WEBVTT - Q Anon: When Wild Conspiracy Went (sort of) Mainstream

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff you Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, and there's

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<v Speaker 2>Chuck and Jerry's here too, and we're just getting conspiratorial

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<v Speaker 2>here on Stuff you should know the podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>That's right, the episode we wanted to do so much

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<v Speaker 1>that it sat in our folder for four.

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<v Speaker 2>Years I believe it was. Yeah, the very beginning of

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<v Speaker 2>twenty twenty one, I would say, probably.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, all right, let's do it.

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<v Speaker 2>We are. I gotta say, it's gonna be nice to

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<v Speaker 2>see that removed from my desktop. It's just been sitting

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<v Speaker 2>there for so long.

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<v Speaker 3>Just staring at you. That que like a big blinky,

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<v Speaker 3>winky eyeball.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes with a one single eyelash attached. So we should

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<v Speaker 2>probably say at the outset to anybody tuning in that

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<v Speaker 2>who is like part of the q and No movement?

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<v Speaker 2>We're going to approach this as if everything the QAnon

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<v Speaker 2>movement believes is not true or made up, not from

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<v Speaker 2>the perspective of people who believe in the QAnon movement,

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<v Speaker 2>although we'll explain a lot of the same stuff. I

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<v Speaker 2>just don't want anybody to, you know, get five minutes

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<v Speaker 2>in and be like, what is this, you know.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I think that's a fair CoA And yeah, I

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<v Speaker 1>mean that's just the deal.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, yeah, we're taking the anthropological stance.

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<v Speaker 3>Okay, Yeah, so let's dive in, shall we.

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<v Speaker 2>Well let's give a little bit of a definition for

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<v Speaker 2>the three people who've never heard of QAnon.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and also, what I'm hoping is is that there's

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of people like me who actually probably I

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<v Speaker 1>probably knew more about it than some people even, but

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of people probably just sort of knew a

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<v Speaker 1>little bit or know a little bit about what this

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<v Speaker 1>thing was slash is m M, but you know, didn't

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<v Speaker 1>really know much about it, and it's just good to

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<v Speaker 1>know about stuff. So hopefully that'll brighten some corners of

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<v Speaker 1>your life as well.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and one thing I kept running into while researching

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<v Speaker 2>this is that there's a lot of families that have

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<v Speaker 2>been torn apart, families, friendships, sure, because people will go

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<v Speaker 2>down the QAnon rabbit hole, and the friends and family

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<v Speaker 2>that are like, that's not true get left behind because

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<v Speaker 2>they haven't woken up yet. So yeah, I can really

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<v Speaker 2>mess things up. So possibly there's some people listening to

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<v Speaker 2>this who have lost friends or family that might be

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<v Speaker 2>a little wiser to it might be able to try

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<v Speaker 2>to get their friend or family member back afterwards. Who knows.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, And the final CoA I guess is that some

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<v Speaker 1>of this stuff is so outlandish that it's hard to

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<v Speaker 1>not laugh.

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<v Speaker 3>But it's not funny at all.

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<v Speaker 1>It's dangerous and scary and sad. So if I might

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<v Speaker 1>laugh at something or giggle, it's not that I don't

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<v Speaker 1>take it seriously. That it's a serious kind of thing

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<v Speaker 1>that's happened.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it kind of like not even kind of. It

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<v Speaker 2>very much trapes us into the territory of high camp,

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<v Speaker 2>but is not at all being ironic or campy. It's

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<v Speaker 2>just just approach this as like everything we're gonna say

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<v Speaker 2>is believed seriously by people in the QAnon movement. And

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<v Speaker 2>then sorry, CoA Number five, we're probably going to get

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<v Speaker 2>a lot wrong. This is an incredibly expansive, ever evolving

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<v Speaker 2>movement conspiracy theory that you know, we're not We're going

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<v Speaker 2>to walk right past some stuff where we might misspeak

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<v Speaker 2>here there, but hopefully the general contours and outlines we're

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<v Speaker 2>going to we're going to get to be able to

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<v Speaker 2>get across.

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<v Speaker 3>Correctly all right onward.

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<v Speaker 2>So this whole thing The q Andon movement is a

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<v Speaker 2>online conspiracy theory that essentially the world is run by

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<v Speaker 2>a cabal of global elites, mostly liberals, Hollywood typesment high

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<v Speaker 2>government officials, and that they do all sorts of nefarious things,

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<v Speaker 2>which we'll get into in a second. But one of

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<v Speaker 2>the things to understand about this first is that a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of it is rooted in some really old existing

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<v Speaker 2>conspiracy theories, in particular a lot of anti Semitic ones

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<v Speaker 2>that have been around for centuries. In particular, the blood

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<v Speaker 2>libel is one that Jews for like a thousand years essentially,

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<v Speaker 2>maybe longer, have been persecuted, executed, massacred because of rumors

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<v Speaker 2>that they steal Christian babies and kill them and use

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<v Speaker 2>their blood to make leaven bread or unleavened bread for Passover,

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<v Speaker 2>and that stuff gets around and people get all up

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<v Speaker 2>in arms and scared about their kids being kidnapped, and

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<v Speaker 2>then the next thing you know, Jewish people are dead

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<v Speaker 2>because of this blood libel. That's part of it. And

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<v Speaker 2>although Jewish people are targeted in some quarters, you don't

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<v Speaker 2>have to be anti Semitic to be a queue not

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<v Speaker 2>member necessarily, right.

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<v Speaker 1>Other things that it echoes from the past are something

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<v Speaker 1>called the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which was

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<v Speaker 1>in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Another anti Semitic conspiracy,

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<v Speaker 1>basically the tired trope that there's a global Jewish cabal

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<v Speaker 1>kind of running the world, running the banking system, plotting

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<v Speaker 1>to overthrow the gentile governments of the world. We mentioned

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<v Speaker 1>Henry Ford and our Henry Ford podcast was a believer

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<v Speaker 1>in this kind of thing. And versions of this, versions

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<v Speaker 1>of the Blood Libel have been sort of wrapped up,

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<v Speaker 1>given a new, brand new shine coat of wax, and

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<v Speaker 1>was trotted out as QAnon, which is and you know,

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<v Speaker 1>Dave helped us with this many years ago, and thankfully

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<v Speaker 1>Dave didn't quit his job and he's still around to

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<v Speaker 1>help us out more.

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<v Speaker 3>But it's a catch all.

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<v Speaker 1>This conspiracy that you said is very vast, very wide ranging,

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<v Speaker 1>but mostly has to do with these power or full

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<v Speaker 1>liberal elites that are some are pedophiles, some are Satan worshippers.

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<v Speaker 1>Some they claim literally eat children. And we're talking about

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<v Speaker 1>the Clintons, of course, and we're talking about Tom Hanks

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<v Speaker 1>and Oprah Winfrey and George Soros and Ellen DeGeneres and

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<v Speaker 1>even the Dali Lama.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and Pope Francis. So anybody who's even remotely left

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<v Speaker 2>leaning who holds power in the world, especially in the

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<v Speaker 2>government or you know, pop culture, they are probably a

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<v Speaker 2>part of this secret cabal. And it checks all the

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<v Speaker 2>boxes for pearl clutching. They run the world, They worship Satan,

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<v Speaker 2>their pedophiles, and their cannibals. Can you think of a

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<v Speaker 2>worse group of people than that. I can't think of

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<v Speaker 2>any other thing you could throw at the at the

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<v Speaker 2>wall to see what would stick. Like, that's as bad

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<v Speaker 2>as anything gets. So the idea behind QAnon? What else

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<v Speaker 2>could I've been trying to think? Give me something.

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<v Speaker 3>Else, maybe Philadelphia sports fans.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh, now we're gonna get some hate mail, man, And.

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<v Speaker 3>That's where the hate mail is gonna come from. So

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<v Speaker 3>I'm just getting brotherly love.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, Yeah, and batteries. So the whole thing, though, is

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<v Speaker 2>that these people who are Satanic, pedophile cannibals, thank you.

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<v Speaker 2>People new to the podcasts are gonna be like, what's

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<v Speaker 2>wrong with that one guy?

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<v Speaker 3>It's hard to even get that sentence out.

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<v Speaker 2>It is thanks man, that they run the world. They

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<v Speaker 2>run things, and it all happens below the surface. Everything

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<v Speaker 2>that normies like you and I and probably most of

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<v Speaker 2>the people listening to this podcast believe is true. Is brainwashed.

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<v Speaker 2>We've been brainwashed by the mainstream media to be given

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<v Speaker 2>this line that things are the way they seem, when

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<v Speaker 2>in reality, things are not at all the way they seem.

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<v Speaker 2>There's a Satanic worshiping cult running the world, and they're

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<v Speaker 2>doing all sorts of terrible things. Those of us who

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<v Speaker 2>don't believe in QAnon just haven't awakened to this idea

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<v Speaker 2>yet of what's actually reality.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, So that's one part. Those are the bad guys.

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<v Speaker 1>The good guys, or rather the good guy is former

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<v Speaker 1>president and twenty twenty four candidate Donald Trump, who, according

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<v Speaker 1>to QAnon and the theory, was picked, handpicked by the

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<v Speaker 1>leaders of the US military to fight these evil forces,

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<v Speaker 1>and everything that he does and tries to do is

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<v Speaker 1>in service of that mission. Anything working against him, even

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<v Speaker 1>within his own party, as part of the deep state plot,

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<v Speaker 1>and they are all awaiting what's known or what they

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<v Speaker 1>call the storm, which is when Trump reveals who he

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<v Speaker 1>is and what he has done to fight these evil forces,

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<v Speaker 1>declares martial law, and everyone that has been a part

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<v Speaker 1>of that secret cabal is rounded up by the military

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<v Speaker 1>and tried and convicted and killed, at which time that

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<v Speaker 1>the Great Awakening will occur, in which Trump and the

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<v Speaker 1>QAnon supporters are a lot of his heroes around the world.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and this will bring about the founding of a

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<v Speaker 2>right wing authoritarian regime that Trump will lead. This is again,

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<v Speaker 2>this is what they believe is going on. So when

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<v Speaker 2>Donald Trump became president, for some reason, he had to

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<v Speaker 2>play along with this great charade that the liberal leftist

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<v Speaker 2>Satanists were producing, rather than I don't know, just being

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<v Speaker 2>overt about what his mission was. So that means that

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<v Speaker 2>since he had to play along, he had to leave

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<v Speaker 2>little like he had to give little winks and nods

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<v Speaker 2>and leave what are called bread crumbs, which are little

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<v Speaker 2>bits of information or little clues that the QAnon community dissects, discusses,

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<v Speaker 2>argues over. And what that's called is baking. They take

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<v Speaker 2>the breadcrumbs and they bake it, and when they finally

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<v Speaker 2>come to some sort of consensus or somebody comes up

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<v Speaker 2>with the best craziest interpretation of it, that becomes basically

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<v Speaker 2>the QAnon canon, and that spreads throughout social media, and

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<v Speaker 2>then the QAnon movement just gets that much more solidified

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<v Speaker 2>that much more extensive, and because of these tweets on

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<v Speaker 2>social media, some people say, well, what the heck is

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<v Speaker 2>everybody talking about, and we'll go look this stuff up

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<v Speaker 2>and very often fall down the rabbit rabbit hole and

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<v Speaker 2>become q andon members themselves.

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<v Speaker 3>That's right, So are we done?

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<v Speaker 2>Yep? That was it. That's everything you need to know

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<v Speaker 2>about QAnon. Everybody.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, let's just read six ads and go home.

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<v Speaker 2>There's two more things I wanted to add about this

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<v Speaker 2>global Satanist pedophile cannibal elite that's running the world secretly.

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<v Speaker 2>They are also suspected by some to be actual lizard people,

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<v Speaker 2>which is a direct ripoff of the the mini series

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<v Speaker 2>from the early eighties. And then, secondly, the reason that

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<v Speaker 2>they sacrifice the kids that they sexually abuse is because

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<v Speaker 2>they're after they're adrenochrome, which.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, this is this is pretty fun.

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<v Speaker 2>Metabolis. Adrenochrome is metabolized adrenaline. It's oxidized adrenaline, and according

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<v Speaker 2>to QAnon, it's like the elixir of life. So these

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<v Speaker 2>Satanists are sacrificing kids to get their adrenochrome and drinking it,

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<v Speaker 2>and they're they're staying forever young and vital. And there's

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<v Speaker 2>a few things wrong with this one. It seems to

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<v Speaker 2>be based on a misinterpretation of what adrenochrome does and

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<v Speaker 2>where you get it, based on fear and loathing in

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<v Speaker 2>Las Vegas, because Hunter Thompson has basically a throwaway intimation

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<v Speaker 2>that the adrenochrome that he does and goes on a

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<v Speaker 2>crazy trip over it can only be gotten from the

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<v Speaker 2>adrenal gland of a live human.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, that's right, And that is not true. It's synthesized

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<v Speaker 1>in a lab. You can it's it's available. That is

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<v Speaker 1>not true at all. So none of that is true.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, so I think we'd laid the foundation pretty well,

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<v Speaker 2>Like that's essentially the greatest broad strokes of what people

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<v Speaker 2>in QAnon believe is going on in reality.

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<v Speaker 3>That's right. Should we take a break?

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<v Speaker 2>I think so.

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<v Speaker 1>All right, we'll come back and we'll talk about pizza

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<v Speaker 1>right after this. All right, we promised talk of pizza.

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<v Speaker 1>That's because you can't talk about q and on without

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<v Speaker 1>mentioning a bit of a precursor to QAnon, which was Pizzagate,

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<v Speaker 1>that is to say, in twenty sixteen, and this is

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<v Speaker 1>we should say that the first QAnon sort of activity,

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<v Speaker 1>which are called q andon drops started in twenty seventeen

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<v Speaker 1>kind of what like October. And this is in twenty

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<v Speaker 1>sixteen when the Democratic Convention servers were hacked and emails

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<v Speaker 1>were published on Wiki leaks, and one of them kind

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<v Speaker 1>of rose to the top, which was an email from

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<v Speaker 1>John Podesta, who was Hillary Clinton's twenty sixteen campaign chairman,

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<v Speaker 1>in which he put forth, Hey, there's this pizza place

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<v Speaker 1>called Comet Ping Pong in the DC area here, and

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<v Speaker 1>we should hold a fundraiser there. I don't know if

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<v Speaker 1>he said this in the email, but the fact is

0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:32.480
<v Speaker 1>that his brother was a regular there and said, hey,

0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:34.560
<v Speaker 1>this is probably a good place to do that. They

0:13:34.600 --> 0:13:36.560
<v Speaker 1>got pretty good pizza, they got a bunch of ping

0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:39.559
<v Speaker 1>pong tables. It's a good place for people to meet up.

0:13:40.200 --> 0:13:45.120
<v Speaker 1>And that was found in I guess exposed, which is

0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:48.480
<v Speaker 1>kind of a funny way to say it on four Chan,

0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:53.560
<v Speaker 1>where people started saying, oh, well, that is the HQ.

0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:57.040
<v Speaker 1>Basically that's ground zero for where this elite cabal is

0:13:57.120 --> 0:14:01.360
<v Speaker 1>meeting and they are sacrificing children in the basement of

0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:04.320
<v Speaker 1>that place. There is no basement to that place, but

0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:07.640
<v Speaker 1>who cares about that? That was what was put forth

0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:11.640
<v Speaker 1>on four Chan and hashtag pizzagate started spreading like wildfire.

0:14:11.760 --> 0:14:15.200
<v Speaker 2>Surprisingly, yeah, and the fact that there is no basement means,

0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:18.760
<v Speaker 2>according to like qann thinking, that means that it's hidden.

0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:20.880
<v Speaker 2>And even if we don't have any proof it's there,

0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:23.480
<v Speaker 2>because the fact that it's being used by this secret

0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:27.040
<v Speaker 2>cabal and it's hidden is proof that it's there. Right,

0:14:27.120 --> 0:14:30.480
<v Speaker 2>That's the kind of circular thinking that keeps these things going,

0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:33.800
<v Speaker 2>and in Pizzagate in particular with Comet ping Pong, within

0:14:34.160 --> 0:14:36.920
<v Speaker 2>a month October twenty ninth was the first post about

0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:39.640
<v Speaker 2>how this is this is one of the home bases

0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:43.080
<v Speaker 2>of this child sex trafficking that this cabal engaged in

0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:46.880
<v Speaker 2>October twenty ninth was the first post. By December fourth,

0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:50.360
<v Speaker 2>a little over a month later, a man so riled

0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:54.320
<v Speaker 2>up by the idea that Comet ping Pong was a

0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:58.640
<v Speaker 2>hub of child sex trafficking drove a few hundred miles

0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:02.600
<v Speaker 2>from North Carolina to DC and showed up with at

0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:05.360
<v Speaker 2>comment Ping Pong with the AR fifteen and shot up

0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:06.960
<v Speaker 2>a door to get the door open.

0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:08.000
<v Speaker 3>That's right.

0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:11.680
<v Speaker 1>He also had a handgun on his side. Nobody was hurt.

0:15:12.640 --> 0:15:15.040
<v Speaker 1>People got out of there, very quickly. He kind of

0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:18.200
<v Speaker 1>wandered around the place alone for about twenty minutes. I

0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:21.640
<v Speaker 1>couldn't get in that door shot it up, told authorities

0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:25.480
<v Speaker 1>that he was self investigating Hillary Clinton's pedophile.

0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:28.640
<v Speaker 3>Ring, and that was that. He went to jail. Is

0:15:28.680 --> 0:15:29.560
<v Speaker 3>now out of jail.

0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:33.640
<v Speaker 1>I think he went for a few years, interestingly sentenced

0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:36.720
<v Speaker 1>by Kintaji Jackson Brown who now sits on the Supreme Court.

0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:40.600
<v Speaker 1>Oh really, side note, huh, Yeah, but that was it basically,

0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:44.560
<v Speaker 1>But you know, that was Pizzagate, and it was a

0:15:44.600 --> 0:15:49.880
<v Speaker 1>precursor to what would follow in October twenty seventeen when

0:15:51.120 --> 0:15:55.239
<v Speaker 1>Q first, I guess revealed himself but not really.

0:15:55.720 --> 0:15:58.800
<v Speaker 2>Right, Yeah, so I think. Yeah. The first drop was

0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:03.160
<v Speaker 2>October twentieth seventeen on four Chan, which is an image

0:16:03.160 --> 0:16:05.680
<v Speaker 2>board which is like you post images and then people

0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:08.800
<v Speaker 2>comment on them and conversations breakout, and in particular, four

0:16:08.880 --> 0:16:11.160
<v Speaker 2>Chan was known as like one of the really dark

0:16:11.240 --> 0:16:16.640
<v Speaker 2>recesses of the Internet. And on this image board a

0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:21.120
<v Speaker 2>guy named Q Clearance Patriot, and the first post read

0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:24.560
<v Speaker 2>open your eyes many in our government worship Satan. That

0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:26.640
<v Speaker 2>was the first Q drop that ever came out. In

0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:28.840
<v Speaker 2>October twenty seventeen.

0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:30.640
<v Speaker 3>That's right. And Q clearance.

0:16:31.200 --> 0:16:34.760
<v Speaker 1>You know what QAnon means is Q clearance is a

0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:38.800
<v Speaker 1>top secret clearance utilized by the Department of Energy, specifically

0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:42.640
<v Speaker 1>meaning you have access to nuclear the nuclear weapons program.

0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:45.400
<v Speaker 1>And the anon comes from just a sort of a

0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:48.240
<v Speaker 1>regular thing that would be people on four Chan who

0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:51.120
<v Speaker 1>claim to be like part of the FBI, like FBI,

0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:55.040
<v Speaker 1>non ciaann like whitstler blowing kind of thing. So q

0:16:55.360 --> 0:17:01.080
<v Speaker 1>anon became the name and claimed to be a intelligence officer,

0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:04.240
<v Speaker 1>a very high ranking person within the US government who

0:17:04.240 --> 0:17:11.160
<v Speaker 1>had direct evidence of this satanic pedophile cult and very

0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:15.679
<v Speaker 1>clear approvable knowledge that Donald Trump was on a secret

0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:17.919
<v Speaker 1>mission from the US military to reverse all this.

0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:22.240
<v Speaker 2>Right, and so between October twenty seventeen and sometime in

0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:27.560
<v Speaker 2>twenty twenty, the Q drops amounted to I guess more

0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:31.520
<v Speaker 2>than five thousand, and they were really really cryptic. They

0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:34.520
<v Speaker 2>were not like, hey, this is going on comet ping

0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:38.600
<v Speaker 2>Pong is actually a hub of child sex trafficking. They

0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:42.000
<v Speaker 2>were very cryptic, and so that just lent themselves to

0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:46.880
<v Speaker 2>be dissected and discussed and thought about and interpreted and misinterpreted.

0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:50.359
<v Speaker 2>And so there's an example of one from September twenty eighteen.

0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:53.560
<v Speaker 2>This would be shortly after the whole thing started, and

0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:58.720
<v Speaker 2>it said panic in dc LL talking equals truth revealed,

0:17:58.720 --> 0:18:04.280
<v Speaker 2>Tarmac bc LL talking equals truth revealed Comy HRC email case.

0:18:04.720 --> 0:18:06.640
<v Speaker 2>And it goes on and on and it mentions Hussein,

0:18:06.880 --> 0:18:09.840
<v Speaker 2>which is how Q always referred to Barack Obama.

0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:12.880
<v Speaker 3>Thanks for shortening this, by the way, Yeah.

0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:14.240
<v Speaker 2>And it just it keeps going on. But the last

0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:17.800
<v Speaker 2>line is Faiza brings down the house? When do bird sing?

0:18:18.320 --> 0:18:20.480
<v Speaker 2>And what the what the focus was on was the

0:18:20.880 --> 0:18:25.840
<v Speaker 2>at the time, the Hillary Clinton email server scandal that

0:18:25.960 --> 0:18:28.320
<v Speaker 2>Loretta Lynch was the Attorney General at the time, and

0:18:28.359 --> 0:18:32.240
<v Speaker 2>she met on a tarmac and in private with yeah, yes,

0:18:32.560 --> 0:18:35.000
<v Speaker 2>with Bill Clinton on a plane and it was a

0:18:35.119 --> 0:18:37.760
<v Speaker 2>huge scandal and everybody's like, what were they talking about

0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:40.359
<v Speaker 2>really and all that. So that's what this Q thing reference.

0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:42.200
<v Speaker 2>So that was the kind of stuff that they would say,

0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:46.879
<v Speaker 2>like like using just people's initials, just really cryptic, short

0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:51.960
<v Speaker 2>staccato statements or questions and like that was it. It

0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:54.160
<v Speaker 2>would they would just go away, and then people would

0:18:54.160 --> 0:18:57.280
<v Speaker 2>just go crazy trying to figure out what it meant that's.

0:18:57.160 --> 0:19:01.520
<v Speaker 1>Right, and really like get into the deciphering. I think

0:19:01.560 --> 0:19:04.240
<v Speaker 1>that was part of the oh geez. I don't even

0:19:04.280 --> 0:19:07.480
<v Speaker 1>know if fun is the word to use, but maybe

0:19:07.520 --> 0:19:10.199
<v Speaker 1>they were having fun. But part of the whole experience,

0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:12.159
<v Speaker 1>I guess is the best way to say it, is

0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:16.159
<v Speaker 1>deciphering these message messages, chatting with each other on what

0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:20.040
<v Speaker 1>everything means, what these initials are, who everyone is, and

0:19:20.240 --> 0:19:24.080
<v Speaker 1>just to get that kind of robust conversation going on

0:19:24.200 --> 0:19:27.479
<v Speaker 1>these dark corners of the web, initially dark corners, and

0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:32.000
<v Speaker 1>eventually the mainstream social media of the World Wide Web.

0:19:32.359 --> 0:19:36.159
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so, like I said, four chan is considered one

0:19:36.200 --> 0:19:38.600
<v Speaker 2>of the darker backwaters of the web, and then it

0:19:38.680 --> 0:19:41.720
<v Speaker 2>moved on to eight chan, which became eight kun or

0:19:41.760 --> 0:19:45.840
<v Speaker 2>eight kun, and it just kept getting darker and darker

0:19:45.840 --> 0:19:48.720
<v Speaker 2>and darker the places these Q drops were happening. But

0:19:48.840 --> 0:19:52.760
<v Speaker 2>then eventually, like I said earlier, people would start tweeting

0:19:52.800 --> 0:19:54.720
<v Speaker 2>about this stuff, and all of a sudden it spread

0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:56.199
<v Speaker 2>out from the darker parts of the web to the

0:19:56.240 --> 0:19:58.760
<v Speaker 2>more mainstream parts of the web, and then the actual

0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:02.640
<v Speaker 2>mainstream media started reporting on it. So this thing spread

0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:05.479
<v Speaker 2>far and wide, and the more far and wide its spread,

0:20:05.720 --> 0:20:09.760
<v Speaker 2>the more believable the whole thing became you know, like

0:20:09.800 --> 0:20:12.840
<v Speaker 2>you'd see it everywhere and people were talking about it seriously,

0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:15.199
<v Speaker 2>so it was kind of easy to fall down a

0:20:15.240 --> 0:20:18.000
<v Speaker 2>rabbit hole the further along this whole thing went, just

0:20:18.040 --> 0:20:20.760
<v Speaker 2>because there was more and more information to be found

0:20:20.840 --> 0:20:22.360
<v Speaker 2>down those rabbit holes.

0:20:22.960 --> 0:20:26.040
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, And you know, as scary as it is, all

0:20:26.080 --> 0:20:29.920
<v Speaker 1>of a sudden and you're at home for the pandemic,

0:20:29.960 --> 0:20:31.600
<v Speaker 1>you have a lot of more time on your hands.

0:20:32.119 --> 0:20:35.600
<v Speaker 1>You're or maybe you know, lost your job or something

0:20:35.640 --> 0:20:37.879
<v Speaker 1>which would have been awful, and have more time on

0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:40.520
<v Speaker 1>your hands, and all of a sudden, you're reading things

0:20:41.200 --> 0:20:42.720
<v Speaker 1>like you don't know what four chan is or eight

0:20:42.800 --> 0:20:44.760
<v Speaker 1>chan maybe, or how to get there, And all of

0:20:44.760 --> 0:20:48.080
<v Speaker 1>a sudden, you see something on Facebook or Instagram or

0:20:48.119 --> 0:20:52.280
<v Speaker 1>one of the close to seventy million tweets referencing QAnon

0:20:52.359 --> 0:20:53.840
<v Speaker 1>related hashtags and.

0:20:53.760 --> 0:20:55.879
<v Speaker 3>Phrases over a three year period.

0:20:56.880 --> 0:20:59.560
<v Speaker 1>All of a sudden, you're thinking like, oh, well, this

0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:01.600
<v Speaker 1>is this is if I'm seeing on Facebook, which is

0:21:01.640 --> 0:21:03.840
<v Speaker 1>where I also see pictures of my kid's soccer team.

0:21:04.480 --> 0:21:05.960
<v Speaker 3>So that makes it.

0:21:06.400 --> 0:21:10.600
<v Speaker 1>Bona fide and believable, which is in itself kind of

0:21:10.600 --> 0:21:13.679
<v Speaker 1>sad that that's as far as it goes research wise,

0:21:13.720 --> 0:21:16.000
<v Speaker 1>and people digging into that kind of the truth.

0:21:15.760 --> 0:21:17.879
<v Speaker 3>Of the matter. But that's what happened.

0:21:18.480 --> 0:21:23.080
<v Speaker 2>Well. People also went to the trouble of essentially compiling books,

0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:28.800
<v Speaker 2>creating lengthy documentaries all supporting these QAnon theories and explaining

0:21:28.840 --> 0:21:32.480
<v Speaker 2>them and busting them out, sometimes grabbing actual, verifiable, real

0:21:32.520 --> 0:21:35.880
<v Speaker 2>world examples and interpreting them differently and putting the whole

0:21:35.880 --> 0:21:38.959
<v Speaker 2>thing together. And so the fact that there's a documentary

0:21:38.960 --> 0:21:41.280
<v Speaker 2>on this legitimizes it to a lot of people too,

0:21:41.760 --> 0:21:45.680
<v Speaker 2>So there was it just became legitimized weirdly in some

0:21:45.720 --> 0:21:49.920
<v Speaker 2>really weird, questionable ways. And again, all of this, the

0:21:50.119 --> 0:21:53.200
<v Speaker 2>entire thing was in service to the idea that Donald

0:21:53.200 --> 0:21:55.840
<v Speaker 2>Trump was secretly fighting this cabal and he would bring

0:21:55.880 --> 0:21:58.840
<v Speaker 2>about the storm one day and people like Nancy Pelosi

0:21:58.880 --> 0:22:02.159
<v Speaker 2>would be executed live on TV. And people were really

0:22:02.160 --> 0:22:03.399
<v Speaker 2>psyched about that idea.

0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:04.600
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

0:22:04.640 --> 0:22:07.640
<v Speaker 1>Absolutely, you know, I mentioned the pandemic because that's when

0:22:07.680 --> 0:22:13.200
<v Speaker 1>the biggest spike and QAnon activity took place. In March

0:22:13.240 --> 0:22:17.600
<v Speaker 1>of twenty twenty, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which is

0:22:17.760 --> 0:22:21.199
<v Speaker 1>a think tank, did some investigating about just like spikes

0:22:21.200 --> 0:22:24.720
<v Speaker 1>and activity and stuff, and March of twenty twenty is

0:22:24.720 --> 0:22:27.720
<v Speaker 1>when it really really took off, of course, when unique

0:22:27.760 --> 0:22:31.879
<v Speaker 1>Facebook users jumped one hundred and sixty one percent from

0:22:32.720 --> 0:22:37.520
<v Speaker 1>year over year basically, and Twitter discussion of q and

0:22:37.600 --> 0:22:39.800
<v Speaker 1>on increased what was at one hundred and thirty nine

0:22:39.880 --> 0:22:44.639
<v Speaker 1>percent over the month as well, So that's where it

0:22:44.840 --> 0:22:47.920
<v Speaker 1>started and really got going there.

0:22:48.720 --> 0:22:52.800
<v Speaker 2>So when you are on social media and you see

0:22:53.200 --> 0:22:57.359
<v Speaker 2>there's hashtags like WWG onega where we go one, we

0:22:57.440 --> 0:23:00.399
<v Speaker 2>go all, but there's a bunch of them. One in

0:23:00.440 --> 0:23:04.800
<v Speaker 2>particular was kind of hijacked from a legitimate anti child

0:23:04.920 --> 0:23:10.240
<v Speaker 2>trafficking group. It's hashtag saved the Children. And the reason

0:23:10.280 --> 0:23:12.280
<v Speaker 2>that it was hijacked was because this is part of

0:23:12.320 --> 0:23:18.240
<v Speaker 2>the mission of QAnon is to stop sex trafficking of children, right,

0:23:18.840 --> 0:23:21.320
<v Speaker 2>which is great, but that is one way that a

0:23:21.400 --> 0:23:25.159
<v Speaker 2>lot of people were kind of innocently brought into the

0:23:25.240 --> 0:23:29.840
<v Speaker 2>QAnon sphere. They were looking up save the children hashtags

0:23:29.880 --> 0:23:33.120
<v Speaker 2>because they were concerned about sex trafficking, and they ended

0:23:33.200 --> 0:23:37.480
<v Speaker 2>up on some tweets or on Facebook accounts of people

0:23:37.480 --> 0:23:39.680
<v Speaker 2>who are like, now that you're here, let us explain

0:23:39.720 --> 0:23:43.480
<v Speaker 2>who's actually doing the sex trafficking. It's Nancy Pelosi and

0:23:43.520 --> 0:23:46.440
<v Speaker 2>Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, and that's the rabbit hole

0:23:46.480 --> 0:23:49.200
<v Speaker 2>that they started to fall down through hashtags like that.

0:23:50.160 --> 0:23:53.320
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, for sure, And it even got so far as

0:23:53.359 --> 0:23:59.160
<v Speaker 1>the online retailer Wayfair. I guess one of the rumors

0:23:59.160 --> 0:24:02.280
<v Speaker 1>that got going on q via QAnon was that if

0:24:02.280 --> 0:24:05.040
<v Speaker 1>you were cabinet shopping on Wayfair, then that was a

0:24:05.080 --> 0:24:09.280
<v Speaker 1>secret sort of portal into children shopping. Instead of cabinets,

0:24:09.280 --> 0:24:11.840
<v Speaker 1>it was actual children. And the other thing we didn't

0:24:11.840 --> 0:24:15.280
<v Speaker 1>mention about Pizzagate is that when John Podesta and his

0:24:15.359 --> 0:24:20.640
<v Speaker 1>email was talking about cheese pizza, it was really child pornography.

0:24:20.800 --> 0:24:24.040
<v Speaker 1>So it's like things like that were getting twisted around

0:24:24.680 --> 0:24:26.919
<v Speaker 1>and served to a willing audience.

0:24:27.000 --> 0:24:29.840
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that whole thing, like ten thousand dollars cabinets with

0:24:29.880 --> 0:24:33.760
<v Speaker 2>female names that just got translated into well, Wayfair's a

0:24:33.760 --> 0:24:37.320
<v Speaker 2>sex trafficking site. And one of the first posts I saw,

0:24:38.040 --> 0:24:40.760
<v Speaker 2>the person led it with my spidey sense is tingling,

0:24:41.000 --> 0:24:43.480
<v Speaker 2>and that's how it just took off. Somebody's spidy sense

0:24:43.560 --> 0:24:46.760
<v Speaker 2>was tingling. There was a weird price for a cabinet

0:24:46.760 --> 0:24:49.720
<v Speaker 2>and a girl's name, and that's all it took. So

0:24:49.840 --> 0:24:52.200
<v Speaker 2>that's how that stuff spreads, It's how it takes root

0:24:52.640 --> 0:24:56.600
<v Speaker 2>and that's just the thinking that people have with Q nine.

0:24:57.080 --> 0:25:00.159
<v Speaker 2>There's all the clues are everywhere, and nothing is what

0:25:00.200 --> 0:25:00.720
<v Speaker 2>it seems.

0:25:01.040 --> 0:25:01.760
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, for sure.

0:25:03.040 --> 0:25:09.159
<v Speaker 1>So we mentioned how presidential candidate Donald Trump was the

0:25:09.200 --> 0:25:12.600
<v Speaker 1>supposed savior for all this sex trafficking and everything that's

0:25:12.640 --> 0:25:16.080
<v Speaker 1>going on, and this became clear.

0:25:16.119 --> 0:25:17.440
<v Speaker 3>If you ever, you know, saw.

0:25:17.240 --> 0:25:22.320
<v Speaker 1>Donald Trump rallies then or now still, I'm sure you

0:25:22.320 --> 0:25:24.560
<v Speaker 1>would see like Q posters and Q T shirts and

0:25:24.640 --> 0:25:27.960
<v Speaker 1>Q flags and stuff like that. To be sure, we're

0:25:28.000 --> 0:25:32.280
<v Speaker 1>not saying that Donald Trump was like, hey, everybody, I am.

0:25:32.200 --> 0:25:34.879
<v Speaker 3>That guy, by the way, and.

0:25:36.400 --> 0:25:41.080
<v Speaker 1>Literally got involved in this when he was asked though

0:25:41.160 --> 0:25:45.119
<v Speaker 1>directly over the years, specifically in August of twenty twenty,

0:25:45.880 --> 0:25:49.119
<v Speaker 1>they asked him point blank, you know, are you courting

0:25:49.680 --> 0:25:52.520
<v Speaker 1>these QAnon followers? He said he didn't know anything about it,

0:25:53.320 --> 0:25:55.679
<v Speaker 1>and then quote, I heard that, but I heard that

0:25:55.720 --> 0:25:58.280
<v Speaker 1>these are people that love our country. I understand they

0:25:58.320 --> 0:26:00.439
<v Speaker 1>like me very much, and it's gaining a popular larity.

0:26:01.240 --> 0:26:03.880
<v Speaker 1>When they followed up with a question about him being

0:26:03.920 --> 0:26:08.600
<v Speaker 1>the savior from child sex traffickers, he you know, that's

0:26:08.640 --> 0:26:11.040
<v Speaker 1>when I feel like he probably had a choice to

0:26:11.160 --> 0:26:15.160
<v Speaker 1>directly say, like this is a ludicrous conspiracy. But he said,

0:26:15.240 --> 0:26:16.800
<v Speaker 1>you know, is that supposed to be a bad thing.

0:26:16.840 --> 0:26:18.639
<v Speaker 1>If I can help save the world from problems, I'm

0:26:18.680 --> 0:26:24.000
<v Speaker 1>willing to do it. And the QAnon crowd ate this

0:26:24.040 --> 0:26:26.000
<v Speaker 1>stuff up and they thought it was, you know, him

0:26:26.400 --> 0:26:28.840
<v Speaker 1>sort of secretly saying that he is on their side.

0:26:29.600 --> 0:26:32.480
<v Speaker 1>When he would wear a pink tie, which is a

0:26:32.520 --> 0:26:35.040
<v Speaker 1>color associated with the movement, they would say, that's him

0:26:35.200 --> 0:26:38.320
<v Speaker 1>signaling to us another little breadcrumb that he's leaving for us.

0:26:38.320 --> 0:26:38.879
<v Speaker 3>Stuff like that.

0:26:39.040 --> 0:26:41.840
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. There's also a very famous press conference a speech

0:26:41.880 --> 0:26:45.080
<v Speaker 2>he did in the White House in twenty seventeen where

0:26:45.320 --> 0:26:48.280
<v Speaker 2>he used two hands to drink from a bottle of

0:26:48.320 --> 0:26:52.080
<v Speaker 2>Fiji water and he did it twice during this speech

0:26:52.600 --> 0:26:55.280
<v Speaker 2>and people like remember that. Yeah, people made fun of

0:26:55.320 --> 0:26:56.600
<v Speaker 2>him for it, like what's wrong with you? How do

0:26:56.640 --> 0:26:58.399
<v Speaker 2>you not know how to drink out of a bottle

0:26:58.440 --> 0:27:00.680
<v Speaker 2>of water? But the qan On support were like, yes,

0:27:00.760 --> 0:27:03.440
<v Speaker 2>that a breadcrumb. Yes, the q and On supporters are like, yep,

0:27:03.480 --> 0:27:07.560
<v Speaker 2>Fiji is a huge hub for sex trafficking. It's a

0:27:07.600 --> 0:27:10.800
<v Speaker 2>destination and a hub, and he's pointing it out to us.

0:27:10.800 --> 0:27:13.080
<v Speaker 2>He's letting us know he knows what's going on. That's

0:27:13.080 --> 0:27:15.320
<v Speaker 2>what it was translated to. And that's one of the

0:27:15.440 --> 0:27:18.760
<v Speaker 2>explanations that a lot of people gave for why it

0:27:18.880 --> 0:27:21.560
<v Speaker 2>started to take off. Is it came along when Donald

0:27:21.600 --> 0:27:25.120
<v Speaker 2>Trump was early in his presidency and was getting pummeled

0:27:25.200 --> 0:27:27.720
<v Speaker 2>from every which way. So this was kind of a

0:27:27.720 --> 0:27:31.479
<v Speaker 2>way to transform that, to transform the weird awkwardness into

0:27:31.760 --> 0:27:35.240
<v Speaker 2>this is what's really going on, He's actually sending us signals.

0:27:35.920 --> 0:27:36.160
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

0:27:36.400 --> 0:27:39.560
<v Speaker 1>In twenty twenty two, Trump started to sort of openly

0:27:40.280 --> 0:27:42.560
<v Speaker 1>post q and on theories, where before he danced it

0:27:42.600 --> 0:27:45.360
<v Speaker 1>around a little more. After he had founded his own

0:27:45.440 --> 0:27:51.560
<v Speaker 1>social media gathering place, I guess, Truth Social, where he

0:27:51.640 --> 0:27:54.640
<v Speaker 1>started using q and on words to refer to himself

0:27:55.560 --> 0:27:59.600
<v Speaker 1>like he was a martyr. He literally reposted a Q

0:27:59.800 --> 0:28:04.440
<v Speaker 1>draw up. They played a q and on song WWG

0:28:04.600 --> 0:28:08.080
<v Speaker 1>one WGA at one of his rallies, and.

0:28:09.760 --> 0:28:10.800
<v Speaker 3>Over the years.

0:28:10.520 --> 0:28:13.119
<v Speaker 1>Between twenty twenty two and twenty twenty four, here's the

0:28:13.119 --> 0:28:16.520
<v Speaker 1>stat I was looking for. Trump reposted q andon content

0:28:16.560 --> 0:28:22.080
<v Speaker 1>more than eight hundred times on truth Social, so he

0:28:22.200 --> 0:28:24.520
<v Speaker 1>definitely amplified the message. I guess we could say in

0:28:24.520 --> 0:28:25.240
<v Speaker 1>the kindest.

0:28:25.000 --> 0:28:28.040
<v Speaker 2>Way, Yeah, I did the math. That's a q andon

0:28:28.600 --> 0:28:32.960
<v Speaker 2>repost every one point three six days, so that's a lot,

0:28:33.160 --> 0:28:36.040
<v Speaker 2>and that's a complete turnaround. I read somewhere Chuck that

0:28:36.880 --> 0:28:39.160
<v Speaker 2>at some of his rallies in twenty nineteen, he was

0:28:39.160 --> 0:28:41.800
<v Speaker 2>trying to distance himself from q and On so much

0:28:42.200 --> 0:28:44.479
<v Speaker 2>that there were people who went to his rallies who

0:28:44.560 --> 0:28:46.920
<v Speaker 2>reported that the Secret Service as they were going through

0:28:46.920 --> 0:28:49.040
<v Speaker 2>the metal detector was like, turn your shirt on inside

0:28:49.040 --> 0:28:51.520
<v Speaker 2>out because they were wearing a q Andon shirt. They're like,

0:28:51.520 --> 0:28:53.400
<v Speaker 2>we don't want to see those at the rallies anymore

0:28:53.400 --> 0:28:57.040
<v Speaker 2>because it's just such bad there's such a bad name

0:28:57.120 --> 0:28:59.280
<v Speaker 2>associated with it that Trump didn't even want to be

0:28:59.320 --> 0:29:02.680
<v Speaker 2>associated with it. But then something happened in twenty twenty two.

0:29:03.000 --> 0:29:05.680
<v Speaker 2>It's almost like he stopped and actually listened to what

0:29:05.720 --> 0:29:08.120
<v Speaker 2>they were saying at QAnon and he was like, oh, okay,

0:29:08.280 --> 0:29:10.760
<v Speaker 2>I really do like that, and he fully embraced it,

0:29:10.800 --> 0:29:12.760
<v Speaker 2>like you said, yeah.

0:29:12.840 --> 0:29:15.400
<v Speaker 1>But here's the thing is, when you're dealing with a

0:29:15.480 --> 0:29:20.600
<v Speaker 1>false conspiracy like this that's based on the idea of

0:29:20.640 --> 0:29:25.240
<v Speaker 1>a deep state and secrets, there's no turning it around.

0:29:25.320 --> 0:29:27.520
<v Speaker 3>You can't prove it wrong.

0:29:28.400 --> 0:29:31.240
<v Speaker 1>Even if he came out and fully denounced it, which

0:29:31.240 --> 0:29:31.880
<v Speaker 1>he never did.

0:29:32.440 --> 0:29:34.360
<v Speaker 3>They would then just say, you know.

0:29:34.360 --> 0:29:36.400
<v Speaker 1>That he's got to do that because it's all part

0:29:36.400 --> 0:29:38.920
<v Speaker 1>of the big secret. So it's one of those sad

0:29:39.000 --> 0:29:44.680
<v Speaker 1>cases where it's born out of paranoia and untruth such

0:29:44.760 --> 0:29:47.960
<v Speaker 1>that you can't you can't truthify it, like no amount

0:29:48.000 --> 0:29:52.120
<v Speaker 1>of truth will get the most ardent believers to think

0:29:52.200 --> 0:29:53.520
<v Speaker 1>that they're not right.

0:29:54.080 --> 0:29:57.160
<v Speaker 2>No, for sure. And one of the things that I

0:29:57.200 --> 0:30:00.479
<v Speaker 2>saw also that explained it, in addition to like paranoia, anger,

0:30:01.240 --> 0:30:03.360
<v Speaker 2>that kind of thing, as you kind of hit upon

0:30:03.360 --> 0:30:05.400
<v Speaker 2>it earlier when you were questioning, like is it fun?

0:30:05.800 --> 0:30:08.000
<v Speaker 2>And I think it definitely is fun for a lot

0:30:08.040 --> 0:30:11.480
<v Speaker 2>of people because it's I saw it described as hazardous

0:30:11.480 --> 0:30:14.920
<v Speaker 2>participatory civics, so like the people in their way are

0:30:14.920 --> 0:30:19.440
<v Speaker 2>participating in the machinations, the secret machinations of the government.

0:30:19.960 --> 0:30:22.800
<v Speaker 2>So I think it is thrilling and fun in a

0:30:22.800 --> 0:30:25.080
<v Speaker 2>lot of ways too. I don't think it's one hundred

0:30:25.080 --> 0:30:28.160
<v Speaker 2>percent negative or angry or ragy. I think that for

0:30:28.360 --> 0:30:30.680
<v Speaker 2>people in the q Andon movement there's a lot of

0:30:30.720 --> 0:30:33.640
<v Speaker 2>positivity to it too. And I think there's one other

0:30:33.680 --> 0:30:38.280
<v Speaker 2>thing to mention about QAnon people here, Chuck, especially the influencers,

0:30:38.720 --> 0:30:42.440
<v Speaker 2>they are well aware that their beliefs look totally crazy

0:30:42.560 --> 0:30:44.560
<v Speaker 2>to people in the mainstream, people like you and me

0:30:44.600 --> 0:30:47.840
<v Speaker 2>who just believe things are the way they seem they are.

0:30:49.000 --> 0:30:52.880
<v Speaker 2>But to them, we just haven't woken up to reality yet.

0:30:53.240 --> 0:30:56.200
<v Speaker 2>So there's not like there's not like just a total

0:30:56.240 --> 0:31:00.960
<v Speaker 2>loss of perspective and self reflection. It's just been inverted

0:31:01.000 --> 0:31:03.840
<v Speaker 2>in a way like you're the one that's deluded, not me.

0:31:05.320 --> 0:31:07.640
<v Speaker 1>That's right, all right, So I think we should take

0:31:07.640 --> 0:31:10.040
<v Speaker 1>another break. We'll come back in a second and talk

0:31:10.200 --> 0:31:15.960
<v Speaker 1>about who this q person might be and stop your

0:31:15.960 --> 0:31:21.520
<v Speaker 1>emailing because Hazardous Participatory Civics is the best band name

0:31:21.560 --> 0:31:23.720
<v Speaker 1>that we've ever had. We'll be right back.

0:31:44.120 --> 0:31:46.520
<v Speaker 2>So there's a lot of people in the q andon

0:31:46.600 --> 0:31:48.680
<v Speaker 2>movement who've tried to guess who q is. One of

0:31:48.720 --> 0:31:52.640
<v Speaker 2>the big candidates was the Trump's first national security advisor,

0:31:52.720 --> 0:31:56.920
<v Speaker 2>Michael Flynn, Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, and we'll get to

0:31:57.000 --> 0:32:00.280
<v Speaker 2>him again in a minute. But if you don't believe

0:32:00.360 --> 0:32:04.440
<v Speaker 2>that QAnon's real, there's some really good candidates for who

0:32:04.800 --> 0:32:09.280
<v Speaker 2>posted these q andon drops, And crazy enough, it seems

0:32:09.320 --> 0:32:11.760
<v Speaker 2>to have been two different people, and the second group

0:32:11.800 --> 0:32:15.440
<v Speaker 2>of people rested control of q andon away from the

0:32:15.480 --> 0:32:17.120
<v Speaker 2>guy who originally started it.

0:32:18.440 --> 0:32:21.280
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and this story gets a little confusing. Is there

0:32:21.280 --> 0:32:23.920
<v Speaker 1>a way we can simplify this a little bit?

0:32:24.560 --> 0:32:29.000
<v Speaker 2>Yeah? I think I can. You want me to try, well, sure, well, let.

0:32:28.920 --> 0:32:31.479
<v Speaker 1>Me set up the players first, and then you can

0:32:31.520 --> 0:32:35.720
<v Speaker 1>simplify what happened there. What everyone seems to think is

0:32:35.720 --> 0:32:38.200
<v Speaker 1>that the current Q even though and we'll get to

0:32:38.240 --> 0:32:40.520
<v Speaker 1>how much Q is around these days at all a

0:32:40.560 --> 0:32:43.640
<v Speaker 1>little bit later. But the last Q or whatever most

0:32:43.640 --> 0:32:47.240
<v Speaker 1>recent was a father and son team named James and

0:32:47.360 --> 0:32:53.960
<v Speaker 1>Ronald Watkins, internet entrepreneurs, Americans living in the Philippines, where

0:32:53.960 --> 0:32:57.719
<v Speaker 1>they ran owned and ran eight chan, which was that

0:32:57.760 --> 0:32:59.960
<v Speaker 1>message board that originally hosted.

0:32:59.560 --> 0:33:00.960
<v Speaker 3>That Q account.

0:33:01.600 --> 0:33:04.120
<v Speaker 1>The other guy that we need to mention here is

0:33:04.160 --> 0:33:08.760
<v Speaker 1>a guy named Frederick Brennan. He was the original creator

0:33:08.800 --> 0:33:12.160
<v Speaker 1>of eight chan, but left those boards when it became

0:33:12.240 --> 0:33:15.440
<v Speaker 1>clear that it was just a home for the worst

0:33:15.440 --> 0:33:16.400
<v Speaker 1>stuff on the Internet.

0:33:16.800 --> 0:33:19.920
<v Speaker 2>Yes, and he turned into the greatest critic and largest

0:33:19.920 --> 0:33:23.640
<v Speaker 2>source of information about who really is Q because he

0:33:23.720 --> 0:33:24.640
<v Speaker 2>knew the watkinses.

0:33:24.920 --> 0:33:29.880
<v Speaker 1>That's right, And now maybe if you can explain how

0:33:30.680 --> 0:33:33.719
<v Speaker 1>it was the mantle was unwillingly passed.

0:33:33.760 --> 0:33:37.000
<v Speaker 2>Okay, so what people think is that the first guy

0:33:37.040 --> 0:33:40.120
<v Speaker 2>who actually was Q was a South African man named

0:33:40.160 --> 0:33:44.720
<v Speaker 2>Paul Ferber who was intensely interested and fascinated by American

0:33:44.760 --> 0:33:49.520
<v Speaker 2>politics and conspiracy theories. And they think that he's responsible

0:33:49.600 --> 0:33:53.160
<v Speaker 2>for the first Q drop up to sometime in twenty eighteen,

0:33:53.640 --> 0:33:56.200
<v Speaker 2>that he was the original Q. The whole thing started

0:33:56.240 --> 0:33:59.200
<v Speaker 2>on four chan, but very quickly migrated to eight chan

0:33:59.560 --> 0:34:02.960
<v Speaker 2>because of apparently Q's account got hacked and he had

0:34:02.960 --> 0:34:04.719
<v Speaker 2>to create a new account, so he moved to the

0:34:05.240 --> 0:34:08.719
<v Speaker 2>more anonymous, more secure eight chan and started posting there.

0:34:09.080 --> 0:34:11.240
<v Speaker 1>That's right, And he started posting on a message board

0:34:11.320 --> 0:34:15.719
<v Speaker 1>called CBTs Calm before the storm, and he owned that

0:34:15.840 --> 0:34:19.800
<v Speaker 1>sub board, Paul Ferber did, so that was his sub board.

0:34:19.920 --> 0:34:23.239
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, And so that means that he could see who

0:34:23.520 --> 0:34:26.359
<v Speaker 2>was posting it, could see like their actual metadata, right,

0:34:26.760 --> 0:34:29.360
<v Speaker 2>So he was the only person who could verify that

0:34:29.520 --> 0:34:33.040
<v Speaker 2>Q was Q. Same thing when they transferred from four

0:34:33.080 --> 0:34:35.120
<v Speaker 2>chan to eight chan. He was the only person who

0:34:35.120 --> 0:34:37.600
<v Speaker 2>could verify that this was actually the same guy, same

0:34:37.640 --> 0:34:40.640
<v Speaker 2>IP address. So believe me, everybody, it's the same Q.

0:34:41.000 --> 0:34:43.680
<v Speaker 2>So go ahead, Q essentially is what they were saying.

0:34:44.120 --> 0:34:47.440
<v Speaker 2>And then all of a sudden, in twenty eighteen, Q

0:34:48.000 --> 0:34:52.960
<v Speaker 2>Paul Thurber said, hey, q'sq's account got hacked again, everybody,

0:34:53.000 --> 0:34:55.359
<v Speaker 2>so we're gonna have to start a new account. But then,

0:34:56.200 --> 0:35:00.319
<v Speaker 2>probably very much to Paul Therber's surprise, Q joined in

0:35:00.360 --> 0:35:03.360
<v Speaker 2>and said, actually, no, my account hasn't been hacked. Paul

0:35:03.400 --> 0:35:06.600
<v Speaker 2>Thurber's been compromised. So I'm going to start posting it

0:35:06.600 --> 0:35:08.799
<v Speaker 2>a new board. This would be a board that Paul

0:35:08.800 --> 0:35:13.160
<v Speaker 2>Thurber had no authority or administrative duties over, but Jim

0:35:13.200 --> 0:35:16.719
<v Speaker 2>and Ron Watkins did. So now they were the only

0:35:16.760 --> 0:35:19.239
<v Speaker 2>ones who could verify he Q was. And so they

0:35:19.280 --> 0:35:23.240
<v Speaker 2>think that with that transition, and because they had administrative

0:35:23.440 --> 0:35:28.240
<v Speaker 2>domain over eight chan, they took Q away from Paul

0:35:28.280 --> 0:35:31.239
<v Speaker 2>Thurber and started posting his Q themselves.

0:35:31.640 --> 0:35:33.959
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and to be clear, this was the second time

0:35:34.040 --> 0:35:37.080
<v Speaker 1>that account had been hacked. I do want to mention

0:35:37.120 --> 0:35:39.920
<v Speaker 1>also that the first time it was hacked, they it

0:35:39.960 --> 0:35:43.000
<v Speaker 1>was found out that the password for Q originally was

0:35:43.000 --> 0:35:46.680
<v Speaker 1>Matt Block, which I just think is hysterical one of the.

0:35:46.600 --> 0:35:47.600
<v Speaker 3>Few laughs were going to get here.

0:35:47.680 --> 0:35:51.600
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, but the reason that the Watkinses wanted to sort

0:35:51.640 --> 0:35:55.840
<v Speaker 1>of wrestle that away was because at some point Thurber

0:35:55.920 --> 0:36:00.920
<v Speaker 1>started appearing on some right wing conspiracy like YouTube shows

0:36:00.960 --> 0:36:05.320
<v Speaker 1>and stuff like that YouTube programs, so it was getting

0:36:05.360 --> 0:36:08.680
<v Speaker 1>out there in a more mainstream way, and the Watkinsons

0:36:08.719 --> 0:36:11.759
<v Speaker 1>were like, hey, this is you know, we can turn

0:36:11.840 --> 0:36:16.880
<v Speaker 1>eight chan into a real conspiracy hotbed for the online

0:36:17.040 --> 0:36:20.959
<v Speaker 1>right wing space, and so they saw an opportunity basically right.

0:36:21.239 --> 0:36:25.520
<v Speaker 2>So it gets way more intricate than that. Like Fred

0:36:25.560 --> 0:36:28.839
<v Speaker 2>Brennan has really gone into great detail to dig up

0:36:29.280 --> 0:36:32.799
<v Speaker 2>a lot of evidence that all this happened, and we're

0:36:32.800 --> 0:36:35.000
<v Speaker 2>not going to go into it here, but suffice to

0:36:35.040 --> 0:36:37.640
<v Speaker 2>say that most people agree that he's probably right about this.

0:36:37.719 --> 0:36:39.920
<v Speaker 2>That it started out as Paul Ferber and then turned

0:36:40.360 --> 0:36:45.239
<v Speaker 2>to Ron Watkins, and the whole thing went until about

0:36:45.320 --> 0:36:48.279
<v Speaker 2>June twenty twenty and then stopped, and those seemed to

0:36:48.320 --> 0:36:51.759
<v Speaker 2>be the canonical Q drops, and then they picked up

0:36:51.800 --> 0:36:55.439
<v Speaker 2>again in I think twenty twenty two, and as we'll see,

0:36:55.640 --> 0:36:58.920
<v Speaker 2>those kind of got ignored because the community had changed

0:36:58.960 --> 0:37:03.239
<v Speaker 2>so much in those eighteen months without Q dropping Q drops, right,

0:37:03.719 --> 0:37:07.200
<v Speaker 2>But in the meantime the movement had taken over. I

0:37:07.200 --> 0:37:09.840
<v Speaker 2>saw it described as it didn't need Q anymore. It

0:37:09.920 --> 0:37:13.440
<v Speaker 2>had become its own. What was I saw written as

0:37:13.760 --> 0:37:18.840
<v Speaker 2>the world's first open source cult where anybody could add

0:37:19.040 --> 0:37:23.640
<v Speaker 2>or subtract, or debate or help create this again ever

0:37:23.760 --> 0:37:27.960
<v Speaker 2>evolving mythos of what was really going on in the

0:37:27.960 --> 0:37:30.439
<v Speaker 2>world with Donald Trump at the center of the whole thing.

0:37:30.800 --> 0:37:33.279
<v Speaker 2>And the problem with that is is that it made

0:37:33.320 --> 0:37:35.400
<v Speaker 2>it out of the darkest corners of the Internet to

0:37:35.480 --> 0:37:38.359
<v Speaker 2>the mainstream Internet, to the mainstream media, and then into

0:37:38.440 --> 0:37:43.480
<v Speaker 2>real life to where it very frequently Yeah, I think

0:37:43.520 --> 0:37:46.799
<v Speaker 2>you could use the word frequently disturbed individuals who had

0:37:46.800 --> 0:37:51.000
<v Speaker 2>fallen down the QAnon hole acted out in real life violence.

0:37:51.560 --> 0:37:54.040
<v Speaker 2>Not just the comet ping pong guy from North Carolina.

0:37:54.320 --> 0:37:58.040
<v Speaker 2>There's a whole slew of people who have engaged in

0:37:58.080 --> 0:38:01.880
<v Speaker 2>real world violence because of what they learned about from QAnon.

0:38:02.880 --> 0:38:03.560
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, for sure.

0:38:03.600 --> 0:38:06.359
<v Speaker 1>There was one case I remember hearing about this when

0:38:06.560 --> 0:38:10.440
<v Speaker 1>in twenty eighteen, this guy pled guilty to terrorism charges

0:38:10.480 --> 0:38:13.399
<v Speaker 1>because he got an armored truck and blocked the road

0:38:13.480 --> 0:38:17.440
<v Speaker 1>crossing the Hoover Dam with two assault rifles and had

0:38:17.440 --> 0:38:21.799
<v Speaker 1>a sign that said release the OIG report, which was

0:38:21.880 --> 0:38:26.680
<v Speaker 1>referring to the quote unquote real Mueller report that QAnon

0:38:26.920 --> 0:38:33.000
<v Speaker 1>believers thought provided basically kind of exposed Hillary Clinton's criminal

0:38:33.040 --> 0:38:36.080
<v Speaker 1>activities because I mean, there were a lot of people

0:38:36.080 --> 0:38:39.080
<v Speaker 1>that they targeted, but the Clintons and especially Hillary were

0:38:39.560 --> 0:38:42.200
<v Speaker 1>obviously because she ran against Donald Trump, but she was

0:38:42.280 --> 0:38:44.359
<v Speaker 1>kind of squarely in the crosshairs for them.

0:38:44.920 --> 0:38:47.919
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, this was at the time people were chanting lock

0:38:48.000 --> 0:38:51.440
<v Speaker 2>her up, like she was very much in the crosshairs

0:38:51.480 --> 0:38:53.480
<v Speaker 2>for sure. And Obama still was too. He had just

0:38:53.480 --> 0:38:56.000
<v Speaker 2>finished being president after all when this whole thing started.

0:38:57.320 --> 0:39:00.080
<v Speaker 2>One of the most puzzling acts of violence to me

0:39:00.560 --> 0:39:03.560
<v Speaker 2>in the real world based on QAnon was the assassination

0:39:03.840 --> 0:39:08.600
<v Speaker 2>of a Gambino mafia boss named Francesco Frankie Boy Cali,

0:39:09.480 --> 0:39:13.160
<v Speaker 2>and he was killed by a Quanon supporter who believed

0:39:13.160 --> 0:39:15.320
<v Speaker 2>he was an agent of the deep state, like a

0:39:15.400 --> 0:39:17.800
<v Speaker 2>high up agent of the deep state. I could not

0:39:17.960 --> 0:39:22.600
<v Speaker 2>find anything about what that guy's rationalization was for that.

0:39:23.239 --> 0:39:25.520
<v Speaker 2>But this is the first time since nineteen eighty five,

0:39:25.600 --> 0:39:28.279
<v Speaker 2>This is a twenty twenty one, I think, the first

0:39:28.320 --> 0:39:31.359
<v Speaker 2>time since nineteen eighty five that a mafia boss had

0:39:31.360 --> 0:39:34.759
<v Speaker 2>been assassinated and it was by a QAnon adherent.

0:39:34.960 --> 0:39:37.800
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, just really bizarre.

0:39:37.920 --> 0:39:41.120
<v Speaker 2>But if anybody knows why that guy killed him because

0:39:41.120 --> 0:39:42.759
<v Speaker 2>of that, like I would love to hear it.

0:39:43.440 --> 0:39:43.720
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

0:39:43.760 --> 0:39:46.640
<v Speaker 1>The other thing that I don't understand or not understand,

0:39:46.719 --> 0:39:51.640
<v Speaker 1>but I'm really curious about, is whoever Q is Watkinson's

0:39:52.280 --> 0:39:57.319
<v Speaker 1>or not? Like what was their endgame here? Like did

0:39:57.360 --> 0:40:00.000
<v Speaker 1>they really and do they really really believe this stuff?

0:40:00.360 --> 0:40:02.640
<v Speaker 3>Or is it Are they just bad.

0:40:02.440 --> 0:40:07.839
<v Speaker 1>Actors who have a sick I don't know, not sense

0:40:07.840 --> 0:40:10.759
<v Speaker 1>of humor, but maybe sense of humor to try and

0:40:10.840 --> 0:40:15.520
<v Speaker 1>start something like this, or was it financially related or

0:40:16.200 --> 0:40:19.520
<v Speaker 1>do they really believe that it's just that's That's the

0:40:19.520 --> 0:40:22.040
<v Speaker 1>one thing I wish I could find out that we'll

0:40:22.040 --> 0:40:22.960
<v Speaker 1>probably never know.

0:40:23.880 --> 0:40:27.000
<v Speaker 2>I know, and I don't know, but I suspect that

0:40:27.280 --> 0:40:30.120
<v Speaker 2>they don't believe it. I mean, if they're posing as Q,

0:40:31.040 --> 0:40:33.080
<v Speaker 2>I don't I don't think that they actually believe it,

0:40:33.120 --> 0:40:34.320
<v Speaker 2>you know, well.

0:40:34.239 --> 0:40:38.840
<v Speaker 1>Right, because they're not secret government higher ups that really

0:40:38.880 --> 0:40:42.719
<v Speaker 1>have this information obviously, But I mean, do they really

0:40:42.719 --> 0:40:44.840
<v Speaker 1>believe Tom Hanks is killing and eating children?

0:40:45.239 --> 0:40:47.200
<v Speaker 2>No? I don't. I don't think so. Again, I don't

0:40:47.239 --> 0:40:48.920
<v Speaker 2>know the people. I don't know enough about him to

0:40:48.920 --> 0:40:52.440
<v Speaker 2>really definitively say, but just don't know. I don't think

0:40:52.480 --> 0:40:53.000
<v Speaker 2>that makes.

0:40:52.880 --> 0:40:57.600
<v Speaker 1>It even more sad somehow that it is stretched from

0:40:57.640 --> 0:41:03.320
<v Speaker 1>the darkest reaches in the Internet to literal suburban parents

0:41:03.440 --> 0:41:07.560
<v Speaker 1>who had too much time on their hands between soccer pickups.

0:41:08.040 --> 0:41:11.960
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, there is a really sad, disturbing act of violence

0:41:12.080 --> 0:41:14.600
<v Speaker 2>based on QAnon that happened in twenty twenty one where

0:41:14.600 --> 0:41:18.799
<v Speaker 2>a man from California killed both of his children, a

0:41:18.840 --> 0:41:22.640
<v Speaker 2>baby and a toddler, with a spear gun because he

0:41:22.719 --> 0:41:26.560
<v Speaker 2>believed that they had gotten reptilian DNA from their mother.

0:41:26.680 --> 0:41:30.000
<v Speaker 2>Because remember, lizard people are walking among us. So he

0:41:30.600 --> 0:41:32.400
<v Speaker 2>said that he knew what he was doing was wrong,

0:41:32.719 --> 0:41:34.480
<v Speaker 2>but it was the only way to save the world.

0:41:34.960 --> 0:41:37.640
<v Speaker 2>And it was because of QAnon. He murdered his two

0:41:37.760 --> 0:41:43.560
<v Speaker 2>children because of QAnon. And like Paul Pelosi is another one.

0:41:43.600 --> 0:41:46.160
<v Speaker 2>He was beaten with a hammer by a guy who

0:41:46.360 --> 0:41:50.600
<v Speaker 2>was driven by q and on motivation. Like the idea,

0:41:50.800 --> 0:41:53.719
<v Speaker 2>I'm with you if the idea that these guys were

0:41:53.760 --> 0:41:57.239
<v Speaker 2>just doing it for lulls and because they were nihilistic

0:41:57.480 --> 0:42:01.439
<v Speaker 2>or even for money, and that it translated into real

0:42:01.480 --> 0:42:05.720
<v Speaker 2>world violence like that is just it's abominable for sure.

0:42:06.680 --> 0:42:08.680
<v Speaker 3>That's right. Are we done?

0:42:10.480 --> 0:42:14.120
<v Speaker 2>No, We've got to give a little bit of an update. Okay, okay,

0:42:14.480 --> 0:42:17.000
<v Speaker 2>all right, well, I'll start. So there was a really

0:42:17.000 --> 0:42:20.080
<v Speaker 2>big problem because Trump was always in charge as part

0:42:20.120 --> 0:42:23.719
<v Speaker 2>of the QAnon mythos. No matter what was going on,

0:42:24.040 --> 0:42:26.680
<v Speaker 2>Trump was in control, is the way they said it. Well,

0:42:26.719 --> 0:42:29.680
<v Speaker 2>Trump was obviously supposed to be re elected in twenty twenty,

0:42:29.960 --> 0:42:35.160
<v Speaker 2>but he wasn't. And so in following with tradition of

0:42:35.400 --> 0:42:40.840
<v Speaker 2>kind of prophetic cults, the people in QAnon just essentially

0:42:41.280 --> 0:42:43.080
<v Speaker 2>were like, Okay, well, this is all just part of

0:42:43.120 --> 0:42:45.319
<v Speaker 2>the act. This is trust in the plan, and they

0:42:45.400 --> 0:42:48.480
<v Speaker 2>kind of rationalized it in all sorts of ways, and

0:42:48.520 --> 0:42:51.080
<v Speaker 2>that's kind of part and parcel for what they've been doing.

0:42:51.120 --> 0:42:55.360
<v Speaker 2>Like the assassination attempt of Trump in Pennsylvania led to

0:42:55.400 --> 0:43:00.719
<v Speaker 2>a huge crisis initially among QAnon followers because because that

0:43:00.800 --> 0:43:04.000
<v Speaker 2>clearly demonstrated Trump wasn't in control if he was getting

0:43:04.000 --> 0:43:06.440
<v Speaker 2>shot at, and some people were like it was stage

0:43:06.480 --> 0:43:08.040
<v Speaker 2>and other people are like, no, no, no, we got it.

0:43:08.440 --> 0:43:12.160
<v Speaker 2>This is proof positive that Trump has been anointed by

0:43:12.239 --> 0:43:15.360
<v Speaker 2>God to bring the storm to overthrow the Satanic cabal,

0:43:15.600 --> 0:43:18.600
<v Speaker 2>because how else could he have not been shot in

0:43:18.640 --> 0:43:21.000
<v Speaker 2>the head by the assassin's bullet. And so I saw

0:43:21.040 --> 0:43:23.839
<v Speaker 2>that some people who kind of left QAnon after Trump

0:43:23.880 --> 0:43:26.920
<v Speaker 2>didn't get elected, came raging back into it after the

0:43:26.960 --> 0:43:29.600
<v Speaker 2>assassination attempt, and there were a lot of families that

0:43:29.600 --> 0:43:32.439
<v Speaker 2>were like, Okay, good my friend or family members back

0:43:32.440 --> 0:43:34.480
<v Speaker 2>and then oh god, there they go again. After the

0:43:34.520 --> 0:43:35.720
<v Speaker 2>assassination attempt.

0:43:35.920 --> 0:43:38.759
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I read a really sad article about the guy

0:43:38.760 --> 0:43:43.200
<v Speaker 1>who came into the pizza place about him getting out

0:43:43.239 --> 0:43:46.240
<v Speaker 1>of prison and marrying his girlfriend and having a kid,

0:43:46.280 --> 0:43:51.600
<v Speaker 1>and it was you know, it's just sad, wreckless guy.

0:43:52.600 --> 0:43:54.480
<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, I bet that's the kind of thing that

0:43:54.560 --> 0:43:56.280
<v Speaker 2>kind of follows you around for life.

0:43:56.160 --> 0:43:57.480
<v Speaker 3>Right, Yeah, I would imagine.

0:43:58.080 --> 0:44:00.680
<v Speaker 2>One of the other things that happened post election, I

0:44:00.719 --> 0:44:03.280
<v Speaker 2>believe is Michael Flynn was a luminary. Remember, some people

0:44:03.320 --> 0:44:07.600
<v Speaker 2>thought he was Q and he was outed as saying

0:44:07.640 --> 0:44:10.319
<v Speaker 2>privately that he thought the whole thing was total nonsense

0:44:10.840 --> 0:44:14.320
<v Speaker 2>and that he believed actually it was a CIA psyop

0:44:14.400 --> 0:44:17.360
<v Speaker 2>to discredit the Right by making them look foolish and gullible.

0:44:18.320 --> 0:44:21.239
<v Speaker 2>So the whole the community is very much fractured, but

0:44:21.360 --> 0:44:25.040
<v Speaker 2>it's still very much alive. There was a poll that

0:44:25.160 --> 0:44:28.200
<v Speaker 2>found that in May of twenty twenty one, fifteen percent

0:44:28.400 --> 0:44:33.560
<v Speaker 2>of people believed Americans I should say, believed QAnon beliefs

0:44:33.600 --> 0:44:36.040
<v Speaker 2>in some form or fashion. You would think that it

0:44:36.080 --> 0:44:38.960
<v Speaker 2>would have gone down since Trump didn't get re elected.

0:44:39.360 --> 0:44:43.879
<v Speaker 2>In fact, it rose by eight points in twenty twenty three,

0:44:44.080 --> 0:44:47.640
<v Speaker 2>two years later. So the belief in QAnon just keeps

0:44:47.640 --> 0:44:50.680
<v Speaker 2>spreading and spreading and spreading and becomes more and more mainstream.

0:44:51.520 --> 0:44:53.640
<v Speaker 2>And it's even as it does, it gets kind of

0:44:53.680 --> 0:44:57.840
<v Speaker 2>divorced from QAnon and becomes just what people think about

0:44:57.880 --> 0:44:59.120
<v Speaker 2>things about reality.

0:45:00.040 --> 0:45:02.000
<v Speaker 1>Sorry, I checked out, and I was just thinking in

0:45:02.040 --> 0:45:04.560
<v Speaker 1>my head, I was just hearing what a wonderful warl

0:45:04.640 --> 0:45:05.960
<v Speaker 1>by Louis Armstrong, over and over.

0:45:07.480 --> 0:45:12.520
<v Speaker 2>That's a good. How am I not surprised that you

0:45:12.600 --> 0:45:14.120
<v Speaker 2>do a great Louis Armstrong?

0:45:14.320 --> 0:45:15.120
<v Speaker 3>Oh he's easy.

0:45:15.719 --> 0:45:18.600
<v Speaker 2>I would have guessed you did the izzy Hawaiian guys version.

0:45:19.320 --> 0:45:20.319
<v Speaker 3>Oh that's a fun one too.

0:45:21.400 --> 0:45:23.640
<v Speaker 2>Or no, he did somewhere over the rainbow. I'm sorry, Yeah, yeah,

0:45:23.640 --> 0:45:23.960
<v Speaker 2>that's right.

0:45:23.960 --> 0:45:24.800
<v Speaker 3>Somewhere over the rainbow.

0:45:25.400 --> 0:45:26.879
<v Speaker 2>There's one o the things. Let's leave on a semi

0:45:26.960 --> 0:45:29.759
<v Speaker 2>positive note, Chuck. A couple of different places, I saw

0:45:29.840 --> 0:45:32.960
<v Speaker 2>people who were interviewed who had lost a friend or

0:45:32.960 --> 0:45:36.280
<v Speaker 2>family member or hung on to a friend or family

0:45:36.320 --> 0:45:40.560
<v Speaker 2>member while they'd fallen down the Q rabbit hole, and

0:45:40.800 --> 0:45:44.120
<v Speaker 2>the fact that they'd gotten him back, universally was because

0:45:44.160 --> 0:45:46.600
<v Speaker 2>that person stuck with them, let him know they didn't

0:45:46.640 --> 0:45:50.759
<v Speaker 2>agree with them, but they loved them nonetheless, and as

0:45:50.760 --> 0:45:53.960
<v Speaker 2>they put it, provided a soft landing place for the

0:45:53.960 --> 0:45:57.319
<v Speaker 2>people when they finally were like, this isn't real. I

0:45:57.360 --> 0:46:00.799
<v Speaker 2>can't believe that I've believed this for so long. Had

0:46:00.960 --> 0:46:03.920
<v Speaker 2>they were there for them without any kind of judgment

0:46:04.239 --> 0:46:07.400
<v Speaker 2>or cruelty or I told you so, And that helped

0:46:07.440 --> 0:46:09.440
<v Speaker 2>allow the people to kind of get back on their

0:46:09.440 --> 0:46:12.160
<v Speaker 2>feet in a very gentle manner.

0:46:12.520 --> 0:46:12.800
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

0:46:12.840 --> 0:46:16.680
<v Speaker 1>And there's a lot of great websites and organizations that

0:46:17.800 --> 0:46:21.160
<v Speaker 1>have now had to help people through this stuff, and

0:46:21.760 --> 0:46:23.879
<v Speaker 1>like how do you help your family members and things

0:46:23.960 --> 0:46:26.719
<v Speaker 1>like that, like you were just talking about. Certainly one

0:46:26.719 --> 0:46:29.440
<v Speaker 1>place you can start is the Anti Defamation League website,

0:46:29.680 --> 0:46:34.080
<v Speaker 1>but there are plenty plenty of places to go so

0:46:34.160 --> 0:46:37.160
<v Speaker 1>you don't just like argue with your family member and

0:46:37.320 --> 0:46:40.760
<v Speaker 1>tell them they're not using you know, rational thought with

0:46:40.880 --> 0:46:42.799
<v Speaker 1>stuff like this. You got you gotta you gotta try

0:46:42.800 --> 0:46:44.319
<v Speaker 1>a different tack there, yep.

0:46:44.800 --> 0:46:47.280
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, And there's all sorts of advice all over the internet.

0:46:47.360 --> 0:46:49.359
<v Speaker 2>So if you want to look go find it, uh,

0:46:49.600 --> 0:46:52.120
<v Speaker 2>and be careful what you do look for there, be

0:46:52.200 --> 0:46:55.399
<v Speaker 2>careful of the hashtags you follow. And since I said that,

0:46:55.520 --> 0:46:57.439
<v Speaker 2>obviously it's time for listener mail.

0:47:00.080 --> 0:47:03.319
<v Speaker 1>That's right, a quick not correction, but just enlightening because

0:47:03.320 --> 0:47:05.200
<v Speaker 1>we've had a bunch of people write in already about

0:47:05.200 --> 0:47:08.600
<v Speaker 1>our glasses episode because we could not figure out why

0:47:08.800 --> 0:47:12.319
<v Speaker 1>Livia titled her research four eyes bad.

0:47:12.840 --> 0:47:15.080
<v Speaker 3>And this is from just one of them. Is from Marty.

0:47:15.800 --> 0:47:18.120
<v Speaker 1>Hey, guys, listen to the episode about glass as great

0:47:18.160 --> 0:47:20.920
<v Speaker 1>as usual. I've been wearing glasses for over forty years.

0:47:20.960 --> 0:47:24.200
<v Speaker 1>Regarding the phrase four eyes bad, I believe that as

0:47:24.239 --> 0:47:27.160
<v Speaker 1>a joke reference to the book Animal Farm by George Orwell.

0:47:27.560 --> 0:47:30.200
<v Speaker 1>In the book, the animals use the phrase four legs good,

0:47:30.360 --> 0:47:33.760
<v Speaker 1>two legs bad as they rise against the humans.

0:47:34.400 --> 0:47:37.000
<v Speaker 3>That must be it. Love the show, longtime listener.

0:47:37.000 --> 0:47:44.000
<v Speaker 1>That is from Marty Mishka from Omaha, Nebraska, parentheses living

0:47:44.040 --> 0:47:47.239
<v Speaker 1>in the Blue Dot, and I haven't read Animal Farm

0:47:47.239 --> 0:47:50.000
<v Speaker 1>in so long I completely forgot that, But I bet

0:47:50.040 --> 0:47:51.600
<v Speaker 1>you are right on the money because that's a very

0:47:51.719 --> 0:47:53.319
<v Speaker 1>Livia kind of easter egg.

0:47:53.840 --> 0:47:58.520
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that is a deep cut literary wise, So nice work, Libya,

0:47:58.640 --> 0:47:59.680
<v Speaker 2>and who is that Marty?

0:48:00.120 --> 0:48:02.560
<v Speaker 3>That was Marty, But many people have written in and

0:48:02.600 --> 0:48:03.680
<v Speaker 3>we'll continue.

0:48:03.239 --> 0:48:05.600
<v Speaker 2>To Yeah, thanks a lot, Marty, and thanks a lot

0:48:05.640 --> 0:48:07.600
<v Speaker 2>to everybody who's written in to let us know, help

0:48:07.640 --> 0:48:09.760
<v Speaker 2>us figure that out. We love that kind of thing.

0:48:09.880 --> 0:48:11.719
<v Speaker 2>If you want to be somebody like that, you can

0:48:11.760 --> 0:48:14.960
<v Speaker 2>send us an email too, to stuff Podcasts at iHeartRadio

0:48:15.040 --> 0:48:18.640
<v Speaker 2>dot com.

0:48:18.760 --> 0:48:21.080
<v Speaker 3>Stuff you Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio.

0:48:21.560 --> 0:48:25.920
<v Speaker 1>For more podcasts myheart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

0:48:26.040 --> 0:48:27.880
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