213. Mike Rothschild The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything
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Michael Shermer speaks with Mike Rothschild, a journalist specializing in conspiracy theories, about QAnon and its followers.
On October 5th, 2017, President Trump made a cryptic remark in the State Dining Room at a gathering of military officials. He said it felt like \\u201cthe calm before the storm\\u201d \\u2014 then refused to elaborate as puzzled journalists asked him to explain. But on the infamous message boards of 4chan, a mysterious poster going by \\u201cQ Clearance Patriot,\\u201d who claimed to be in \\u201cmilitary intelligence,\\u201d began the elaboration on their own. In the days that followed, Q\\u2019s wild yarn explaining Trump\\u2019s remarks began to rival the sinister intricacies of a Tom Clancy novel, while satisfying the deepest desires of MAGA-America. But did any of what Q predicted come to pass? No. Did that stop people from clinging to every word they were reading, expanding its mythology, and promoting it wider and wider? No. Why not?
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