Ep. 396 - Powers & Principalities: The Unseen War Against the Church, with Fr Turbo
Release Date: 01/14/2026
Ep. 411 - The Self-Help Trap: Therapy, the Passions, and the War for the Soul, with Fr. Turbo Qualls
Counterflow with Buck Johnson
We’re living in a moment where everyone is “doing the work”—therapy, healing, boundaries, trauma language—and yet people seem more anxious, unstable, and internally fragmented than ever. In this episode, Fr. Turbo Qualls joins me to challenge the assumptions behind modern mental health culture and to ask a deeper question: are we misdiagnosing spiritual problems as psychological ones? We get into the difference between trauma and the passions, where therapy can be helpful—and where it quietly falls short—and how certain modern practices can drift into spiritually...
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Ep. 410 - War, Truth, and the Battle You Can’t See, with Darryl Cooper
Counterflow with Buck Johnson
In this episode, I talk with Darryl Cooper, host of the Martyr Made Podcast, and cohost of the Provoked Podcast (with Scott Horton as well) to talk about war, power, and the unseen forces shaping both. With a background as a Navy Aegis technician and a decade as a DOD engineer, Darryl brings a unique perspective on leadership, influence, and the gap between narrative and reality. We get into his evolving views on political power, the danger of losing moral clarity in the pursuit of “understanding,” and why history is often more complicated—and more uncomfortable—than people...
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Ep. 409 - (FIXED) Dying to the World in an Age of Distraction, with Fr. John Valadez
Counterflow with Buck Johnson
In this episode, I chat with Fr. John Valadez—Orthodox priest and the man behind Death to the World—to talk about what it actually means to die to the world in a culture that’s built to keep you comfortable, entertained, and constantly distracted. We get into why modern life makes it almost impossible to be still, why silence feels threatening to people, and how we’ve replaced transformation with validation without even realizing it. But the conversation really centers around what he’s building right now— A retreat center. A real place. On real land. Set...
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Ep. 408 - The Gut and the Soul: Health, Habit, and the Passions, with Dr. Mark Faries
Counterflow with Buck Johnson
In this episode, Buck sits down with Dr. Mark Faries, professor at Texas A&M and researcher in behavior change, to explore one of the most frustrating realities of modern life: Why do we know what’s healthy… and still fail to do it? Dr. Faries breaks down the science behind human behavior—why people change, why they don’t, and why most attempts at improving health fall apart over time. The conversation moves beyond surface-level advice and into the deeper issue of self-regulation failure—the internal battle between what we know and what we actually do. But this isn’t just a...
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Ep. 407 - Beyond Feelings: Truth, Asceticism, and the Orthodox Path, with Fr. Justin Havens
Counterflow with Buck Johnson
What happens when faith is reduced to a feeling? In this episode, I sit down with Fr. Justin Havens, a missionary priest serving at St. Joseph the Hesychast Serbian Orthodox Church, to talk about one of the most important spiritual questions of our time: Is truth something you feel… or something you encounter? Drawing from years of missionary work in Utah—one of the most spiritually unique regions in America—we unpack the contrast between subjective religious experience and objective truth in Christ, and why so many people today are starving for something deeper. This is a...
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Ep. 406 - Heaven on Earth: The Divine Liturgy and the Book of Revelation, with Fr. John Whiteford
Counterflow with Buck Johnson
In this episode, I’m joined by Fr. John Whiteford to explore one of the most misunderstood books in all of Scripture: the Book of Revelation. For many modern Christians, Revelation is treated as a roadmap of future geopolitical events—something to decode through headlines, wars, and speculation. But in the Orthodox Christian tradition, Revelation is something far deeper: a vision of heavenly worship. We begin by breaking down the true meaning of the Divine Liturgy—not as a symbolic gathering or a teaching session, but as real participation in the worship of heaven itself. From...
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Ep. 405 - The Narcissism Behind the Neurodivergence Boom, with Dr. Hannah Spier
Counterflow with Buck Johnson
In recent years the language of autism and ADHD has moved from clinical psychology into mainstream culture. What was once a narrow medical diagnosis has expanded into a broad identity category embraced by millions online. But what explains this sudden rise? In this episode of Counterflow, Buck Johnson is joined by psychiatrist and writer Dr. Hannah Spier to explore the cultural, psychological, and social forces behind the modern “neurodivergence” movement. Drawing from her widely discussed essays on autism, identity, and modern narcissism, Dr. Spier argues that the explosion of...
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Ep. 404 - Christian Zionism: Political Ideology Disguised as Biblical Faith, with Michael Davis
Counterflow with Buck Johnson
In this episode, Buck Johnson sits down with author Michael W. Davis, general editor of the Union of Orthodox Journalists, for a serious discussion about Christian Zionism, theology, and geopolitics. Over the last century, Christian Zionism has become an influential framework shaping how many Christians understand the modern state of Israel, biblical prophecy, and the politics of the Middle East. But how does this theology compare with the faith of the early Church and the witness of the Church Fathers? Drawing on Scripture, Church history, and Orthodox theology, Buck and Michael explore the...
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Ep. 403 - From Hip Hop to Holy Tradition, with J-Ro from Tha Alkaholiks
Counterflow with Buck Johnson
What happens when a man who built his identity in hip hop walks away from the illusion of the industry and into the ancient Church? James “J-Ro” Robinson rose to prominence in the golden era of West Coast hip hop as a member of Tha Alkaholiks, part of Los Angeles’ influential underground scene. Fame, touring, culture, and credibility were all there. But behind the curtain, things weren’t what they seemed. In this conversation, J-Ro opens up about: • His childhood and the spiritual influence of his great-grandfather, a Christian minister • The formation of Tha Alkaholiks and life...
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Ep. 402 - Orthodoxy and the Modern Markets, with Fr. Emmanuel Lemelson
Counterflow with Buck Johnson
What do silver crashes, sovereign power, Vatican banking scandals, and free cash flow have in common? In this conversation, Fr. Emmanuel Lemelson joins us to explore the moral psychology of markets and the spiritual dangers of fear-driven investing. From the 2026 silver collapse and what he calls the "Imperial Margin Call," to the collapse of the safe-haven narrative, to the deeper arithmetic behind margin-of-safety investing, this episode moves beyond headlines into first principles. This is not merely a conversation about investing; it's about anthropology, empire, illusion, and sobriety....
info_outlineIn this episode, Buck sits down with Father Turbo Qualls for a wide-ranging and sobering conversation about spiritual warfare, ecumenism, and the modern pressure on the Orthodox to trade truth for comfort.
Beginning with reflections from St. Mary of Egypt and the Synaxis of Hagia Sophia, the discussion moves into how external forces — political, cultural, and spiritual — have repeatedly targeted the Church, often in ways that are subtle, coordinated, and unseen.
Father Turbo revisits a past conversation with Buck about the COVID era, exploring how major disruptions in Church life coincided with key feasts, fasts, and liturgical moments — not as a matter of human conspiracy, but as part of a deeper "powers and principalities" reality that operates beyond individual actors.
For more from Fr Turbo and to see his hand-painted icons, go here:
https://www.desertwisdombookstore.com/shop
...and his parish : https://stmaryofegypt.net
...and here: https://www.skool.com/synaxisofsophia
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