Bulwark Takes - A Story So Bizarre That No Podcast Title Can Possibly Do It Justice

Episode Date: October 21, 2025

Tim, Sam and Will take on the wild world of major MAGA pseudoscience phenomenon—from a $40 million “energy healing” recliner empire to a self-proclaimed alien cabal called The Light System. Tucker Carlson, RFK Jr., and James O’Keefe all make cameos in this true story of conspiracies, bath salts, and the dumbest scam yet to come out of the right-wing "wellness movement." Get 40% off your Calm premium subscription at https://Calm.com/BulwarkTakes Read Will's article: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/bizarre-healing-tv-screen-tycoon-funding-maga-media-unifyd-eesystem

Hey, everybody. It's Tim Miller from the bulwark, and I'm here with the jingling potato. To somebody, see, my friends, a trio of us from the bulwark. It's managing editor Sam Stein, Will Summer, who is known for his, like, prominent hand fingers. Oh, God, can me not. I'm just talking about how, like, if you give him a high five, you're like, whoa, that guy is, has a powerful high five. I'll take it. I kind of like this. Um, so anyway, fellas, uh, Will Summer has a newsletter called false flag.

And, uh, he posted one last night. Sam Stein edited it. I read it and I just, I don't know why I'm here kind of. I don't know. Just to listen. Um, it's, it's truly something. What did you think of it? Um, it was head spin.

It just took some twists and turns. I didn't expect it was head spinning. And I first thought it was going to be a profile of this, this maybe Russian operative that interviewed Tucker Carlson and then we end up on a journey where Will Summer is in a suburban like shopping mall, a strip mall, a suburban strip mall where he is like being handy bath salts and having some like vitamin D lights shown on him. So anyway, I was like I didn't I didn't think that's where we were going. So I want you guys to explain to me what this is, why we should care. And I guess we should start with what you will.

Sure. Yeah. So this one is, like I said, I mean, it's kind of experimental story. This is, you'll want a trip guide to sit with you as you consume this content. So basically, a few weeks ago, this woman named Elizabeth Lane came on the right wing media scene. She's from the Republic of Georgia. No one had ever heard of her. And she said, hey, guys, I'm Elizabeth Laid. Here's my interview with Tucker Carlson. And all these people on the right said, who the heck? Where did this woman come from? What? And as Tim said, she's very pro-putin. So, you know, It was a weird situation. So I looked into it, and she works for a website called Unified TV. That's Unified with a Y. And I started looking into this, and I said, gosh, you know, they've got Tucker. They've got Jocko Willink, the former Navy SEAL, who's kind of one of these Rogan, like, Get Tough guys. James O'Keefe is listed as one of their contributors. What's going on here?

And are they doing big numbers over there at Unified TV? Are they doing bullwarks? Right. They're doing, no, they're not quite a bulwark numbers, though maybe we could learn from their revenue streams. But they're at, in Elizabeth Lane's case, I mean, she was, her videos are getting like 500 views with Jock Willink, stuff like this. And it was a very weird situation. And so I decided to dig into it. All right.

I'll pick up here, I suppose, because as I'm editing this, I'm like, where the fuck is this going? This is so weird. I don't understand it. And then we get to like this idea of like, actually who is funding this company, Unified TV? And what's this guy's name? you pronounce it. Jason Shirka. Shirka. Yeah. Jason Shirka. Had you ever, Tim, had you ever heard of Jason Shirka? I had not. Okay. Yeah, no, me neither. So explain who this dude is. So he's, he's this guy. He's kind of like a youngish kind of guy. He's new agey. He's, he's sort of risen to prominence on the right and in sort of, I guess kind of like what you would call kind of like maha sphere, sort of the fringing. This is like, this, this is fringy maha. Like, this is fringy. Exactly. Although, our.

RFK Jr. is also mixed up in this. So what is he preaching, basically? So basically his claim to fame is that he claims he's in contact with a benevolent cabal known as the light system. And he has a video where he's like, the light system, I'm not an initiated member. I'm not a made man in the light system, but I'm sort of a fellow traveler. And their whole goal is to ascend humanity. By the way, folks, this is, I didn't find just one random poop here. There's tens of millions of dollars at stake here.

So basically he says, I am in touch with the light system, and they all want us all to become vegans. They want us all to be nicer to each other so that we can eventually reach interstellar travel in the light system. It's some aliens, some of mortal beings. I'm sorry. I have a question. I have multiple questions.

The light system, I thought it was like literally a system of light. It is, but his initial thing is, there's a cabal. So there's a cabal of like, there's a. Elders. They're elders of the light system. Yeah, but do we know who the elders are? Do we have any idea who's in this cabal? There's one that will appear on his YouTube show sometimes named Ray. And Ray kind of covers up his identity. He goes, hey. And so he's all shrouded. He's wearing a hoodie and gloves. And he sort of conveniently is always taking Jason Shirk aside to be sort of like if we interviewed someone for the bulwark and they said, you know, Sam was right about that idea. Well, you do that anyways. So this light system, Cabal, has Jason Shirka as its spokesperson. And how do they like, I mean, what do they do other than preach?

So parallel to this, there's this woman named Dr. Sandra Rose Michael. And I will say the doctor title, it's a little loose here. She's not an MD, let's say. There's been a lot of accusations about where that's coming from. More credits are fewer than Dr. Jill Biden, what'd you say? I would say Dr. Joel Biden is like, like a more of a doctor. More.

And so, so basically, parallel to this for about 20 years, this woman named Sandra Rose Michael, who's also very new agey, she says, I believe she's claimed that aliens gave her the idea for this medical device that she calls the EE system. And in practice, and we can show some footage here, it's like a screen, it's a screensaver, basically, that shows, it looks like English sort of. It shows different colors and languages. How can it look like English? Sort of. It's sort of random letters. And I think she has like a custom font. You don't get it, Tim. You don't get it. You're not on the level there.

And so for decades, she's been claiming, you know, I've got this screen that will heal people. And then she teams up with Jason Shirka because his sister's dog is healed by it. And he claims the light system, Cabal, said, you got to get on board with this lady. But I think what may have happened here is he sees these screens that aren't like really making a ton of money. And he goes, chiching, chiching, chiching. And at this point, I think we need to just, because it's important because I, as I was editing this, I was, I admit it was like, what the fuck is going? I don't, I can't follow. So maybe it's important to recap.

And then we can move on. Yeah. Jason Shirka, who claims to be a spokesperson for the light system, a cabal of new AG spiritualists who want to make. make everyone vegan and send them to heaven, finds a potential cash cow in this company called EE Systems, which is selling recliners, where you can basically sit back and watch a TV screen, and that supposedly is going to heal you.

So the light system, Cabal, purchases a literal light system. Correct. And at this point, I just want to be clear, Shurka is not involved with unified, tv yet he's just a he's just part of this cabal and he's doing this recliner thing but then they get into business together and they make a lot of money right yeah so they make you know they're according to this comes out later in court records but they're clearing 30 40 million a year during the pandemic and a little after that because you know because people want to buy these

healing systems so you can buy these chairs and they come or i guess you can go to a location you can You can either go to a center where you're paying about $100 per hour to sit in the recliner, get zapped or what have you. And people are actually paying this money, I guess, right? Oh, yeah. I mean, you know, people are, I mean, this is a real thing. I mean, they claim to have $800 around the world. I mean, I think verifiably it's not a real thing, but it's a real thing that people go. It's a real thing.

800 what? 800 stores? 800 centers. Wow. Or you can buy one for your house and it's probably, I mean, they vary. one is like a pyramid, you know, maybe they could sit on a table and that's going to run you, I don't know, $10,000. What the fuck?

And so they're clearing $30, $40 million a year. It's a lot of money. Okay. All right. Now what? Then what are they doing with all that revenue? So then Jason, Jason who's doing the, who's sort of making a lot of money from in various aspects of this.

He says, you know what? I'm ready to cash out. Why don't you guys buy my company, the company that makes the machines, why don't you, the company that makes the machines. Why don't you buy it from me for, let's say, $30 million, and they say, oh, yikes, I don't know. And then they start, the company that makes the machine starts getting letters from the light system cabal saying, you better pay Jason this money or else. And they say, oh, my gosh, the cabal is here. And they're freaking out. And they're saying, oh, my gosh, okay, okay, would 10 million do? And they start kind of negotiating here. But ultimately, in January

2025, the negotiations break down. Jason says, you know what? Whatever. I'm going to sell my own machines, basically identical. And these are called the light system. So there's this big rivalry now in the light system, EE system community. And the other thing I would say is the people who, my brain is breaking. Oh, my God.

There's enough demand for this to create multiple. Two machines. It's a Coke and Pepsi. This is Coke Pepsi. Yeah. And I mean, it's getting ugly. And so Jason records a video with the light system with Ray saying, you know, Sandra Rose Michael, the money went to her head,

the cabal disowns her and all this stuff. And so basically, how do we bring this back to Tucker Carlson? Well, Buller takes is sponsored by Calm. Is anyone else feeling this year is flying by too fast or not going fast enough, frankly? That where did it all the time go, anxiety is quite real, and it can leave you feeling scattered and behind. Calm gives you permission to slow down, even when everything else is speeding up. Calm is the number one app for sleep and meditation, and it's here to help you feel better.

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reviews and can help you stress less, sleep more, and live mindfully. Calm your mind. Change your life. Com has an exclusive offer just for listeners of our show. Get 40% off Calm premium subscriptions at com.com.com slash bulwarktakes. This is, and I stress this, an amazing value. Go to C-A-L-M.com slash bulwarktakes for 40% off unlimited access to KOM's entire library. com.com slash bulwark takes. Tell Com you heard about them from me, Sam Stein. Thanks a bunch. Wait, let's pause for a second. I just, again, it's important to recap here. The light system Cabal has created a light system chair that's competing with the EE system chair. And they're also threatening the EE system people saying, hey, you need to pay Jason for his,

you know, what is it? Like, he has a separate company to like, you know, promote and do sales and they won't do it. And so they have a legal battle that's now enjoined. And that's where we're finding out all this information, correct? That's exactly right. That's where all of this stuff is spilling out. Okay. Wow.

Okay. How do we get back to Tucker? Okay, so now we have the Coke and Pepsi of the kind of woo-woo light system, sit in a chair, and your dog will no longer have rabies or whatever, you know, fleas. Okay, so put your dog in the chair, no more fleas for the dog. We're excited. This company becomes so popular that there's a spinoff. And somehow Tucker Carlson is.

is what? Promoting? Sure. So, Jason Shurka is very into influencer promoting. And so he's built out this kind of right wing media outlet called Unified TV. And like I said, it's roping in people like Tucker. And I will say to Tucker's credit, he's not sitting in front of a light system

and saying this is incredible. But there seems to be this effort to kind of like build out of his credit because RFK Jr. was. And James O'Keefe. Yes. James O'Keefe had this incredible moment last year where he goes, you know, I'm James O'Keefe. I love my undercover stings.

I'm going to wear a hidden camera in and blow the lid off this EE system scam. And he goes in and he goes, whoa, I'm energized. And he comes out and he says, I'm so much anxious. I have to go back as a real customer this time. What did RFK Jr. do when he appeared? Jr. seemed more baffled by it than anything. I mean, he sort of sat next to it. And at one point, he goes, oh, yeah, you know, I notice you set this up here in my house.

And I say, and we're going to give it to you as a gift. And did he take the gift as far as we know? I mean, he sort of goes, okay, you know, great thing. All right. So Jason, I mean, he's the Secretary of Health and Human Services at this point. So, you know, wasn't at this point or was it prior to that? No, no, no, I just mean like, now, like, right now he's the Secretary of Health and Human Services. So, like, even if you just kind of sat in a video with it in your house and your room, and I think you're pretty, like, pretty complicit here.

Suspect. So, okay, so Shirka's got this whole kind of group called Unified. that is like where all his interests are you know put together including light systems chairs and things like that and unified is also running this unified word is also running unified TV which hosts Elizabeth Lane among other people and then Elizabeth Lane randomly gets Tucker Carlson booked even though she has like 1,000 Twitter followers at the time is the implication that Tucker's getting some kickback from the recliner chair uh healing enterprise or now. You know, I don't have proof of that. I mean, there is stuff in the court documents

about how Jason Shirk was given all this money to spend on getting interviews with influencers a few years ago. And so there seems to be a lot of money flowing around, you know, bringing, I mean, they're getting some big names. Like, like I said, Jock Willink, James O'Keefe. I mean, to the extent we don't know if Tucker was paid, but I think if you pull back- clearly James O'Keefe was paid. Like, that was a match. Oh, definitely. Definitely. Yeah. And Tucker's case, like, this woman is, as a gay man, I can just be the one to say this. The woman's hot and she's pro-Russia. So it's possible that, like, I guess I'm just saying, like, there's another rationale for Tucker doing this interview besides taking some cash from the lightsaber chairs people.

But I guess it could be both or either. But it feels like Russia hotness or taking money from the lightsaber chairs. Could be both. Yeah, I think. All right, let's get to the good part. So you come to me with this story idea. This is crazy, but now it gets really funny. You come to me with a story, and you're like, oh, there's also a EE system center in Arlington, Virginia.

Vienna, Virginia, sorry. A little further out on the orange line. Yeah, yeah, sorry. Well, we send you there. And we sprung big time cash for it, $60. Tell us about what it's like. So I drove out there. It's a, you know, it was kind of a strip mall.

They also had a cryotherapy office. there. So I go in and it's, what's the sign say out front? You know, all of these are very vague. It's like, you know, the vitality center, the energy in mind. And so I went in and they were so excited to see

me and they said, what was next door? I'm sorry, I just need to paint a bigger picture. It's like a dominoes that's next door. A car wash. There was a car. Kill yourself, wash your car. They should bundle services. So I went in and they And they give you a gift bag

So it's earplugs in case The other people in the room with you are snoring It's an eye mask and bath salts And the important part about the bath salts is Because they think there's all energy waves So that you're going to get you know Blasted with the energy waves And then they tell you take a bath soon

Within 24 hours And you're going to have this energy Energetic bath salts That's going to be charged up for you And they said also by the way You better drink a ton of water Because it gets pretty crazy in there And so

And I will say they made me sign this thing that was like, you know, I won't touch the EE system or I can charge $1,500. It was kind of like a membership association. I kind of felt like I was joining a church. But then also they said, you know, we have to do this because we don't assert that it'll heal you. But then she said, but to be clear, it definitely will heal you. Oh, my God. I think my favorite part of the piece was the art that you sent in. Because you got to understand the image of this is like, you're on just a reclining chair.

And as far as I can tell, tell me if we're wrong, in the corner of the room, it looks like they just stacked six kind of relatively old TVs. And that's like wires coming out from everywhere all over the place. The TVs each have different colors and weird. In one of the laws related to this, someone says like, yeah, they're just TVs we got from Costco. Like they claim there's some other aspect, but they say, yeah, we just buy them on or it's a Costco. it looks like it in the the ceiling looks just like this honestly that's what the ceiling looks like you're just in like an office like they don't like put you in like an enclosed space have you ever done the um the gravity thing where you lay in the gravity uh you know you lay in the

water in the gravity in the zero gravity uh containers have you ever done one of those i was kind of expecting that like you'd be at least in a container of some kind like you're just sitting in a room with six TVs on like you could be at a sports there's nothing sophisticated about it. It's just, there's wires over radiators with, like, we're drawing curtains and industrial office decor. It's like, I mean, I could set up a fucking situation right here and charge people and say, oh, I'm going to heal you. It would be the same thing. It was crazy. And there's no, you know, being so, like, electronic and wave-based. I thought they'd be, like, no phones or anything. But everyone's just kind of in there watching that

Flicks or, like, flick on their phones or whatever. You have your phones? There were other, there were other people in the room with you yeah so and that's the other thing is because i know people after the stories come out people have said no one you this is will will found one random crackpot but just i went in the middle of the day on a friday and there were three in the middle day it was 10 a m it was 10 a m yeah there were three other people just chilling in there with me um and they were there when i left so i was there for two hours so i mean i don't know how much they had booked probably would cost like a couple hundred bucks you sat in that room for two hours he fell asleep yeah well you can nap you know i mean i mean

it was great to me. I mean, I don't get a ton of sleep. So, you know, I thought, you know, this bullwork job is pretty sweet. You know, I get to go take a nap in the middle of the day. I mean, it was great. And, you know, look, at the end. I would be scared of what the other people in the room. What if they're creepy? What if they started touching you? They were, they were sort of older people. I wasn't too concerned. Old people can be creepy. But, I mean, it did, look, I mean, it did bum me out in a way. I mean, this thing is so weird, but it is also, you know, And people seemed really, like, prepared for it. They came in with their blankets, you know, posted up for a while.

And, you know, when I left, they said, well, did you feel anything? And I said, well, you know, I didn't feel, you know, like a big moment. But they said, did you feel energized? And I mean, yeah, but I mean, I had just taken a nap and sort of late and relaxed in a dark room for a couple hours. So, yeah, I mean, I felt a little better than I did. Did you do the bath with the bath salts? You know, I haven't taken the bath salts. I'm saving that for a real moment when I knew.

need it. What would they just, I know you said there's like quasi English on these TVs, but like what, what actually is going to describe if you can what's being projected on them. I mean, it's just sort of gobbledygook. I mean, it almost looks like sort of static or, you know, what we know from the lawsuits that it's basically programmed language. The one thing I would add that didn't make an issue. And is that supposed to give you healing powers or? Well, the machines have different buttons. And so like, for example, what do you mean the machines? The chairs. So the screens, according to the user's manual, and there's certain things that will say, like, you know, like sexual healing or, you know, like, like energy and you press these different buttons and the colors are supposed to offer you in this case, you know, sexual energy or, or, you know, more, you know, to heal. You know what colors. Tim would press. Did you, did you feel any additional sexual energy? Did you feel any additional sexual energy?

Well, I don't know what setting mind was on. I, you know, I, I, maybe it was like my mitochondria was getting regenerated. I mean, they talk a lot. That's what the bath salts are for. Yeah. There's a lot of mitochondrial concerns out there when you're at the airport. Yeah, I can't watch those kids with deficiencies. Whoa.

All right. Well, this was great. I still don't really understand it. I, and I've gone through it like four times. I guess, I have one more question. I mean, I understand the scam part of it pretty straightforward. Oh, you think it's not real? The media side of it.

I'm so it's a little bit concerned. It's just like essentially the theory here is, I guess my question is, Will, do you think that the media platforms where they're promoting MAHA, Maha, Russia stuff is the goal? Like, it's a guy that has ideology. And so he's using his money to whatever, give platforms to crazy right wing people. or do you think that he's using the MAGA people as a business opportunity to get more money for the cabal of the light people? Yeah, I think Jason Shurka is a kind of like a right-wing conspiracy theorist guy. A lot of his stuff does echo QAnon, the idea of kind of like white hats versus black hats.

But I also think, you know, he's seen what a fabulous money-making opportunity this could be. And so I think, you know, businesses sometimes sponsor media outlets. Obviously, airlines have in-flight magazines. I think Dollar Shave Club sponsored a website for a while about kind of like men's lifestyle. So, you know, why not the light system? All right. Well, everybody out there, I'm sure they're going to have a big day tomorrow. It's going to be a big Wednesday for the Bullwark YouTube audience.

They're going to look up their local EE system, see if they can go, get a little midday nap in, get some mitochondrial juice, some sexual energy. and some bath salts and uh good luck out there this is what you come to us for i appreciate everybody subscribe to the feed go to the borg dot com and subscribe to will summer's newsletter because it's wonderful and um uh we'll be trioing with you again soon