The Basement: Mitch Horowitz | Gandhi, Reagan, and the Occultists History Erased

The Why Files host interviews writer and editor Mitch Horowitz about occult and esoteric influences on modern culture, and Horowitz’s new book Esoterica. Horowitz argues that Ronald Reagan’s rhetoric drew on occult lecturer Manly P. Hall, saying he previously published a Washington Post analysis of Hall-derived phrasing and recounting a second-hand claim that Reagan visited Hall at Los Angeles’ Philosophical Research Society. He also contends that major historical narratives minimise occult or esoteric influences, pointing to Gandhi’s reported encounter with Theosophical Society founder Helena Blavatsky as a formative moment in Gandhi’s thinking on religious universality and equality.

Horowitz discusses questions of evidence and provenance, including alleged misquotations in popular history and the role of biographers and translators in shaping what survives. He claims Freud’s interest in telepathy and clairvoyance was softened in the public record for professional reasons. The conversation turns to parapsychology: Horowitz defends Daryl Bem’s precognition experiments and asserts that subsequent meta-analyses support the findings, while criticising what he calls an organised “pseudo-sceptic” response.

On personal practice, Horowitz describes attending the Monroe Institute and receiving a “Do less” message, which he connects to a later hospitalisation for low haemoglobin. He outlines practical self-help techniques around “wishes”, privacy, and silence, and argues that forgiveness should not be treated as a universal moral requirement. The episode closes with Horowitz’s bleak assessment of humanity’s direction, tempered by a more hopeful focus on individual change.

• Horowitz says Reagan used Hall’s phrasing and ideas in speeches, and alleges Reagan met Hall via a witness account.
• He claims Gandhi credited Blavatsky and Theosophy with shaping his universalist outlook, and argues this is underplayed in biographies.
• Horowitz argues Freud’s parapsychology interests were downplayed in psychoanalytic history-building.
• He defends Daryl Bem’s precognition work and claims large-scale meta-analyses validate key effects, while accusing Wikipedia of distortion.
• Horowitz recounts a Monroe Institute experience prompting him to “Do less”, and says a subsequent health scare reinforced the warning.
• He describes rare publishing-world accountability: Tucker Carlson allegedly returned a $10,000 advance when a book project fell through.
• He links the dollar bill’s eye-and-pyramid design to a 1935 Roosevelt/Wallace decision and says records show Roosevelt’s handwriting on the matter.