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 Kingdom by Emmanuel Carrère / The primary texts (the Bible, the Quran, the Avesta — just dip in!) / Bad Cousins podcast
Let us know what you thought of this episode! Find us on Instagram at @simplifypod. Subscribe to our newsletter here. You can email us at info@kollomedia.com
This episode of Simplify was produced by Caitlin Schiller, Ben Schuman-Stoler, and engineered by João Lucas in Berlin, Germany, for Kollo Media.