go back to just you know the personal biographies of
some very troubling dudes it also goes into the financial
(27:04):
interactions right we could call it even financial nepotism if
we wanted to right because money likes money right and
money gets to know money.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Dude and just that the concept that uh we talked
about in that first episode it is europe Reaching across
the Atlantic to the United States and making friends and
sharing information and making deals, you know, it's not, it
doesn't state that they're making deals in any way. In fact,
that's prohibited, but they are making connection, right? To do
(27:38):
these kinds of things. And then just Prince Bernard's thing
with Lockheed. That's like directly what that freaking was.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Guys, I'm more and more intrigued with the idea of
financial nepotism. What do you mean?
Speaker 3 (27:55):
It's inheritance. I mean, it's legacy.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
On a more figurative level, I'm also thinking like, The
idea that money likes meeting other money.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Especially old money, because there's even distinctions. And then when
I say old money, I'm talking about that legacy money
or the very definition of it being aristocracy, you know,
bloodlines that can be traced back to royalty. And they
continue on, you know, having these royal titles. But then
they don't, that kind of money doesn't always like new
money either.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
They don't like the nouveau riche.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
They don't. They think they're gauche and they don't necessarily
want they don't think they have the best, their interests
don't align in the same way. Let's put it that way.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Yes, Ed, a perfect illustration at that point. I'm not
going to name names so we can keep doing the show,
but one of my favorite old money quotes that was
such a hard diss, there was some old landed gent
who had the Hilton family mentioned to them, During the
(29:00):
time when Paris Hilton was very much in the zeitgeist.
And they said, oh, the Hiltons, are they still renting rooms?
Speaker 3 (29:09):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Yeah. Those are haters, folks.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Well, imagine the difference between somebody that gets handed down
a castle, right? Grandma or grandpa dies and you inherit
a castle and all the land surrounding it. And now
those folks who live on that land are forced to
pay you for your rent, right?
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Dr james stout's hometown that that's that's.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
Exactly right so that versus uh oh i'm going to
borrow money from a bank start a corporation and then
we are going to begin to build hotels or repurpose
buildings into hotels and then building an empire out of
that that is weird.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
But but are they still renting rooms.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
But the question is How is it possible that that
massive corporation, like the Hilton group or family and all
that stuff, how could it ever be possible that that
family doesn't have more money than an Earl or a
Lord over in Great Britain?
Speaker 1 (30:11):
A lot of those folks are actually kind of broke, man.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
That's what I've heard, too. That is also keeping up appearances.
I mean, the cost to maintain those kind of manners.
I mean, absolutely insane. But then you do have the
rare cases that kind of keep hold of that legacy
money and that legacy control, because it's not only about money.
It's about who your grandpapa met with on the links or,
(30:36):
you know.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Yeah. And whose hand he shook. Right. At the Masters.
So this is a part of the. conspiracy argument we're
building here, folks, the we're building here, folks, is that
funding provides an obvious vector of influence and that can
too easily verge into corruption. So when we were when
(30:59):
we decided this had to be a two parter, we
were about to talk about the problem with Bilderberg's like
who pays for it question. They got a small office
out there in Holland. And every year at this office,
they don't like the term leaders. The steering committee, the organizers,
(31:22):
decide which country will host the next conference, the next
Bilderberg meeting. And if you're the host country, kind of
like having the Olympics in your country or the World Cup,
you are on the hook for a lot of stuff.
In the case of Bilderberg, you got to book the
whole hotel for four days. The whole thing.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
It better be a nine star.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
It's got to be a nine star, right? Above St. Regis,
you've got to, you can't let the serfs and the
peasants come in and God forbid, eat the macaroons or
what have you.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
Macaroon, the hoi polloi. Right.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
The pearls.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Do you, do you, did both of you guys see,
I think I asked you this the other day, the
second season of Utopia, the British version?
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Yes. Yes.
Speaker 3 (32:10):
I said I had, but I thought it was a
different show. So no, I have not.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
So Ben, do you remember the meetings from that season
that were happening? And it was always at a hotel
that was crazy nice. And it's the same kind of
group of people, leaders from across the board from a
bunch of different European countries and the, I think America
at the time, but I'm not sure. It may have
just been European countries, but they did that same thing.
(32:36):
Rent the whole place out so nobody can get in.
And except for the help, And gosh, where are our
conversations about the help?
Speaker 1 (32:43):
Why do those White House chefs keep drowning? Something we
asked a little while ago. It is super buttoned up
because the host country also does the security, catering, and transit. Yes.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
So much security. They even have a note on that
on the Bilderberg meetings website. I always wonder about the
fight club of it all, you guys. The help at
all of these hotels, the people who are there taking
care of all the food, the caterers, the bellboys and
all of these folks. I always wonder just if somebody
(33:25):
infiltrates that group before one of these big meetings, like
the moment that phone call comes in or a fax
comes through or somebody, you know, in a blacked out room.
I don't know. What would they be? A Rolls Royce?
Speaker 1 (33:38):
Oh, yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:39):
A Rolls Royce SUV.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
And that's a thing that exists.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
But the moment that it happens, I do wonder if
intelligence agencies end up, you know, becoming a waiter.
Speaker 3 (33:50):
To a bigger question, I mean, what was it? The Mormons, like,
being a prime candidate for, you know, recruitment by intelligence agencies? Surely,
whether they're putting themselves into these circles or recruiting people
who are already, like, I mean... it would be hard
to get into an elite circle of waitstaff very, very quickly.
(34:11):
So you almost got to wonder if they have agents
or snitches or whatever you might call them already kind
of embedded in those circles.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
So without getting too into the weeds, that's an excellent point, Noel.
Definitely there have been attempts to infiltrate Bilderberg in that way.
But the problem is a lot of those folks are,
at those meetings actually control or heavily influence intelligence agencies.
(34:41):
So they've already got, you know, their own pet CIA, right?
They've already got their own pet KGB or what have you.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
But they are kind of a, this group is kind
of like the NAFTA of secret societies, right?
Speaker 1 (34:55):
Also, just to finish this point out, the smart way
to do it is to take someone who's actually working
there is a waiter or a housekeeper and not try
to turn them, get one of your guys to befriend them, right?
Maybe have a romantic interest like we see in the
(35:15):
excellent show, The Americans.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
And then compromise them.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Yeah, yeah. Just casually ask them, you know, like a
French indie film, you're in bed in black and white
and you're smoking a cigarette. After having made love. And
then you go, so what do they talk about, darling? Like,
that's how it happens.
Speaker 3 (35:35):
Or, you know, get compromise on them and then force
them to do your bidding and to report back to you.
You know, I think that would be a popular move
as well.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
Or you could just make sure the LG TVs are
installed in all the hotel rooms in common areas.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
Yeah. You'd be good.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
And this is. taking us all back to the questions
they have to ask themselves at that central office in Holland.
To fund everything, you're the host country, right? Congratulations. You
have to pony up some of your own cash. You'll
get a little help from members of the steering committee,
(36:12):
as well as some Bilderberg participants who have what they
call a paid subscription. And then you get a lot
of help From big corporations, Nokia, Xerox, IG Faber. I'm
kidding on that last one. Barclays. But the one that
really freaked me out, you guys, Heinz.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
Heinz don't have a round. I do.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
I do.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
I mean, they make other things. I like their 57 sauce.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:39):
And that's another like almost borderline American aristocracy kind of line.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:44):
The Heinz family. On par with the Hiltons in any case.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
I mean, but that reasonably- And that's a great comparison,
the Hiltons and the Hines. That reasonably leads a ton
of critics to say, what are these corporations getting for
their investment? Right. This is not altruism.
Speaker 3 (37:06):
And they're certainly not putting up big signs or like,
you know, sponsoring the event in terms of like the Hines,
you know, rotunda.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
Or, you know, like some sort of big tent or
event space.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
Heinz presents former CIA director's opinion on Ukraine.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
So to that point, like, you know, usually when corporations sponsor,
let's say, the Masters, they're getting an association and they're
getting advertising space. Or the company is, like, the golf
course is using their products or whatever. This is not that.
This is something else.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
This is a different beast.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Just for anybody that doesn't know.
If you've ever been to Comic-Con or Dragon-Con, any of
the nerdy ones, or just any kind of conference like this,
like Podcast Movement, guys, is the best example I can imagine.
We work with a lot of third-party companies outside of iHeart,
and they will drop tens of thousands of dollars... On
(38:00):
a booth! Or to plaster the side of an escalator
so that the human beings... hundreds of thousands, sometimes human
beings that go through a huge conference, get to see
your advertising, get to see your, your logo and some
new show or something that's happening that, that there's so
much money in that. And it makes a lot of sense.
(38:21):
Like Noel is saying, but Ben, I can not. What,
what do you get? 120 really, really good potential, uh, customers.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Right. Right. Or, or, Potential revenue sources or new directors.
What is the ROI? What's the return on investment? That's
the hard question that more people should be asking. Like
we can easily see how a ketchup giant like Heinz
would pour a chunk of cash. I don't know the
(38:56):
right word. Yeah. What's the word for that? Well, they would...
Gloop or sloop in a chunk of cash.
Speaker 3 (39:03):
Got to hold it at an angle to get the
cash out.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
Yeah, at an angle, slowly, hitting the bottom. And they
would say, okay, we are funding one of the world's
most exclusive shindigs. We get to hang out with the talent, right?
That's the question that comes up.
Speaker 3 (39:20):
It's pay to play, man. And that's why I brought
up the current administration, because I think it's such an
instructive view inside the way these kinds of things have
been operating for centuries. This particular administration just seems no
longer interested in hiding the way these handshake deals work,
because we're seeing it happen with pardons. We're seeing it
happen with legislation around industry. We're seeing it happen, especially
(39:43):
with Citizens United and the knock on effects down the
road where we are now from that. where you're seeing
corporations in the same way doing campaign contributions to the
tune of millions and millions of dollars. And what do
they get for that? I wonder what happens when the
law changes immediately after. You're getting something for your money.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
Yeah. This is the thing, though. To put a fine
point on it. I'm sorry I keep waving around this
fake pin. I'm doing prop comedy, guys. To put a
fine point on it, the This is the kind of
access that is way out of reach for a lot
of innocent nonprofits. Not all nonprofits are innocent, obviously. It
(40:27):
is also far beyond the reach of the average individual
non-elite voter. You can't talk to these people, but a
ketchup king can.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
Oh, we got to take a break. Quick shout out
to Christian Sewing of Deutsche Bank AG. We see you
on the list, buddy. We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (40:53):
And we have returned.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
Dude, I just imagined next year's Bilderberg meeting that's brought
to you by like Manscaped and Casper Mattresses.
Speaker 1 (41:02):
I love it. Dude, I was thinking the same thing.
Give it time. I was thinking like, what is the
most ridiculous sounding company that could have enough money to
touch the Bilderberg.
Speaker 3 (41:13):
To your point about podcast movement in particular, the whole
reason that an event like that takes place is for networking.
I mean, that is the nature of these types of gatherings.
Only the stakes are a hell of a lot lower
at a thing like podcast movement, but you, we've been
in on conversations where we've taken pitch meetings or been
part of things where someone was trying to sell a
(41:33):
show or, you know, promote talent or whatever it might be.
And that is where those deals get made. And they
usually don't get made on the show floor. They usually
get made like having drinks in the lounge afterwards or
going for a fancy dinner or whatever.
Speaker 1 (41:48):
After the party, it's the after party. That's right. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
It's the private karaoke rooms where everybody's singing at each
other in different languages.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
Oh, right. Yeah. We cannot confirm the extent of this
untoward influence on outside podcasting realm, obviously, because of the
secrecy involved, like we, to be completely objective and fair,
we don't know whether a ketchup executive has a quick
chat over coffee and that leads to the nation of
(42:18):
France rethinking tariffs on tomato imports or products. But we
do know it absolutely could happen and it could happen
so easily with no way for the outside world to
prove it. And I, in the interest of like devil's
advocating here, I hate to say it, but operationally that
(42:39):
could be kind of cool because now you're bypassing ocean's
worth of red tape. You're making changes immediately without countless committees,
without a bunch of, you know, grandstanding, distractive discourse, all
the public debate. So, If you really had noble intent, right,
(43:02):
if you're trying to prevent World War III, if you
truly are, and if you're trying to make the world
a better place, this would be a fast way to
do it. You could kind of speed run saving the world.
I don't think that's happening. I think it's corrupt.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
Can I just say that when I mentioned that golf
quote from Dr. James Stout, I actually had the wrong
document open. And I was convinced that this was a
quote that was the header for this episode because it
utterly makes sense. Golf is an affront to God and
we're against it. But if you just change affront to God,
to democracy, that kind of falls in line because these
(43:37):
types of events and meetings are sort of inherently anti-democratic.
Speaker 1 (43:42):
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (43:42):
That's the whole issue at play here, I think.
Speaker 1 (43:44):
Right.
Speaker 3 (43:45):
Voters have zero say in any of this. They're not
able to elect any of these individuals in any way,
shape or form. And the people they do elect largely
are getting their marching orders from people in these sets.
Speaker 1 (43:54):
Yeah. I mean, it's kind of an argument for centralization.
You hear what I'm saying when you say if they
have good intent, they could bypass a lot of the
checks and balances, right? Yeah. But I don't think... I
think people like to say they have good intentions, right?
(44:17):
When they're going in the meeting and the ketchup guy
is shaking hands with some dude from the Netherlands and
he's saying, oh, I hear your son's at this fancy
private school. You got to meet the headmaster. He's a
good friend of mine. He is also a huge fan
of ketchup. Where do you land on tomatoes, your highness?
(44:42):
That's how this stuff works. And there's a lot of
really interesting, weird sociology about this. We mentioned in episode one,
a guy named Professor Parker, and he had this excellent
piece in the conversation where he says, okay, so this
guy specializes in organization and culture. He studies groups and
(45:06):
he studies social dynamics and he is not persuaded. that
the Bilderberg Conference is harmless. He thinks it's not only
a real conspiracy, but it's a conspiracy that all of
us tuning in tonight have encountered at some point. It's
the idea of groupthink, otherwise known as being bubbled or
(45:27):
having a hive mind, right? How would we describe groupthink?
Speaker 3 (45:31):
Is that a term that comes from 1984?
Speaker 1 (45:33):
Or is that.
Speaker 3 (45:35):
It certainly would be perfectly at home in 1984. Just
this idea of Yeah, I mean, it's just easy to
be influenced by those around you that have shared backgrounds
and shared kind of goals. It's real easy to sort
of fall in line and not realize you're doing it
and also to very quickly lose any and all perspective.
Speaker 1 (45:58):
Perfect. Take that, Britannica. Noel nailed it. You're absolutely right, man.
So Doc Parker... is writing about exactly this in the
case of Bilderberg, exactly what Noel just described here. These
folks will tend to live, right, in a bubbled existence
(46:20):
because they're at the tippity top of various social hierarchies.
And if you are at the top of a system,
you will tend to rationalize that system, right? You only
fly first class, you only eat, what's the fanciest food?
Speaker 3 (46:37):
Caviar!
Speaker 1 (46:38):
You only eat caviar. You're on a weird diet. You
only fly first. You only fly in private jets. And
you look around at the world that you benefit from
and you say, well, this is great. This makes sense.
It is right. It is just. It is correct. And
he actually, can we go to Doc Parker? There's a
(46:59):
wonderful quote that he does perfectly. I think this sums
it up.
Speaker 3 (47:04):
For sure. And just to add, I mean, it's one
of those things where you think It's like being born
on third and thinking you earned it or like that
you're somehow more intelligent than those that weren't. Obviously, some
people that are very intelligent get make their way to
becoming very successful individuals. But a lot of this legacy
stuff we're talking about, not to say that these folks
are inherently lazy or like do nothing, but it didn't
(47:26):
exactly work to get there. But they are imbued with
the sense that they are superior because they are there.
And therefore, the decisions that they think benefit most this population.
particular echelon or this worldview are more valid. Not only that,
they're also defending what they've got tooth and nail against
anyone else who would try to horn in on it
(47:47):
or take it.
Speaker 1 (47:48):
Yeah. The Overton window gets very close to zero sum games, right?
So here's the quote real quick, guys. Quote from Doc Parker.
If you spend much of your life occupying the first
class compartment on aeroplanes, he's British, so A-E-R-O. Aeroplanes, it
(48:09):
doubtless becomes logical to assume that there is some virtue
to the system that has put you there. Your filet
steak always tastes better if it has been accompanied by
a small side helping of self-congratulations. I didn't think about
that one, man.
Speaker 3 (48:27):
No, it makes a lot of sense. It's the most extreme,
unrelatable version of the bubble situation that often we even
can find ourselves in in terms of information. And it
being very easy, especially with the Internet, to fall into
an echo chamber where you're only reading things that already
support your worldview and therefore you somehow think everything else
(48:47):
is invalid or wrong. ill-informed or in some way kind
of less than, right?
Speaker 1 (48:52):
Yeah, or somehow off. And that's what's happening. I love
that you're pointing out that happens to everyone on some level.
That's how social dynamics work. But in the case of Bilderberg,
because as you're saying, these folks have so many powerful
old connections, they are highly unlikely to consider serious change
(49:18):
to a system that benefits them. Radical reforms that might
endanger their occupancy of the tippity top of the pyramid,
they're not going to hear about it or they're not
going to, as you said, take it seriously because those
reforms are could result in them having less, less influence, right?
(49:38):
Less control, fewer physical assets. And they would look past
these reforms, not because they think they're evil. It doesn't
occur to them. It's not in their bubble. Even when
those serious social reforms could create measurably positive benefits for
(50:00):
for the rest of humanity.
Speaker 3 (50:02):
Well, I think that's where the concept of the banality
of evil really comes in, too, because when we think of,
let's say, the French monarchy and aristocracy, and I know
that Marie Antoinette didn't say let them eat cake, but
that attitude, you know, it makes sense that she would
be so walled up in her castle that she just
couldn't see what was going on outside and just assume
that everything she was doing was only a matter of,
(50:25):
you know, preserving what she had and the life that
she had within those walls.
Speaker 2 (50:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (50:30):
It's a banana. How much could it cost, Michael? Right.
That's the idea.
Speaker 2 (50:36):
Guys, I just found something that is puzzling, and I
wonder what you think about it.
Speaker 1 (50:40):
Ready? Yep.
Speaker 2 (50:41):
There's another website. Ben, you probably have this in your
research doc. I cited this only one time in my notes,
but I'm just seeing how much depth there is to
this new website. Bilderberg.club. Oh, no.
Speaker 3 (50:57):
They got a.
Speaker 1 (50:58):
Club?
Speaker 2 (50:58):
Sick. This one has every, it has notes on every
single year of the meetings.
Speaker 1 (51:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (51:08):
So I am looking at the year 1991 where the
meeting took place at the Steigenberger Hotel in reunified Germany,
eight months after unification. One of the primary folks that
was invited there Was a guy from Arkansas, a governor
(51:34):
named Bill Clinton.
Speaker 1 (51:35):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 (51:35):
He shows up at the Bilderberg meeting, hangs out- He's.
Speaker 3 (51:39):
A Fulbright scholar too, Matt. Fulbright.
Speaker 1 (51:41):
Plays a little saxophone. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (51:44):
But- But just to imagine that he is, well, I
mentioned the Rhodes Scholars.
Speaker 3 (51:50):
Oh, my mistake. Was he a Fulbright or Rhodes?
Speaker 2 (51:53):
I don't know what he was.
Speaker 3 (51:54):
Doesn't matter.
Speaker 1 (51:54):
He was a Fulbright or Rhodes. I think it was Rhodes.
Speaker 2 (51:59):
Anyway, I'd love to believe that that was the case. Well,
he was hanging out with Vernon Jordan, his mentor over there.
And do you guys remember the year that old Bill
William Clinton was elected president of the old USA? The
year after.
Speaker 1 (52:14):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (52:15):
This was in June. Goes to Bilderberg meeting, then he
gets elected. It doesn't have anything to do with anything,
just a tiny little thread, right?
Speaker 3 (52:20):
Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar, by the way. And can
you remind us, was the Rhodes Scholarship or the organization
that led to that, was part of sort of some
of the original connections with Bilderberg?
Speaker 2 (52:31):
Oh, I don't– there's so much more to learn here.
Speaker 3 (52:34):
No, you mentioned it in this episode, man.
Speaker 1 (52:35):
I'm almost lost. I mentioned it.
Speaker 2 (52:37):
I mentioned that in the current steering committee, there is
somebody who a member of that steering committee is Chrystia
Freeland from Canada. She is the CEO, I believe, of
the Rhodes Trust, which is the thing that makes the scholarship.
Speaker 1 (52:51):
And in our first episode, we also mentioned, drawing from
some of the same sources, cases like the 2009 dinner
party that resulted in the selection, not election, of the
president of the EU. This stuff does happen. Foxes are
(53:16):
going to raid hen houses and always make sure a
hen house exists because that system works, but they're never
going to make huge strides in hen house security. You're
never going to see a bunch of people hanging out
at a Bilderberg conference and doing things in-depth self-criticism, right?
(53:38):
Or systematic criticism. Instead, you're going to see a small
world where a lot of people throw around attaboys. And
we're not saying they're jerks. We're just saying they've got
a lot of cultural reinforcement. They're tweaking the system to
their benefit. And they call that the greater good because
they're saying, it's so good how this keeps getting greater
(54:00):
for me, you know? Also, Henry Kissinger was super deep
in there. And anything that Kissinger is super deep in,
you should not trust.
Speaker 3 (54:10):
All right.
Speaker 1 (54:10):
Sorry, he caught me stray on that.
Speaker 3 (54:12):
No, man, he deserves it, even post-mortem.
Speaker 2 (54:16):
Ben, guess who was there in 91?
Speaker 1 (54:18):
Was it Henry Kissinger?
Speaker 2 (54:20):
Yeah, there was a leaked list of agenda topics. One
of them was the practical agenda for the alliance with
Henry Kissinger among the panelists.
Speaker 1 (54:33):
Okay. All right. Well, yeah, he was there. He was
a big fan of the Bilderberg Group from 1957, when
he became a regular member, all the way up to
his very fortunate demise. You really hate this guy, Ben.
Speaker 3 (54:49):
And I'm with you.
Speaker 1 (54:50):
Thanks, Phil. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (54:52):
Wait, guys, Gordon Brown, that name sounds so familiar to me.
Was that a prime minister?
Speaker 3 (54:58):
Sure was.
Speaker 1 (54:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (54:59):
When was that?
Speaker 1 (55:03):
Not too long ago.
Speaker 2 (55:03):
He was after Blair.
Speaker 1 (55:05):
After Blair, right?
Speaker 3 (55:06):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (55:06):
And not related to Noel.
Speaker 3 (55:08):
No. That I know of. I think I'm more out
of Scandinavian stock.
Speaker 1 (55:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (55:14):
He was hanging out at that 91 Bilderberg meeting with Clinton,
which is really interesting to me. Just like the fact
that these people that are in government, but maybe, you know,
just not that governor is a huge deal here in
the U.S., But it's not the same, right? Even as
being a senator, sometimes, sometimes government is way bigger than
being a senator. It just depends on what qualifications you're
(55:35):
looking for. But in this case, you know, Gordon Brown
at the time in 1991, he's just kind of hanging
around there, you know, he's doing his thing. He's having
a good old time.
Speaker 1 (55:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (55:46):
But he was like a shadow. Well, he was Labor's
shadow trade and industry secretary, which is.
Speaker 3 (55:53):
Shadow is in the title?
Speaker 1 (55:54):
Yeah, because it means you're not the I.
Speaker 3 (55:57):
Know, but they could do a better job of making
the title way less sinister.
Speaker 1 (56:00):
Yeah. Yeah. At those in the in that political system,
you if you are not the dominant party, you already
will have roles and responsibilities that you have created. in
case you become the dominant party or the dominant coalition,
which is why you call it a shadow government.
Speaker 2 (56:19):
But, dude, you're going to love this. Also listed right
next to Gordon Brown is John Smith, and he's just
titled Shadow Counselor.
Speaker 1 (56:27):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (56:29):
Answers directly to the Shadow King.
Speaker 1 (56:31):
And I think more shadows should have therapy. So I
love the idea of a shadow counselor.
Speaker 3 (56:36):
For sure.
Speaker 1 (56:37):
You know what I mean? Check in.
Speaker 3 (56:38):
Equal rights for shadow people, man.
Speaker 1 (56:40):
Yeah, the shadow people. And here's our question. This all
leads us to, we've done our best to build a
pretty solid case for the Bilderberg conspiracy. Our question then becomes, folks,
we need your help with this. Should we be concerned? Yes.
Speaker 3 (56:58):
I think yes.
Speaker 1 (56:59):
Yeah. Noel, where are you at?
Speaker 3 (57:02):
I'm fine. It's fine. Everything's fine.
Speaker 1 (57:04):
We had two yeses and an it's fine.
Speaker 2 (57:07):
Man, I'm still in 91. This is why I'm concerned.
This is all matching up with exactly what you're saying
and where you're leading us, Ben. In 91, they also
included Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Sophia of Spain,
and the Prince of Orange, the future King Willem-Alexander. They
were observers of the meeting. They were not participants of
the meeting. But again, this monarchy thing that we're talking
(57:29):
about at the top of the show is just there like...
Walking around on the edges?
Speaker 3 (57:35):
You think they have scepters and crowns and jewels?
Speaker 1 (57:38):
I hope so.
Speaker 3 (57:39):
Glistening jewels?
Speaker 1 (57:40):
Two people who have to hold the cape when they
walk around?
Speaker 3 (57:44):
That's the thing, man. They look just like the rest
of us, only wearing nicer suits.
Speaker 1 (57:49):
I like that observation. We also have to tell you, folks,
the statements from Bilderberg itself do not help calm the
waters of New World Order conspiracies. I always think of
a statement made by one of the co-founders, a fellow
named Dennis Healy. In 2001, he went on record, and
(58:12):
by this time he had been deep in Bilderberg for decades,
and he said, to say we are striving for a
one-world government is exaggerated, but not wholly unfair. Those of
us in Bilderberg felt we couldn't go on forever fighting
one another for nothing. and killing people and rendering millions homeless.
(58:34):
So we felt that a single community throughout the world
would be a good thing.
Speaker 3 (58:39):
Can I just say, in theory and on paper, I'm
not opposed to this in some ways. Like this idea
of a more centralized form of government that takes into
consideration the needs of everyone. But the problem is, who's
in control of this society? One world government, and it's
not necessarily someone that has the best interests of everyone.
Speaker 1 (58:59):
Who's in the catbird seat.
Speaker 3 (59:00):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (59:01):
I think we know, guys. It takes us back to
that old, old, old tale of the Corporation of London
or the City of London Corporation.
Speaker 1 (59:10):
Oh, man.
Speaker 2 (59:10):
The Washington, D.C. as being like had to be a
separate thing from a state. It takes us back to
those financial powers that are directly connected between between especially,
you know, Britain.
Speaker 3 (59:25):
It's just the idea of does the monarchy still run America?
That was an episode we did, I believe.
Speaker 1 (59:31):
That is, yeah.
Speaker 2 (59:32):
It's that there is a power of– this is a
conspiracy that there is a power far beyond the monarchy,
far beyond the parliament, beyond Congress and all these things
that is just the financial powers that have direct connection
across the Atlantic, again, between Washington, D.C., And the City
of London, because there is a square mile. Look into this,
(59:54):
because you can find some crazy stuff about there's a
square mile that is controlled specifically. I think it's called
the City of London Corporation or the London Corporation.
Speaker 1 (01:00:03):
It is, and it's run by legacy guilds from the
Middle Ages. And I spent some time there, and it's
a trip, man. I didn't get to join one of
the guilds. Even, like, the barrel guys are tough to
get in. Wow, man.
Speaker 2 (01:00:19):
Why would you want to be in there, Ben?
Speaker 3 (01:00:20):
That sounds crazy. Barrels are sick, man. I want to
learn how. I want to be a barrel-making apprentice. Get
me up in that guild.
Speaker 2 (01:00:29):
But I'm not kidding, guys, because I feel like I'm
going nuts here. In these meetings, and we highly recommend
you go to the websites, builderbergmeetings.org and the brand new one, builderberg.club.
Look at this stuff because we talked about the financial connection, Ben.
There are heads of Bundesbank there the people who are
(01:00:52):
it's a lot of financial human beings yes people that
what's that comic that is our favorite.
Speaker 1 (01:01:01):
Oh Black Monday murders obviously that's like that's kind of
what it is I mean yeah I mean this is
what stands out I think to all of us is
from that Healy quote there's that line where he says
we couldn't go on forever fighting one another For nothing.
So now we are teaming up and we're saying, hey,
(01:01:24):
you and I are from different countries, different bloodlines or whatever,
and we run different banks. But aren't they both banks?
Speaker 3 (01:01:34):
Well, Ben, you point out.
Speaker 1 (01:01:35):
Yes, they are.
Speaker 3 (01:01:36):
That's right. You point out, Ben, in the doc that
there is a noble intent at play here. But there
is an inherent flaw in just that bubbling effect that
takes place once you start getting into these echelons.
Speaker 2 (01:01:52):
I would just say it's a noble's intent.
Speaker 1 (01:01:55):
Noble one. There we go. Well played. Yeah. Aren't they
both banks? It's a noble intent. We know that there is.
I'll say it. Beat me here again, please, Dylan. We
know that there is free afoot. And we don't know
how to really parse this system because of the secrecy,
(01:02:17):
but we would definitely love your thoughts. Thank you so
much for tuning in, folks. There are a number of
ways to get in contact with us or to invite
us to the next Bilderberg meeting.
Speaker 3 (01:02:28):
Yeah, remember Dylan said he got an Illuminati invite? I
felt really left out of that one, but I will
check my spam folder. But do get at us online.
You could end up in our spam folder. Just kidding.
It goes right to the top. We'll get to that
method in a minute. But if you want to reach
out to us on social media, you can find us
at Conspiracy Stuff or Conspiracy Stuff Show.
Speaker 2 (01:02:47):
If you want to call us and tell us what
you served to the Builder Burgers when you were a waiter.
Speaker 3 (01:02:54):
Was it a Build Your Own Burger Bar, perhaps?
Speaker 1 (01:02:56):
A Builder Burger? You're a genius, dude. I think that's
a pop-up.
Speaker 2 (01:03:01):
I told you, it's Budruckers, man.
Speaker 1 (01:03:02):
You're not wrong, dude.
Speaker 3 (01:03:03):
You're not wrong.
Speaker 2 (01:03:04):
Yeah. You can call us anytime. Our number is 1-833-STD-WYTK.
Turn the letters into numbers. Give it a call.
Speaker 3 (01:03:13):
Voicemail. Leave a message.
Speaker 2 (01:03:15):
You might get a call back. And you might end
up on one of our listener mail episodes that show
up all around the Internet, especially here, wherever you're listening
to this. Do find us on Netflix if you're not
already watching there. Just spend some time with us.
Speaker 1 (01:03:31):
It's kind of fun.
Speaker 3 (01:03:32):
It's cool.
Speaker 2 (01:03:32):
You're going to like it. Hey, if you want to
send us an email, we are.
Speaker 1 (01:03:35):
The entities that read each piece of correspondence we receive
be well aware yet unafraid. Sometimes the void writes back.
Give us a random fact, we'll give you one in return.
Or just hit us up and say, hey, can you
give me a cool nickname? We probably will. Conspiracy at iHeartRadio.com.
Speaker 2 (01:04:13):
Stuff They Don't Want You To Know is a production
of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
From UFOs to psychic powers and government conspiracies, history is
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production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Hello, welcome back to the show. My name is Matt.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
My name is Noel.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
They call me Ben. We're joined with our guest super producer, JJ,
the Causeway, Pauseway. Most importantly, you are you, you are here.
That makes this the stuff they don't want you to
know previously. In an earlier episode, we looked around, guys,
and realized that for almost two decades in to the
(00:54):
life of our show, We have never aired an audio
investigation on the Bilderberg group. Until now.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
It's because we're terrified of them.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Yeah, and we're terrible at our jobs. That's not true. Well,
you'd think we would have gotten to it, man, because
like we said on the last episode, it really is
one of the big fives. Maybe that's too many. But definitely,
you know, you could count on one hand how many
mega secret societies people know about and talk about. And
the Bilderbergs are definitely one of them, though probably the
(01:26):
one that people know the least about. I certainly didn't
know much.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Definitely the one we want to know more about. But
shout out to Chatham Rules, right? We are never going
to know what this what these specific people are. talk
about in detail, we can guess. And like you were saying, Noel,
we did have an entire first chapter of this series.
(01:53):
So fellow conspiracy realists, if you have not heard the
first chapter of our series on the Bilderberg group, please
stop here. We're going to, we'll hang out with you
and listen to that first episode of Because if you don't,
what we're about to get into may make us sound nuts.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
That's okay. I'm okay with that. I've made peace with that, Ben.
Is this a real quote? Golf is an affront to
God and we're against it? What?
Speaker 2 (02:24):
What?
Speaker 1 (02:26):
That is a real quote from Dr. James Stout.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
What a thing to say. What a position to hold.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Oh, yeah. I remember that.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
We just talked to that dude. He said that in
this show, you can find it on Netflix right now.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
I wasn't there for that one.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
That makes sense. This is not printed.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
This was said IRL. Well, we need some, uh, we,
we do need some levity before we get into the
deep water. So I have to ask you, uh, Well,
I have to tell you, you were very much missed
in our interview with Dr. Stout. We tried to do
you proud, and I have to know, man, what's your
opinion on golf?
Speaker 3 (03:04):
I quite enjoy golf video games for whatever weird reason.
I don't really care about that many sports-type games, but
something about playing golf games, even old ones, like NES ones,
where you have the little swing gauge and you have
to time it just right and then get your line,
your target lined up. But no, I don't have much
(03:27):
use for it in the world particularly, especially living near
the East Lake Golf Course, which really clogs up traffic
when the PGA is in town.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
I'm so happy to hear that because Matt and I
are texting James right now. And Dr. Stout's main question
is how you feel about gold. Cool.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Well, I'm on the fence, man. I mean, I'm sort of.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
You're on the green.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
I'm ambivalent. I also grew up very near the Augusta National. Yeah,
there it is. That's us texting.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Oh, do it.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Don't worry, James. We're talking about texting you right now
on Netflix.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Matt, hit him with an emoji at the end.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Definitely. Was there a golf club or a ball or
tee emoji? Hit him with that one.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Guys, talking about secret societies, I grew up near and
in the shadow of the Augusta National Golf Course where
they hold the Masters, which is like the ultimate of
ultimate kind of exclusive golf courses, clubs, and tournaments where
a lot of shady deals have been made throughout history,
I'm sure.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Some Bilderbergs hung out there.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Gosh, just on the links. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
They're doing their thing. They're definitely, I would posit, been
members of the Bilderberg group at the Masters. Statistically, they
had to be, right?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Yeah, but if you're a member of the Bilderberg and
you're at the Masters, you are not down there with
the masses hanging out, you know, with the lines being
real quiet, waiting. Oh, something cool happened. Yay! What?
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Instead, you are in a very exclusive high security area
and you have a peasant who comes and tells you
what happens on the golf course.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
In between deals.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yeah, in between deals. Here are the facts. So for
a quick recap, the official Bilderberg narrative tells us that
one of the world's most exclusive get togethers, right? Something
very close to the legends of Illuminati. It begins on
May 31st, 1954, because a small group of very concerned
(05:35):
Europeans with no ulterior motives were really worried about a
third world war. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
I mean, that's not something that we're not worried about today.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Well.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Well, boy, back in 1954, the fires were burning cold, guys.
And it is important to note that this meeting took
place at Hotel de Bilderberg in Oosterbeek in the Netherlands.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
That means East Beek.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
And it wasn't just like, everybody, all right, everybody get in.
We're going to have this quick meeting and we're going
to get out. It was basically a conference, the way
you imagine any conference these days that lasts two or
three days. And it's multiple people talking.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
It's a big deal.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Everybody breaks for lunch at like 1 p.m. I don't
know what time they have lunch. But it's a big
organized thing.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Yeah. And they try to Noah's Ark it in the
first meeting. And they say, OK, we're going to choose
two people as representatives from each country. And one of
them is going to be what we think is conservative.
And one of them will be what we think is liberal.
And we're going to just sort of let these people
(06:50):
do their hot takes, off-the-record discussions. You run a banking institute.
Are you a Nazi or were in the past? Fine,
grab a sandwich. Tell us what your take is on
monetary policy in Germany or something. And they don't officially
(07:13):
make decisions in this group, though. That's the idea. But
the problem is, as we found in chapter one, the
official Bilderberg line about no policymaking decisions during the conference
is impossible to prove or disprove. And I think, guys,
we're pretty sure that decisions are in that cabal.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Well, I mean, especially as we're seeing now with the
way this current administration is kind of carrying itself in
terms of like pay to play type stuff that they
don't even seem to be bothering to hide. It really
does go to show how so many of the things that,
you know, government officials say they will and will not
do are a matter of like decorum and just kind
of history and legacy rather than like actual actionable ways
(08:02):
of preventing these things from happening.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
A hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
I wonder if we can just read a couple of
things from that Bilderbergmeetings.org website really quickly just as a recap.
Because they do say every year approximately like 120 to
130 political leaders, sometimes more, sometimes less. They're experts from industry, finance, labor, academia,
and the media. They go there. Two-thirds of the people
(08:28):
who are there are from Europe. The rest are from
North America. one third of those people from those different
places are from politics and government and the rest from
other fields. So it really is, you're talking about it
being impossible to prove if those kinds of deals happen, Ben,
and according to the rules, the deal cannot happen there.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
But what does for sure happen is this.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Between all of these folks who are in these high
level positions and that moment is sometimes all it takes to,
especially when one of those people was just talking for
45 minutes about, oh, I don't know, eugenics or whatever
they were going to talk about that year in 1954.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Sure, maybe they were talking about cars, but definitely eugenics. Also,
that's the point. That's the reason we keep going back
to these statistics, folks, because if you look at the
official claims of Bilderberg, and then you look at what
happens before and after this annual conference, you have to realize,
(09:35):
like you were saying, Matt, you hang out at a
barbershop long enough, you.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
Get a haircut. And you might also get a shave.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
You might also get a shave. And we might get
a shave for this one, folks. We looked at the
Illuminati in depth. I think we did some pretty solid
myth-busting along the way, but... The Bilderberg Group is genuinely...
dangerous we have some solid evidence to prove it and
(10:05):
this is where we're gonna pause for uh what we've
started calling schrodinger's sponsor.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
There might be an ad break here or not we'll
find out right now.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
You guys remember schroeder from uh The Peanuts cartoons? He
played the piano. Yes! Nothing to do with anything. Bad
break here?
Speaker 1 (10:24):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Let's see.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
And we're either back or have been here the entire time.
Here's where it gets crazy. Guys, let's talk a little
bit about why these conspiracies are so, beat me here,
are so f * * * ing plausible. You got
to look at, we always say it, Matt and Noel,
you have to look at the board members of any
(10:48):
big organization. You have to learn a little bit more
about the past and present of those individuals and their
connections with other people in that demographic. And Matt, I
remember we were talking off air before we went into
chapter two. and you found some interesting folks, right?
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Oh, yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Well, I've got a huge list here. We named a
lot of them in the first episode, and those were
the current steering committee as of 2026. Shout out Stacey Abrams. Yeah,
Stacey's in there. There's all kinds of interesting people in there.
The editor-in-chief of Bloomberg LP, John McElhoyt. He's in there
hanging out. Nadia Shadlow of a big old think tank,
(11:35):
the Hudson Institute. You'll find him. You can find him.
Lord Mark Sedgwill.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Oh, I love it, Lord.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Can we also just really quickly, I've been watching The Gentleman.
What a show. Can we just say real quick, we're
also not implying that just because you're a member of
the Bilderberg group means that you're inherently some sort of
evil doing Nazi type, right?
Speaker 1 (11:52):
No. We're just saying you're in the same room.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
You sure are.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
We're saying that historically- you have been hanging out at
a problematic conference. And just for an example of why
we think these conspiracies are plausible, you can look through
past years when the notices of attendees or participants have
(12:17):
filtered out. And you'll see folks like, of course, Henry Kissinger. Boo.
And you'll see folks like David Petraeus went in 2015,
CIA director.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Come on, man. Isn't he a general as well, of note?
Speaker 1 (12:34):
He is, he is. He what?
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Seems like, oh, we talked about that in the other episode.
It seems like a good idea to put a military
person with lots of wisdom and experience in that role
rather than just an appointee.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
But who knows?
Speaker 3 (12:46):
What do I know?
Speaker 2 (12:47):
What do I know? CIA, FBI, just let them, whoever
run them.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Cash the Patels, roll the dice.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
That's what I'm saying. Now, that is the current and
then former steering committee members. If you go to the
website builderbergmeetings.org, you can also find a huge list of
former steering committee members. The folks that come together and say, hey,
this is where we're going to have our meeting this year,
our conference. We are going to figure out the financing
(13:16):
for food and all this other stuff. And then, you know,
a bunch of other wealthy, powerful people come and they
have a grand old shindig. But the steering committee, they're steering, okay?
On this website, you can find This person, who is
listed at the top of the list for former steering
committee members. Bernard of the Netherlands.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
That's his title? He goes by Bernard of the Netherlands?
Speaker 2 (13:41):
He's also known as Bernard, Prince of the Netherlands. Prince
of Lippe-Biestefeld.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
Oh, good, Matt.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Here's the best one, you guys. And I'm not kidding.
This is directly from Britannica. Bernard Leopold Frederick Everhard Julius
Kohart Karl Gottfried Peter.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Peta. Peta. Peta.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
There we go. Guys, I mentioned the gentlemen a moment ago,
and I think it's on my mind because of how
it does a really good job of showing this aristocracy
and this landed gentry class that we don't really have
in the same way here. But it does involve their
ability to infiltrate politics and you know, essentially impose their
(14:25):
own business interests onto lawmaking bodies.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
And a lot of those meetings happen off the books.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
In smoky lounges and things like that.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Yeah. They're also kind of silly when you think about it.
Evil is often, sadly, kind of silly.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Evil wears a funny hat.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Right, right. There's some decayed aristocrat saying, My grand uncle
told me that mother would love this idea. Right. And spoiler,
I think it, Noel, is it the film, The Gentleman,
or is it the series where they have the secret
cannabis farms? This is correct. That is mild spoiler. Not really.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
It happens in the first episode. But, yeah, it's the
most Guy Ritchie thing Guy Ritchie has done since, like,
Snatch and Lock, Sock, and Two Smoking Barrels. I highly
recommend it. Matt, you told me about it initially, and
I slept on it. And then our boss and buddy, Connell,
reminded me of how much he was enjoying it, and
so I dug in, and I've been digging the crap
out of it.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Very good.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Dude, heck yeah. Well, guys, would you mind if we
took a few more moments to talk about Bernard of
the Netherlands?
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Please, God.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Okay, here's why we're talking about him.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
He was a chair.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
There's a list on that website that shows, you know,
the members. There's a huge list. These are the former
steering committee members. You've got honorary secretaries general and you've
got chairs. So the chairperson of the steering committee. Bernard
is at the top of the list of the chairpersons
of the Bilderberg meetings. He was the son of Prince
Bernard Casimir, the nephew of Leopold IV, the last reigning
(16:03):
prince of Lippe-Bistefeld. And in 1933, Guys, he was a
member of something that I've never encountered before. Something that
calls back to our recent conversation, Noel, you and I
had with Antonia Woloshin. This guy was a member of
the Reiter SS, the Calvary of the German Army. Schutzstaffel,
(16:27):
I don't know how to say that correctly, but yeah,
that SS, the German one.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
You're killing it with your pronunciations today, man.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Well done.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
Wait, so the SS, that's not to be confused with
Hitler's guard?
Speaker 2 (16:39):
It is the SS, but it is a version of
that where they all rode horses. It's basically a cavalry.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
The mounted SS. Yes, yes. In 1933, he was a
member of that.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Then in 1936, while hanging out in Paris, France, he
was working with this thing called IG Farben, which is,
at least according to Britannica, a complex merger of German
manufacturers of dye stuffs. That's the word Farben.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Farben's color, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Pharmaceuticals and chemicals. Yes, it was a giant chemical cartel. Guys,
so just imagining... That the first chairperson of a thing,
like the first person at the head of this thing
you want to create is a prince with this kind
of background. It just begins to maybe make the public, us,
(17:37):
the we people of the world, begin to ask questions, right?
It's that thing... Huh. I wonder what that's all about.
If that guy's leading this thing. So we've talked about
cartels in the show quite a bit. Uh, cartel is
just a bunch of people that are working together, right?
Speaker 3 (17:51):
Consortium.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
They're cooperating with each other for the betterment of all.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Sometimes doing some vertical integration. Ben, as we've learned over
the years of what vertical integration is like with companies, um,
In this case, with chemicals, you know, and pharmaceuticals and
dyes and things like that. Well, here's a note about
IG Farben, again from Britannica. It's a long one. Strap in.
During World War II, IG Farben, IG Farben, established a
(18:19):
synthetic oil and rubber plant at Auschwitz in order to
take advantage of slave labor. The company also conducted drug
experiments on live inmates.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
Oh, jeez.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Human experimentation. After the war, several company officials were convicted
of war crimes. In 1945, IG Farben came under Allied
authority because, you know, the Allies won World War II
and all. Its industries were to be dismantled or dismembered
with the stated intent, quote, to render impossible any future
(18:51):
threat to Germany's neighbors or to world peace, unquote.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
Ben, Matt, sorry. This is like the Bayer Company.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
As well.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
This is to do with the... Yes. Talk about corporations
being able to shake off these kinds of troubled histories.
I mean, they're still around, flipping aspirin, aren't they?
Speaker 2 (19:08):
This is why history is so important, you guys, because
I honestly never would have known this if we weren't
doing this episode right now today. Just finish this little
piece in Britannica to give us that history. In the
western zones of Germany, because we just talked about how
the Allies are going to break this whole cartel up, right? However,
In the western zones of Germany, especially as the Cold
(19:31):
War advanced, this is just what we talked about, Noel.
As the Cold War advanced, this disposition toward liquidation lessened.
It started to go away. And eventually, the western powers
and the West Germans agreed to just split up IG
Farben into three independent units. One called host h o
(19:52):
e c h s t bayer and b a s
f the chemical corporation or whatever chemical company whatever they're called.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
They make the videotapes that's how i put them And
what we were talking about, too, on that episode with
Antonia was this kind of goes in lockstep with their
sort of slowdown regarding denazification. This idea that we're going
to make a big show of it. We're going to
do the thing. We're going to make the people pay.
And then maybe a little less so and a little
(20:20):
less so until there's a new status quo that involves
some of the same power players that had some very,
very troubled backgrounds.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
And shout out to Britannica. for their diplomatic euphemisms. And
we're huge fans of Britannica. I love reading them, actually.
Shout out to lessening disposition for liquidation.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
Yeah, exactly. I was trying to translate a little bit, 100%.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Well, I mean, again, there's a realization, hey, there's an
enemy we all need to be worried about. Let's put
our powers together. Even if, you know, you were experimenting
on human beings at Auschwitz, it's fine. It should be
known that this cartel, IG Farben, isn't one big thing
where everybody, every group, every company, every manufacturer is doing
(21:13):
the exact same thing. But as several places have put
it that I've seen, it was decentralized in the manufacturing,
in the things that they did. But there was centralized leadership, right?
So there were people making the decisions up at the
top about what they were going to do to test
(21:33):
these chemicals on humans.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
I just have to say, I googled, wasn't the Bayer
company racist before you had mentioned them? And the AI
overview response was, yes, the Bayer company has a deeply
dark history rooted in the systemic racism, anti-Semitism, and human
rights atrocities of the Nazi regime.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Yeah, we've talked about, Ben, I can't remember the episode
right now off the top of my head, but we've
talked about Bayer in depth. in a couple of places.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Yeah. Really breaking it down. Yeah, you know, no corporation
is perfect, but if there was a bad guy award,
Bear would be one of the companies that gets a shout-out.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
So if you're still with us here, we're talking about
the first chairperson of this secretive organization and things that
he was a part of. It should be noted that
the Prince of the Netherlands... at some point, a little
after 1936, when he was in Paris hanging out with
IG Farben, he did decide to, I believe, lead the
(22:32):
Dutch against the Nazi forces. So he did, in some way,
change his mind, switch sides or something. We can't say
anything to the motivations or any of that stuff, but
he did find love when he was there in Paris, guys,
so that may have changed some things. But for our
purposes today, For thinking about the Bilderberg Group and why
(22:53):
it is so conspiratorial for so many, there's one last
thing in here in the biography of Prince Bernard, or
Bernard of the Netherlands, that I think maybe shows us
what the Bilderberg Group could do, potentially, and you would
never understand it was happening until you read some news
(23:14):
like this. In 1976, Prince Bernard was implicated in a
bribery scandal involving the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. After initial revelations
in the United States Congress, a special Dutch commission found
that he had accepted large sums of money from Lockheed
for promoting Dutch purchases of aircraft manufactured by the company.
(23:39):
To me, it doesn't... You can't prove that anything happened
at a Bilderberg meeting to make that happen, right? That
bribery scandal.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
Sure, because that guy goes to a lot of meetings
that are very similar to the demographics of Bilderberg.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Shaking hands with people constantly in palaces and nine-star hotels.
They make those, by the way.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
Just kidding.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
But this guy just, for him to be the head
of this thing and to be involved in all of
this stuff, it does truly, fully give me pause. And
I do wonder how many other people, when you hear
something like that, You go, oh, yeah, God. And he's
only one on the top of the list here. To
give you one more, the second person on that list.
(24:28):
So we got a prince at number one. The second
on the list is Alec Holm of the Hercel, a.k.a.
Sir Alec Douglas Holm, a.k.a. Alexander Frederick Douglas Holm, 14th
Earl of Holm, a.k.a. Baron Holm of the Hercel of Coldstream, a.k.a.
Lord Dunglass.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
The best of all of them. Lord bless.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
This dude was a British foreign secretary, then prime minister
for a full year over there in Great Britain. Then
he was the conservative opposition spokesman in the House of
Commons on foreign affairs, then a foreign secretary again. And
it just this dude ran in those power circles.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
Right.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
And he is the second chairperson. I haven't even looked
up Walter Scheel or Eric Roll of Ipsden or Peter
Carrington or Etienne Davion or Henri de Castry or Victor Halberstadt.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
I could listen to you pronounce aristocrat names, you know,
for a whole podcast worth of time.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
It's just so strange. It's almost as if it's. royalty
or near royalty? What do you call that, Ben, when
it's just a lord or an earl or something? It's
not quite the full monarchy?
Speaker 3 (25:45):
Sorry, yeah, what is that called?
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Aristocracy, right?
Speaker 3 (25:47):
I think that's right. Okay.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
But I mean, what you're kind of talking about, Matt,
is sort of the undergrounding of monarchy. You know, like
those decisions are still happening and filtering through those elite bloodlines.
They're just not happening so much in the public eye.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Yeah, not above the full.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
We're going to pause here for a word from our
sponsors and we'll be right back. Hopefully, guys, hopefully.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
All right, we're back with more about the Bilderberg Group.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
At this point, we also have to talk about the money,
not just the underpinnings of a monarchical group. Can I
say that?
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Monarchical?
Speaker 1 (26:32):
You can.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
You done did.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
But that's not the right word, right?
Speaker 2 (26:35):
I think it is.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
I would say monarchical. If it's not, then it should be.
And I think it is now.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Sorry, everyone. I'm still learning English. What we know, what
I think these excellent points show us is that the
big issue is doesn't just go back to nepotism doesn't
go back to just you know the personal biographies of
some very troubling dudes it also goes into the financial
(27:04):
interactions right we could call it even financial nepotism if
we wanted to right because money likes money right and
money gets to know money.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Dude and just that the concept that uh we talked
about in that first episode it is europe Reaching across
the Atlantic to the United States and making friends and
sharing information and making deals, you know, it's not, it
doesn't state that they're making deals in any way. In fact,
that's prohibited, but they are making connection, right? To do
(27:38):
these kinds of things. And then just Prince Bernard's thing
with Lockheed. That's like directly what that freaking was.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Guys, I'm more and more intrigued with the idea of
financial nepotism. What do you mean?
Speaker 3 (27:55):
It's inheritance. I mean, it's legacy.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
On a more figurative level, I'm also thinking like, The
idea that money likes meeting other money.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Especially old money, because there's even distinctions. And then when
I say old money, I'm talking about that legacy money
or the very definition of it being aristocracy, you know,
bloodlines that can be traced back to royalty. And they
continue on, you know, having these royal titles. But then
they don't, that kind of money doesn't always like new
money either.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
They don't like the nouveau riche.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
They don't. They think they're gauche and they don't necessarily
want they don't think they have the best, their interests
don't align in the same way. Let's put it that way.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Yes, Ed, a perfect illustration at that point. I'm not
going to name names so we can keep doing the show,
but one of my favorite old money quotes that was
such a hard diss, there was some old landed gent
who had the Hilton family mentioned to them, During the
(29:00):
time when Paris Hilton was very much in the zeitgeist.
And they said, oh, the Hiltons, are they still renting rooms?
Speaker 3 (29:09):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Yeah. Those are haters, folks.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Well, imagine the difference between somebody that gets handed down
a castle, right? Grandma or grandpa dies and you inherit
a castle and all the land surrounding it. And now
those folks who live on that land are forced to
pay you for your rent, right?
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Dr james stout's hometown that that's that's.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
Exactly right so that versus uh oh i'm going to
borrow money from a bank start a corporation and then
we are going to begin to build hotels or repurpose
buildings into hotels and then building an empire out of
that that is weird.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
But but are they still renting rooms.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
But the question is How is it possible that that
massive corporation, like the Hilton group or family and all
that stuff, how could it ever be possible that that
family doesn't have more money than an Earl or a
Lord over in Great Britain?
Speaker 1 (30:11):
A lot of those folks are actually kind of broke, man.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
That's what I've heard, too. That is also keeping up appearances.
I mean, the cost to maintain those kind of manners.
I mean, absolutely insane. But then you do have the
rare cases that kind of keep hold of that legacy
money and that legacy control, because it's not only about money.
It's about who your grandpapa met with on the links or,
(30:36):
you know.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Yeah. And whose hand he shook. Right. At the Masters.
So this is a part of the. conspiracy argument we're
building here, folks, the we're building here, folks, is that
funding provides an obvious vector of influence and that can
too easily verge into corruption. So when we were when
(30:59):
we decided this had to be a two parter, we
were about to talk about the problem with Bilderberg's like
who pays for it question. They got a small office
out there in Holland. And every year at this office,
they don't like the term leaders. The steering committee, the organizers,
(31:22):
decide which country will host the next conference, the next
Bilderberg meeting. And if you're the host country, kind of
like having the Olympics in your country or the World Cup,
you are on the hook for a lot of stuff.
In the case of Bilderberg, you got to book the
whole hotel for four days. The whole thing.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
It better be a nine star.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
It's got to be a nine star, right? Above St. Regis,
you've got to, you can't let the serfs and the
peasants come in and God forbid, eat the macaroons or
what have you.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
Macaroon, the hoi polloi. Right.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
The pearls.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Do you, do you, did both of you guys see,
I think I asked you this the other day, the
second season of Utopia, the British version?
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Yes. Yes.
Speaker 3 (32:10):
I said I had, but I thought it was a
different show. So no, I have not.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
So Ben, do you remember the meetings from that season
that were happening? And it was always at a hotel
that was crazy nice. And it's the same kind of
group of people, leaders from across the board from a
bunch of different European countries and the, I think America
at the time, but I'm not sure. It may have
just been European countries, but they did that same thing.
(32:36):
Rent the whole place out so nobody can get in.
And except for the help, And gosh, where are our
conversations about the help?
Speaker 1 (32:43):
Why do those White House chefs keep drowning? Something we
asked a little while ago. It is super buttoned up
because the host country also does the security, catering, and transit. Yes.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
So much security. They even have a note on that
on the Bilderberg meetings website. I always wonder about the
fight club of it all, you guys. The help at
all of these hotels, the people who are there taking
care of all the food, the caterers, the bellboys and
all of these folks. I always wonder just if somebody
(33:25):
infiltrates that group before one of these big meetings, like
the moment that phone call comes in or a fax
comes through or somebody, you know, in a blacked out room.
I don't know. What would they be? A Rolls Royce?
Speaker 1 (33:38):
Oh, yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:39):
A Rolls Royce SUV.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
And that's a thing that exists.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
But the moment that it happens, I do wonder if
intelligence agencies end up, you know, becoming a waiter.
Speaker 3 (33:50):
To a bigger question, I mean, what was it? The Mormons, like,
being a prime candidate for, you know, recruitment by intelligence agencies? Surely,
whether they're putting themselves into these circles or recruiting people
who are already, like, I mean... it would be hard
to get into an elite circle of waitstaff very, very quickly.
(34:11):
So you almost got to wonder if they have agents
or snitches or whatever you might call them already kind
of embedded in those circles.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
So without getting too into the weeds, that's an excellent point, Noel.
Definitely there have been attempts to infiltrate Bilderberg in that way.
But the problem is a lot of those folks are,
at those meetings actually control or heavily influence intelligence agencies.
(34:41):
So they've already got, you know, their own pet CIA, right?
They've already got their own pet KGB or what have you.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
But they are kind of a, this group is kind
of like the NAFTA of secret societies, right?
Speaker 1 (34:55):
Also, just to finish this point out, the smart way
to do it is to take someone who's actually working
there is a waiter or a housekeeper and not try
to turn them, get one of your guys to befriend them, right?
Maybe have a romantic interest like we see in the
(35:15):
excellent show, The Americans.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
And then compromise them.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Yeah, yeah. Just casually ask them, you know, like a
French indie film, you're in bed in black and white
and you're smoking a cigarette. After having made love. And
then you go, so what do they talk about, darling? Like,
that's how it happens.
Speaker 3 (35:35):
Or, you know, get compromise on them and then force
them to do your bidding and to report back to you.
You know, I think that would be a popular move
as well.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
Or you could just make sure the LG TVs are
installed in all the hotel rooms in common areas.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
Yeah. You'd be good.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
And this is. taking us all back to the questions
they have to ask themselves at that central office in Holland.
To fund everything, you're the host country, right? Congratulations. You
have to pony up some of your own cash. You'll
get a little help from members of the steering committee,
(36:12):
as well as some Bilderberg participants who have what they
call a paid subscription. And then you get a lot
of help From big corporations, Nokia, Xerox, IG Faber. I'm
kidding on that last one. Barclays. But the one that
really freaked me out, you guys, Heinz.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
Heinz don't have a round. I do.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
I do.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
I mean, they make other things. I like their 57 sauce.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:39):
And that's another like almost borderline American aristocracy kind of line.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:44):
The Heinz family. On par with the Hiltons in any case.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
I mean, but that reasonably- And that's a great comparison,
the Hiltons and the Hines. That reasonably leads a ton
of critics to say, what are these corporations getting for
their investment? Right. This is not altruism.
Speaker 3 (37:06):
And they're certainly not putting up big signs or like,
you know, sponsoring the event in terms of like the Hines,
you know, rotunda.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
Or, you know, like some sort of big tent or
event space.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
Heinz presents former CIA director's opinion on Ukraine.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
So to that point, like, you know, usually when corporations sponsor,
let's say, the Masters, they're getting an association and they're
getting advertising space. Or the company is, like, the golf
course is using their products or whatever. This is not that.
This is something else.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
This is a different beast.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Just for anybody that doesn't know.
If you've ever been to Comic-Con or Dragon-Con, any of
the nerdy ones, or just any kind of conference like this,
like Podcast Movement, guys, is the best example I can imagine.
We work with a lot of third-party companies outside of iHeart,
and they will drop tens of thousands of dollars... On
(38:00):
a booth! Or to plaster the side of an escalator
so that the human beings... hundreds of thousands, sometimes human
beings that go through a huge conference, get to see
your advertising, get to see your, your logo and some
new show or something that's happening that, that there's so
much money in that. And it makes a lot of sense.
(38:21):
Like Noel is saying, but Ben, I can not. What,
what do you get? 120 really, really good potential, uh, customers.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Right. Right. Or, or, Potential revenue sources or new directors.
What is the ROI? What's the return on investment? That's
the hard question that more people should be asking. Like
we can easily see how a ketchup giant like Heinz
would pour a chunk of cash. I don't know the
(38:56):
right word. Yeah. What's the word for that? Well, they would...
Gloop or sloop in a chunk of cash.
Speaker 3 (39:03):
Got to hold it at an angle to get the
cash out.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
Yeah, at an angle, slowly, hitting the bottom. And they
would say, okay, we are funding one of the world's
most exclusive shindigs. We get to hang out with the talent, right?
That's the question that comes up.
Speaker 3 (39:20):
It's pay to play, man. And that's why I brought
up the current administration, because I think it's such an
instructive view inside the way these kinds of things have
been operating for centuries. This particular administration just seems no
longer interested in hiding the way these handshake deals work,
because we're seeing it happen with pardons. We're seeing it
happen with legislation around industry. We're seeing it happen, especially
(39:43):
with Citizens United and the knock on effects down the
road where we are now from that. where you're seeing
corporations in the same way doing campaign contributions to the
tune of millions and millions of dollars. And what do
they get for that? I wonder what happens when the
law changes immediately after. You're getting something for your money.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
Yeah. This is the thing, though. To put a fine
point on it. I'm sorry I keep waving around this
fake pin. I'm doing prop comedy, guys. To put a
fine point on it, the This is the kind of
access that is way out of reach for a lot
of innocent nonprofits. Not all nonprofits are innocent, obviously. It
(40:27):
is also far beyond the reach of the average individual
non-elite voter. You can't talk to these people, but a
ketchup king can.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
Oh, we got to take a break. Quick shout out
to Christian Sewing of Deutsche Bank AG. We see you
on the list, buddy. We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (40:53):
And we have returned.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
Dude, I just imagined next year's Bilderberg meeting that's brought
to you by like Manscaped and Casper Mattresses.
Speaker 1 (41:02):
I love it. Dude, I was thinking the same thing.
Give it time. I was thinking like, what is the
most ridiculous sounding company that could have enough money to
touch the Bilderberg.
Speaker 3 (41:13):
To your point about podcast movement in particular, the whole
reason that an event like that takes place is for networking.
I mean, that is the nature of these types of gatherings.
Only the stakes are a hell of a lot lower
at a thing like podcast movement, but you, we've been
in on conversations where we've taken pitch meetings or been
part of things where someone was trying to sell a
(41:33):
show or, you know, promote talent or whatever it might be.
And that is where those deals get made. And they
usually don't get made on the show floor. They usually
get made like having drinks in the lounge afterwards or
going for a fancy dinner or whatever.
Speaker 1 (41:48):
After the party, it's the after party. That's right. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
It's the private karaoke rooms where everybody's singing at each
other in different languages.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
Oh, right. Yeah. We cannot confirm the extent of this
untoward influence on outside podcasting realm, obviously, because of the
secrecy involved, like we, to be completely objective and fair,
we don't know whether a ketchup executive has a quick
chat over coffee and that leads to the nation of
(42:18):
France rethinking tariffs on tomato imports or products. But we
do know it absolutely could happen and it could happen
so easily with no way for the outside world to
prove it. And I, in the interest of like devil's
advocating here, I hate to say it, but operationally that
(42:39):
could be kind of cool because now you're bypassing ocean's
worth of red tape. You're making changes immediately without countless committees,
without a bunch of, you know, grandstanding, distractive discourse, all
the public debate. So, If you really had noble intent, right,
(43:02):
if you're trying to prevent World War III, if you
truly are, and if you're trying to make the world
a better place, this would be a fast way to
do it. You could kind of speed run saving the world.
I don't think that's happening. I think it's corrupt.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
Can I just say that when I mentioned that golf
quote from Dr. James Stout, I actually had the wrong
document open. And I was convinced that this was a
quote that was the header for this episode because it
utterly makes sense. Golf is an affront to God and
we're against it. But if you just change affront to God,
to democracy, that kind of falls in line because these
(43:37):
types of events and meetings are sort of inherently anti-democratic.
Speaker 1 (43:42):
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (43:42):
That's the whole issue at play here, I think.
Speaker 1 (43:44):
Right.
Speaker 3 (43:45):
Voters have zero say in any of this. They're not
able to elect any of these individuals in any way,
shape or form. And the people they do elect largely
are getting their marching orders from people in these sets.
Speaker 1 (43:54):
Yeah. I mean, it's kind of an argument for centralization.
You hear what I'm saying when you say if they
have good intent, they could bypass a lot of the
checks and balances, right? Yeah. But I don't think... I
think people like to say they have good intentions, right?
(44:17):
When they're going in the meeting and the ketchup guy
is shaking hands with some dude from the Netherlands and
he's saying, oh, I hear your son's at this fancy
private school. You got to meet the headmaster. He's a
good friend of mine. He is also a huge fan
of ketchup. Where do you land on tomatoes, your highness?
(44:42):
That's how this stuff works. And there's a lot of
really interesting, weird sociology about this. We mentioned in episode one,
a guy named Professor Parker, and he had this excellent
piece in the conversation where he says, okay, so this
guy specializes in organization and culture. He studies groups and
(45:06):
he studies social dynamics and he is not persuaded. that
the Bilderberg Conference is harmless. He thinks it's not only
a real conspiracy, but it's a conspiracy that all of
us tuning in tonight have encountered at some point. It's
the idea of groupthink, otherwise known as being bubbled or
(45:27):
having a hive mind, right? How would we describe groupthink?
Speaker 3 (45:31):
Is that a term that comes from 1984?
Speaker 1 (45:33):
Or is that.
Speaker 3 (45:35):
It certainly would be perfectly at home in 1984. Just
this idea of Yeah, I mean, it's just easy to
be influenced by those around you that have shared backgrounds
and shared kind of goals. It's real easy to sort
of fall in line and not realize you're doing it
and also to very quickly lose any and all perspective.
Speaker 1 (45:58):
Perfect. Take that, Britannica. Noel nailed it. You're absolutely right, man.
So Doc Parker... is writing about exactly this in the
case of Bilderberg, exactly what Noel just described here. These
folks will tend to live, right, in a bubbled existence
(46:20):
because they're at the tippity top of various social hierarchies.
And if you are at the top of a system,
you will tend to rationalize that system, right? You only
fly first class, you only eat, what's the fanciest food?
Speaker 3 (46:37):
Caviar!
Speaker 1 (46:38):
You only eat caviar. You're on a weird diet. You
only fly first. You only fly in private jets. And
you look around at the world that you benefit from
and you say, well, this is great. This makes sense.
It is right. It is just. It is correct. And
he actually, can we go to Doc Parker? There's a
(46:59):
wonderful quote that he does perfectly. I think this sums
it up.
Speaker 3 (47:04):
For sure. And just to add, I mean, it's one
of those things where you think It's like being born
on third and thinking you earned it or like that
you're somehow more intelligent than those that weren't. Obviously, some
people that are very intelligent get make their way to
becoming very successful individuals. But a lot of this legacy
stuff we're talking about, not to say that these folks
are inherently lazy or like do nothing, but it didn't
(47:26):
exactly work to get there. But they are imbued with
the sense that they are superior because they are there.
And therefore, the decisions that they think benefit most this population.
particular echelon or this worldview are more valid. Not only that,
they're also defending what they've got tooth and nail against
anyone else who would try to horn in on it
(47:47):
or take it.
Speaker 1 (47:48):
Yeah. The Overton window gets very close to zero sum games, right?
So here's the quote real quick, guys. Quote from Doc Parker.
If you spend much of your life occupying the first
class compartment on aeroplanes, he's British, so A-E-R-O. Aeroplanes, it
(48:09):
doubtless becomes logical to assume that there is some virtue
to the system that has put you there. Your filet
steak always tastes better if it has been accompanied by
a small side helping of self-congratulations. I didn't think about
that one, man.
Speaker 3 (48:27):
No, it makes a lot of sense. It's the most extreme,
unrelatable version of the bubble situation that often we even
can find ourselves in in terms of information. And it
being very easy, especially with the Internet, to fall into
an echo chamber where you're only reading things that already
support your worldview and therefore you somehow think everything else
(48:47):
is invalid or wrong. ill-informed or in some way kind
of less than, right?
Speaker 1 (48:52):
Yeah, or somehow off. And that's what's happening. I love
that you're pointing out that happens to everyone on some level.
That's how social dynamics work. But in the case of Bilderberg,
because as you're saying, these folks have so many powerful
old connections, they are highly unlikely to consider serious change
(49:18):
to a system that benefits them. Radical reforms that might
endanger their occupancy of the tippity top of the pyramid,
they're not going to hear about it or they're not
going to, as you said, take it seriously because those
reforms are could result in them having less, less influence, right?
(49:38):
Less control, fewer physical assets. And they would look past
these reforms, not because they think they're evil. It doesn't
occur to them. It's not in their bubble. Even when
those serious social reforms could create measurably positive benefits for
(50:00):
for the rest of humanity.
Speaker 3 (50:02):
Well, I think that's where the concept of the banality
of evil really comes in, too, because when we think of,
let's say, the French monarchy and aristocracy, and I know
that Marie Antoinette didn't say let them eat cake, but
that attitude, you know, it makes sense that she would
be so walled up in her castle that she just
couldn't see what was going on outside and just assume
that everything she was doing was only a matter of,
(50:25):
you know, preserving what she had and the life that
she had within those walls.
Speaker 2 (50:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (50:30):
It's a banana. How much could it cost, Michael? Right.
That's the idea.
Speaker 2 (50:36):
Guys, I just found something that is puzzling, and I
wonder what you think about it.
Speaker 1 (50:40):
Ready? Yep.
Speaker 2 (50:41):
There's another website. Ben, you probably have this in your
research doc. I cited this only one time in my notes,
but I'm just seeing how much depth there is to
this new website. Bilderberg.club. Oh, no.
Speaker 3 (50:57):
They got a.
Speaker 1 (50:58):
Club?
Speaker 2 (50:58):
Sick. This one has every, it has notes on every
single year of the meetings.
Speaker 1 (51:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (51:08):
So I am looking at the year 1991 where the
meeting took place at the Steigenberger Hotel in reunified Germany,
eight months after unification. One of the primary folks that
was invited there Was a guy from Arkansas, a governor
(51:34):
named Bill Clinton.
Speaker 1 (51:35):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 (51:35):
He shows up at the Bilderberg meeting, hangs out- He's.
Speaker 3 (51:39):
A Fulbright scholar too, Matt. Fulbright.
Speaker 1 (51:41):
Plays a little saxophone. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (51:44):
But- But just to imagine that he is, well, I
mentioned the Rhodes Scholars.
Speaker 3 (51:50):
Oh, my mistake. Was he a Fulbright or Rhodes?
Speaker 2 (51:53):
I don't know what he was.
Speaker 3 (51:54):
Doesn't matter.
Speaker 1 (51:54):
He was a Fulbright or Rhodes. I think it was Rhodes.
Speaker 2 (51:59):
Anyway, I'd love to believe that that was the case. Well,
he was hanging out with Vernon Jordan, his mentor over there.
And do you guys remember the year that old Bill
William Clinton was elected president of the old USA? The
year after.
Speaker 1 (52:14):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (52:15):
This was in June. Goes to Bilderberg meeting, then he
gets elected. It doesn't have anything to do with anything,
just a tiny little thread, right?
Speaker 3 (52:20):
Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar, by the way. And can
you remind us, was the Rhodes Scholarship or the organization
that led to that, was part of sort of some
of the original connections with Bilderberg?
Speaker 2 (52:31):
Oh, I don't– there's so much more to learn here.
Speaker 3 (52:34):
No, you mentioned it in this episode, man.
Speaker 1 (52:35):
I'm almost lost. I mentioned it.
Speaker 2 (52:37):
I mentioned that in the current steering committee, there is
somebody who a member of that steering committee is Chrystia
Freeland from Canada. She is the CEO, I believe, of
the Rhodes Trust, which is the thing that makes the scholarship.
Speaker 1 (52:51):
And in our first episode, we also mentioned, drawing from
some of the same sources, cases like the 2009 dinner
party that resulted in the selection, not election, of the
president of the EU. This stuff does happen. Foxes are
(53:16):
going to raid hen houses and always make sure a
hen house exists because that system works, but they're never
going to make huge strides in hen house security. You're
never going to see a bunch of people hanging out
at a Bilderberg conference and doing things in-depth self-criticism, right?
(53:38):
Or systematic criticism. Instead, you're going to see a small
world where a lot of people throw around attaboys. And
we're not saying they're jerks. We're just saying they've got
a lot of cultural reinforcement. They're tweaking the system to
their benefit. And they call that the greater good because
they're saying, it's so good how this keeps getting greater
(54:00):
for me, you know? Also, Henry Kissinger was super deep
in there. And anything that Kissinger is super deep in,
you should not trust.
Speaker 3 (54:10):
All right.
Speaker 1 (54:10):
Sorry, he caught me stray on that.
Speaker 3 (54:12):
No, man, he deserves it, even post-mortem.
Speaker 2 (54:16):
Ben, guess who was there in 91?
Speaker 1 (54:18):
Was it Henry Kissinger?
Speaker 2 (54:20):
Yeah, there was a leaked list of agenda topics. One
of them was the practical agenda for the alliance with
Henry Kissinger among the panelists.
Speaker 1 (54:33):
Okay. All right. Well, yeah, he was there. He was
a big fan of the Bilderberg Group from 1957, when
he became a regular member, all the way up to
his very fortunate demise. You really hate this guy, Ben.
Speaker 3 (54:49):
And I'm with you.
Speaker 1 (54:50):
Thanks, Phil. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (54:52):
Wait, guys, Gordon Brown, that name sounds so familiar to me.
Was that a prime minister?
Speaker 3 (54:58):
Sure was.
Speaker 1 (54:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (54:59):
When was that?
Speaker 1 (55:03):
Not too long ago.
Speaker 2 (55:03):
He was after Blair.
Speaker 1 (55:05):
After Blair, right?
Speaker 3 (55:06):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (55:06):
And not related to Noel.
Speaker 3 (55:08):
No. That I know of. I think I'm more out
of Scandinavian stock.
Speaker 1 (55:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (55:14):
He was hanging out at that 91 Bilderberg meeting with Clinton,
which is really interesting to me. Just like the fact
that these people that are in government, but maybe, you know,
just not that governor is a huge deal here in
the U.S., But it's not the same, right? Even as
being a senator, sometimes, sometimes government is way bigger than
being a senator. It just depends on what qualifications you're
(55:35):
looking for. But in this case, you know, Gordon Brown
at the time in 1991, he's just kind of hanging
around there, you know, he's doing his thing. He's having
a good old time.
Speaker 1 (55:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (55:46):
But he was like a shadow. Well, he was Labor's
shadow trade and industry secretary, which is.
Speaker 3 (55:53):
Shadow is in the title?
Speaker 1 (55:54):
Yeah, because it means you're not the I.
Speaker 3 (55:57):
Know, but they could do a better job of making
the title way less sinister.
Speaker 1 (56:00):
Yeah. Yeah. At those in the in that political system,
you if you are not the dominant party, you already
will have roles and responsibilities that you have created. in
case you become the dominant party or the dominant coalition,
which is why you call it a shadow government.
Speaker 2 (56:19):
But, dude, you're going to love this. Also listed right
next to Gordon Brown is John Smith, and he's just
titled Shadow Counselor.
Speaker 1 (56:27):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (56:29):
Answers directly to the Shadow King.
Speaker 1 (56:31):
And I think more shadows should have therapy. So I
love the idea of a shadow counselor.
Speaker 3 (56:36):
For sure.
Speaker 1 (56:37):
You know what I mean? Check in.
Speaker 3 (56:38):
Equal rights for shadow people, man.
Speaker 1 (56:40):
Yeah, the shadow people. And here's our question. This all
leads us to, we've done our best to build a
pretty solid case for the Bilderberg conspiracy. Our question then becomes, folks,
we need your help with this. Should we be concerned? Yes.
Speaker 3 (56:58):
I think yes.
Speaker 1 (56:59):
Yeah. Noel, where are you at?
Speaker 3 (57:02):
I'm fine. It's fine. Everything's fine.
Speaker 1 (57:04):
We had two yeses and an it's fine.
Speaker 2 (57:07):
Man, I'm still in 91. This is why I'm concerned.
This is all matching up with exactly what you're saying
and where you're leading us, Ben. In 91, they also
included Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Sophia of Spain,
and the Prince of Orange, the future King Willem-Alexander. They
were observers of the meeting. They were not participants of
the meeting. But again, this monarchy thing that we're talking
(57:29):
about at the top of the show is just there like...
Walking around on the edges?
Speaker 3 (57:35):
You think they have scepters and crowns and jewels?
Speaker 1 (57:38):
I hope so.
Speaker 3 (57:39):
Glistening jewels?
Speaker 1 (57:40):
Two people who have to hold the cape when they
walk around?
Speaker 3 (57:44):
That's the thing, man. They look just like the rest
of us, only wearing nicer suits.
Speaker 1 (57:49):
I like that observation. We also have to tell you, folks,
the statements from Bilderberg itself do not help calm the
waters of New World Order conspiracies. I always think of
a statement made by one of the co-founders, a fellow
named Dennis Healy. In 2001, he went on record, and
(58:12):
by this time he had been deep in Bilderberg for decades,
and he said, to say we are striving for a
one-world government is exaggerated, but not wholly unfair. Those of
us in Bilderberg felt we couldn't go on forever fighting
one another for nothing. and killing people and rendering millions homeless.
(58:34):
So we felt that a single community throughout the world
would be a good thing.
Speaker 3 (58:39):
Can I just say, in theory and on paper, I'm
not opposed to this in some ways. Like this idea
of a more centralized form of government that takes into
consideration the needs of everyone. But the problem is, who's
in control of this society? One world government, and it's
not necessarily someone that has the best interests of everyone.
Speaker 1 (58:59):
Who's in the catbird seat.
Speaker 3 (59:00):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (59:01):
I think we know, guys. It takes us back to
that old, old, old tale of the Corporation of London
or the City of London Corporation.
Speaker 1 (59:10):
Oh, man.
Speaker 2 (59:10):
The Washington, D.C. as being like had to be a
separate thing from a state. It takes us back to
those financial powers that are directly connected between between especially,
you know, Britain.
Speaker 3 (59:25):
It's just the idea of does the monarchy still run America?
That was an episode we did, I believe.
Speaker 1 (59:31):
That is, yeah.
Speaker 2 (59:32):
It's that there is a power of– this is a
conspiracy that there is a power far beyond the monarchy,
far beyond the parliament, beyond Congress and all these things
that is just the financial powers that have direct connection
across the Atlantic, again, between Washington, D.C., And the City
of London, because there is a square mile. Look into this,
(59:54):
because you can find some crazy stuff about there's a
square mile that is controlled specifically. I think it's called
the City of London Corporation or the London Corporation.
Speaker 1 (01:00:03):
It is, and it's run by legacy guilds from the
Middle Ages. And I spent some time there, and it's
a trip, man. I didn't get to join one of
the guilds. Even, like, the barrel guys are tough to
get in. Wow, man.
Speaker 2 (01:00:19):
Why would you want to be in there, Ben?
Speaker 3 (01:00:20):
That sounds crazy. Barrels are sick, man. I want to
learn how. I want to be a barrel-making apprentice. Get
me up in that guild.
Speaker 2 (01:00:29):
But I'm not kidding, guys, because I feel like I'm
going nuts here. In these meetings, and we highly recommend
you go to the websites, builderbergmeetings.org and the brand new one, builderberg.club.
Look at this stuff because we talked about the financial connection, Ben.
There are heads of Bundesbank there the people who are
(01:00:52):
it's a lot of financial human beings yes people that
what's that comic that is our favorite.
Speaker 1 (01:01:01):
Oh Black Monday murders obviously that's like that's kind of
what it is I mean yeah I mean this is
what stands out I think to all of us is
from that Healy quote there's that line where he says
we couldn't go on forever fighting one another For nothing.
So now we are teaming up and we're saying, hey,
(01:01:24):
you and I are from different countries, different bloodlines or whatever,
and we run different banks. But aren't they both banks?
Speaker 3 (01:01:34):
Well, Ben, you point out.
Speaker 1 (01:01:35):
Yes, they are.
Speaker 3 (01:01:36):
That's right. You point out, Ben, in the doc that
there is a noble intent at play here. But there
is an inherent flaw in just that bubbling effect that
takes place once you start getting into these echelons.
Speaker 2 (01:01:52):
I would just say it's a noble's intent.
Speaker 1 (01:01:55):
Noble one. There we go. Well played. Yeah. Aren't they
both banks? It's a noble intent. We know that there is.
I'll say it. Beat me here again, please, Dylan. We
know that there is free afoot. And we don't know
how to really parse this system because of the secrecy,
(01:02:17):
but we would definitely love your thoughts. Thank you so
much for tuning in, folks. There are a number of
ways to get in contact with us or to invite
us to the next Bilderberg meeting.
Speaker 3 (01:02:28):
Yeah, remember Dylan said he got an Illuminati invite? I
felt really left out of that one, but I will
check my spam folder. But do get at us online.
You could end up in our spam folder. Just kidding.
It goes right to the top. We'll get to that
method in a minute. But if you want to reach
out to us on social media, you can find us
at Conspiracy Stuff or Conspiracy Stuff Show.
Speaker 2 (01:02:47):
If you want to call us and tell us what
you served to the Builder Burgers when you were a waiter.
Speaker 3 (01:02:54):
Was it a Build Your Own Burger Bar, perhaps?
Speaker 1 (01:02:56):
A Builder Burger? You're a genius, dude. I think that's
a pop-up.
Speaker 2 (01:03:01):
I told you, it's Budruckers, man.
Speaker 1 (01:03:02):
You're not wrong, dude.
Speaker 3 (01:03:03):
You're not wrong.
Speaker 2 (01:03:04):
Yeah. You can call us anytime. Our number is 1-833-STD-WYTK.
Turn the letters into numbers. Give it a call.
Speaker 3 (01:03:13):
Voicemail. Leave a message.
Speaker 2 (01:03:15):
You might get a call back. And you might end
up on one of our listener mail episodes that show
up all around the Internet, especially here, wherever you're listening
to this. Do find us on Netflix if you're not
already watching there. Just spend some time with us.
Speaker 1 (01:03:31):
It's kind of fun.
Speaker 3 (01:03:32):
It's cool.
Speaker 2 (01:03:32):
You're going to like it. Hey, if you want to
send us an email, we are.
Speaker 1 (01:03:35):
The entities that read each piece of correspondence we receive
be well aware yet unafraid. Sometimes the void writes back.
Give us a random fact, we'll give you one in return.
Or just hit us up and say, hey, can you
give me a cool nickname? We probably will. Conspiracy at iHeartRadio.com.
Speaker 2 (01:04:13):
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