Episode Description
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EP. #1318 The Face Knows: The Forbidden Science of Reading Power, Deception, and Destiny
Richard Syrett dives into the forbidden art of physiognomy with Taylor Northcutt, founder of Prosopa Insights. For millennia, humanity read character, temperament, and intent directly from facial structure—not as random genetics, but as a biological record shaped by the same forces that forge dominance, empathy, deception, and will. Kings, judges, and artists once trusted this wisdom; then modern society buried it, dismissing it as pseudoscience. Northcutt revives these ancient patterns, exploring why certain faces inspire instant trust or visceral unease, how power etches its signature, and why early depictions of Christ follow precise archetypes. The conversation pressure-tests real-world figures—Jeffrey Epstein's predatory charm, Vladimir Putin's sealed restraint, Donald Trump's raw readability—and even doppelgängers, including Richard's own resemblances to Tucker Carlson and Kenneth Branagh.
Culminating in the Shroud of Turin, they confront a provocative question: What happens when a civilization trains itself to ignore the truths written on the human face?
GUEST: Taylor Northcutt is the founder and director of Prosopa Insights, a platform dedicated to reviving and applying physiognomy—the ancient practice of reading personality, temperament, and character from facial features.
In 2024, he launched Prosopa Insights to offer personalized face-reading consultations, business consulting, educational content via his YouTube channel (@ProsopaInsights, with over 37K subscribers), articles, videos, and a Patreon "Physiognomy Academy." His work explores how faces reveal innate traits, often analyzing public figures, historical icons like Carl Jung, and modern personalities to demonstrate pattern recognition over pseudoscience.
Northcutt positions physiognomy as a practical tool for self-awareness, relationships, and decision-making—encouraging people to "judge a book by its cover" in a grounded, observational way.
WEBSITE:
YOUTUBE:
https://www.youtube.com/@ProsopaInsights
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