Angela Natividad: Meet The God Inside Capitalism

About this episode

Caitlin Schiller interviews Angela Natividad about the religious nature of capitalism and the myths that shape our understanding of productivity and self-worth.

What if the stories running your life aren't really yours? This week on Simplify, Caitlin talks with Angela Natividad: a mythologist, writer, and advertising veteran—a trifecta that turns out to be the perfect preparation for the argument she makes in her book Remember His Name: Unmasking the Faceless God of the West . That argument, put simply: capitalism isn't an economic system. It's a religious one. We get into what that actually means—the hidden god at the center of it all, the ancient mythologies that laid the groundwork, and a concept called the egregore that might be as unsettling as it is useful. Angela also makes a case for why the stories we tell ourselves about productivity, laziness, and whether we're doing enough aren't pointing to personal failings. They're architecture that someone built, and understanding that is the first step to not being entirely at their mercy. Resources Remember His Name: Unmasking the Faceless God of the West by Angela Natividad Midwifing The Mother , Angela's Substack The Dawn of Everything by Davids Graeber and Wengrow How to Re-Enchant the World by Serge Latouche Caitlin's rec: The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr Ben's recs: The…

People in this episode

Host: Caitlin Schiller

Guest: Angela Natividad

Topics covered

• capitalism
• mythology
• productivity
• storytelling
• religion
• self-perception

Keywords

• capitalism
• mythology
• productivity
• self-worth
• storytelling
• egregore
• religion

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Kollo Media

Books & works: Remember His Name: Unmasking the Faceless God of the West, Midwifing The Mother, The Dawn of Everything, How to Re-Enchant the World, The Science of Storytelling, The Kingdom, Bad Cousins podcast

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