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Heretics | Andrew Gold

Andrew Gold
Heretics | Andrew Gold
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703 episodes

  • Heretics | Andrew Gold

    Vanessa Feltz: TV Is Dying—and Our Interview Became a Fight

    27/08/2026 | 1h 15 mins.
    Vanessa Feltz has spent more than thirty years at the heart of British television. I built Heretics outside it. We began by agreeing that television had become sanitised. Within minutes, she was asking whether I was ashamed of myself.

    What follows is a collision between two very different ideas of public conversation: one prioritises care and responsibility; the other prioritises bluntness and freedom. You decide which one the future belongs to.

    Sub to her new show here: https://www.youtube.com/@VanessaFeltzYouTube

    Following the sudden end of her Channel 5 programme, Vanessa reveals how Paramount pulled the plug, why terrestrial television is losing its audience and what decades in British broadcasting taught her about censorship, controversy and the shrinking space for unscripted opinions.

    But the agreement doesn’t last.

    A throwaway remark about Loose Women becomes an accusation of misogyny and ageism. Vanessa explains why she deplores my decision to interview Katie Hopkins, questions whether controversial figures deserve a platform and reveals whether she would invite Woody Allen into her home.

    Then, after Vanessa asks what I have said that made me unacceptable to mainstream television, the interview takes its most dramatic turn. We clash over transgender identity, pronouns, detransition, compelled speech and whether genuine compassion means affirming somebody’s identity—or being willing to tell them something they do not want to hear.

    At one point, Vanessa calls me “nasty”. Shortly afterwards, she announces that she has lost the will to live.

    But the arguments are only half the story. Vanessa also speaks with startling honesty about growing up with parents who rarely expressed love, being made to feel grateful to any man who chose her and why she has never sustained a successful relationship.

    She opens up about the cruelty she experienced over her weight, starving and dehydrating herself before televised weigh-ins on Celebrity Fit Club, the gastric band that became embedded in her liver and why she wishes Mounjaro and Wegovy had existed before she underwent gastric bypass surgery.

    There are also extraordinary stories involving Madonna, Katie Price, Woody Harrelson, Jeff Goldblum, The Big Breakfast and the famous guests who behaved very strangely after climbing into bed with Vanessa.

    Was Vanessa defending kindness and responsibility—or the instincts that made mainstream television frightened of real conversation? Was I defending honesty and free expression—or simply being provocative for its own sake?

    Watch until the end and decide for yourself. The way the conversation concludes may surprise you.

    Subscribe to Heretics for long-form conversations in which insiders, survivors and dissidents reveal the hidden rules of powerful people and institutions—and how those rules affect you.

    CHAPTERS

    0:00 “Are you ashamed of yourself?”
    3:54 Why mainstream television is dying
    7:59 One joke turns the interview against Andrew
    12:32 Is offensiveness ever “just a joke”?
    18:15 The parents who rarely expressed love
    21:59 Why Vanessa always needed to be chosen
    25:09 Why Vanessa deplores Katie Hopkins
    30:48 Vanessa discovers she was voted one of Britain’s worst people
    35:18 How she avoided the internet until 2020
    38:27 “What have you said?” The gender clash begins
    42:36 What does it really mean to be a woman?
    46:18 “You’re just being nasty”
    50:10 When “just be kind” stops being simple
    55:40 The weight-loss operation that went horribly wrong
    59:03 Starving herself before a televised weigh-in
    1:03:21 Why one slice of cake changes everything
    1:07:19 Vanessa’s YouTube reinvention—and the stars in her bed

    #VanessaFeltz #Heretics #AndrewGold #FreeSpeech #BritishTV
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  • Heretics | Andrew Gold

    Everybody Loves Raymond Star: I Had to Join Hollywood’s Secret Network - Patricia Heaton

    24/08/2026 | 1h 10 mins.
    Patricia Heaton says Hollywood became so hostile to dissent that she helped build a private network of 2,000–3,000 insiders - before the IRS asked for its members’ names.

    In this Heretics interview, the Everybody Loves Raymond and The Middle star tells Andrew Gold why “Hollywood’s dead”—and what changed inside its comedy writers’ rooms. Patricia reveals how a small gathering involving Gary Sinise, Kelsey Grammer, Jon Voight and Ben Shapiro grew into Friends of Abe, Hollywood’s secret community for conservatives, libertarians and independent thinkers.

    Follow Patricia on X here: https://x.com/PatriciaHeaton

    And on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patriciaheaton

    Andrew first heard Patricia Heaton discuss Hollywood’s writers’ rooms with Dave Rubin on The Rubin Report. Here, they go further: from jokes being rejected as offensive and diversity requirements affecting hiring to Patricia’s Catholic faith, her pro-life beliefs and the people who allegedly refused to work with her.

    Patricia also challenges Andrew’s atheism before they debate October 7, Israel, antisemitism, Hollywood activism, radical Islam, immigration and the political future of America.

    Can Hollywood ever produce another timeless sitcom like Everybody Loves Raymond—or has fear permanently changed comedy?

    Subscribe to Heretics for more honest conversations with the insiders, survivors and dissidents challenging powerful institutions.

    CHAPTERS:

    0:00 Hollywood’s secret club: the explosive preview

    1:06 Patricia Heaton says “Hollywood’s dead”

    6:40 Why classic comedy couldn’t be made today

    9:54 The joke young writers called “homophobic”

    14:46 Diversity rules inside Hollywood writers’ rooms

    19:04 Being Catholic and pro-life in Hollywood

    23:03 Friends of Abe: Hollywood’s secret conservative club

    26:06 3,000 members, IRS scrutiny and career backlash

    32:06 Patricia Heaton challenges Andrew’s atheism

    38:00 October 7 and Hollywood’s silence

    42:00 Did the West learn the wrong lesson from 9/11?

    45:48 Why is Israel held to a different standard?

    49:58 Andrew’s terrifying Jerusalem chase

    53:04 Is activism Hollywood’s latest status symbol?

    56:04 From sitcom fame to a warning about freedom

    59:25 Christianity, Islamism and closed communities

    1:02:25 Mamdani, political violence and the far left

    1:05:38 Can America reverse course?

    #PatriciaHeaton #EverybodyLovesRaymond #TheMiddle #Hollywood #Heretics
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  • Heretics | Andrew Gold

    The CIA Used Mind Control On Manson. They Still Use It - Tom O’Neill

    20/08/2026 | 1h 20 mins.
    Was Charles Manson merely a cult leader—or used the CIA’s MKUltra mind-control program?

    Investigative journalist Tom O’Neill spent 20 years examining Charles Manson, the Manson Family and the murders of Sharon Tate and Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. His acclaimed book, CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties, challenged the accepted Helter Skelter story. In 2026, Tom was called to testify before the United States Congress about MKUltra and the files he uncovered.

    --

    Get Tom O'Neill's book Chaos: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chaos-Truth-Behind-Manson-Murders/dp/1786090627

    --

    Tom explains why Manson repeatedly escaped prison despite serious parole violations—and reveals the disturbing connections between Manson, the Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinic and psychiatrist Louis “Jolly” West, a secret CIA contractor involved in LSD, hypnosis and mind-control experiments.

    We discuss:

    • Whether Charles Manson was a CIA asset, informant or unwitting experimental subject
    • The original MKUltra documents Tom discovered after “turning every page”
    • Sidney Gottlieb, Jolly West and attempts to replace real memories with false ones
    • Evidence that the CIA gave Congress altered information about MKUltra
    • How Manson used LSD, hypnosis and psychological conditioning on his followers
    • Whether MKUltra succeeded—and whether similar programs could still exist today
    • What a congressional staffer allegedly told Tom about UFOs, UAPs, recovered crafts and recovered beings
    • Tom’s night inside Marilyn Manson’s house
    • Private dinners with Peter Thiel
    • Joe Rogan, Kamala Harris and the political cost of refusing difficult conversations

    Tom is careful to distinguish between what the documents prove and what remains an extraordinary—but increasingly difficult to dismiss—theory.

    Do you believe Manson was deliberately used, experimented on, or simply protected as an informant? Let us know below.

    Subscribe to Heretics for investigations into cults, government secrets, institutional power, hidden history and the stories powerful people would rather you ignored.

    #CharlesManson #MKUltra #CIA

    Chapters:

    0:00 Congress Reopens MKUltra
    7:50 The Files That Survived
    13:24 Was Manson a CIA Experiment?
    20:34 Someone Needed Manson Free
    27:55 How Manson Programmed His Followers
    31:18 Replacing Real Memories With Fake Ones
    35:35 Did MKUltra Ever Stop?
    40:06 Secrets Hidden From Presidents
    41:51 What Congress Really Knows About UFOs
    45:35 Recovered Crafts and Beings
    47:14 Secrets That Require Therapy
    48:44 Could Aliens Really Reach Earth?
    50:42 Why Democrats Skipped the Hearing
    52:15 Psychic Spies and Uri Geller
    55:31 Inside Marilyn Manson’s House
    59:07 The Tape Too Dangerous for the Phone
    1:02:01 Marilyn Manson’s Taylor Swift Obsession
    1:05:17 Dinner at Peter Thiel’s House
    1:11:02 Kamala Harris’s Joe Rogan Mistake

    #CharlesManson #TrueCrime #Conspiracy #CIA #MKUltra #MansonFamily #DarkHistory #HistoryExposed #Heretics #AndrewGold
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  • Heretics | Andrew Gold

    She's The Most Evil Person Online - Kanika Batra

    17/08/2026 | 1h 3 mins.
    Kanika Batra says her psychiatrist scored her 33 out of 40 for psychopathy. She also says she set someone on fire - and that the worst thing she has ever done cannot be discussed because “there’s no statute of limitations.”

    In this unfiltered Heretics interview, Andrew Gold sits opposite the former beauty queen, author and viral sociopathy creator to discover what life is really like without emotional empathy, guilt or remorse.

    ---

    Follow Kanika:

    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KanikaBatra

    TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ogkanikabatra

    Website and book: https://kanikarose.com

    ---

    Kanika explains her diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), commonly associated with sociopathy, and why she describes herself as an extreme psychopath. But can a psychopath genuinely love? Can you recognise one by looking into their eyes? Which of Kanika’s smiles is real - and what weakness would she exploit to manipulate Andrew?

    They discuss:

    * Kanika’s psychopathy score - and why 32 out of 40 is so extreme

    * The disturbing things she says she did as a child• Who she set on fire and what she felt afterwards

    * How sociopaths imitate emotion, empathy and remorse

    * The difference between a psychopath, sociopath and narcissist

    * How Kanika would psychologically manipulate Andrew

    * Whether psychopaths can experience love• Fake smiles, unblinking eyes and the physical signs she looks for

    * Her controversial Sociopathic Dating Bible

    * Why she adopted a different personality for her TikTok audience

    * Which celebrities and political figures she believes are psychopaths or narcissists

    * Her unexpected involvement in the Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Andrew story

    Kanika Batra - also known online as Kanika Rose - has built an audience of more than 670,000 people across YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, generating over 37 million views with videos about sociopathy, dark psychology, manipulation, narcissism, dating and power. She has also appeared on LADbible’s Honesty Box, discussing what it means to live without empathy, guilt or remorse.

    Kanika’s descriptions of her own experiences - and her opinions about the psychology of public figures - are her own and should not be treated as clinical diagnoses or medical advice.

    #KanikaBatra #Psychopath #DarkPsychology
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  • Heretics | Andrew Gold

    Rob Schneider: What A-List Stars Tell Me When Nobody’s Listening

    13/08/2026 | 1h 16 mins.
    Hollywood legend Rob Schneider (SNL, Deuce Bigalow, Grown Ups) joins Andrew Gold in the desert.

    in this deep dive, Rob reveals why he’s choosing to stay in "Siberia" rather than conform to the new authoritarianism of the film world.

    From secret phone calls with A-list stars who are too afraid to speak out, to his famous (and surprisingly touching) confrontation with Robert De Niro, Rob pulls back the curtain on the "blacklisting" happening behind the scenes. We explore the "politics of envy," why critics have always had it out for him, and the emotional toll of being "canceled" by his own family.

    This isn't just about movies—it's a conversation about the collapse of Western institutions, the rise of "suicidal empathy," and why Rob believes that "silly is king" in a world that has lost its sense of humor.

    Whether you’re a fan of classic SNL comedy or you’re here for the "heretical" truth-telling, this interview is a must-watch.

    00:00 The Hollywood Blacklist: Who’s Really in Control?

    04:40 The Politics of Envy: James Cameron & The Titanic Backlash

    08:45 The Secret Discussion with Jerry Seinfeld at SNL 50

    11:15 Why the Studio System is Collapsing in Real Time

    13:30 Was Senator McCarthy Right? The New Blacklist

    16:25 The Usurpation of Movements: From Rights to Grifts

    19:10 Why Hollywood Executives Fear for Their Beach Houses

    24:50 Selective Outrage: The Hamas Massacre & Celebrity Silences

    28:40 The "French Model" vs. The American Typecast

    31:55 Why English Actors Are More "Honest" About the Money

    34:55 Richard Dreyfuss and the Reality of Winning an Oscar

    39:00 The Status Trap: Why Hollywood Stars Are So Fragile

    42:30 Adam Sandler’s Loyalty in a Career of "Siberia"

    46:20 The Saskatchewan Benefit: Jokes That Got Me Banned

    51:25 Secret Calls: The A-Listers Who Agree with Me in Private

    53:20 The Daughter I Lost: Forgiveness & The Family Divide

    58:30 Finding Faith: How Christianity Changed the Game

    01:05:50 Why Dave Chappelle is the Modern Prophet

    01:11:30 John Cleese, Silly Icons, and the Future of Comedy

    #RobSchneider #Hollywood #CancelCulture #AndrewGold #Heretics #AdamSandler #JerrySeinfeld #FreeSpeech #Comedy #HollywoodUnfiltered #Interview
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More Documentary podcasts
About Heretics | Andrew Gold
Journalist Andrew Gold talks to everyone from cult defectors and politicians to mainstream celebrities - people who’ve challenged the expected script and lived with the consequences. Guests include Robbie Williams, Rob Schneider, Frankie Muniz, Katie Price, Evan Rachel Wood, Paul Gascogine, Chris Packham, Chris Williamson, David Baddiel, Richard Dawkins, Bonnie Blue, and former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss.
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