78: Dark Secrets pt.3: Trust Me

Is QAnon a cult or a conspiracy theory? How did so many people get sucked into it? Why don't they leave? How does an online belief system become so prevalent so quickly? In the second part of this two-parter, Maia goes down the rabbit hole to investigate the origin of these beliefs, who Q could be, the effect of social media algorithms, and why it is still a danger in 2024. This week, on Well, I Laughed, we look through the lenses of family members of QAnon victims, ex-QAnon members, current QAnon members, experts in high-control groups, and more!

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Sources:

QAnon

(Jan 2021) QAnon: What is it and where did it come from? - BBC

(Feb 2021) 210: The Golden Plunger Award and the London Fog Cult - ATWWD via YouTube

(Feb 2021) 211: The Echelon Twins and a Rotary Butt Dial - ATWWD via YouTube

(Feb 2021) 212: Conspiracy Theory Lasagna and the Migraine Episode - ATWWD via YouTube

(Oct 2020) A Timeline of Trump's QAnon Presidency - Rolling Stone

(Jul 2023) The Adrenochrome Conspiracy Theory - Pushed By 'Sound of Freedom' Star - Explained - Forbes

(Jan 2024) Pizzagate, QAnon and the 'Epstein List': Why the Far Right is Obsessed with Sex Trafficking - Politico

(Mar 2021) How QAnon Is Tearing Families Apart - Vice

(Jan 2021) Marjorie Taylor Greene Believes in Frazzledrip, QAnon's Wildest Conspiracy Theory - Vice

(May 2019) The QAnon Book: A Half-a*sed, Bagel-Tossing Review - Behind the Bastards via Spotify

(Nov 2019) Episode 74: QAnon - Sinisterhood via Spotify

Adrenochrome - Britannica

Archive of Q Drops - QAnon.pub

(Sep 2024) QAnon: A Modern Conspiracy Theory and the Assessment of Its Believers - The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law

(Sep 2019)The CIA's Secret Quest for Mind Control: Torture, LSD and A 'Poisoner In Chief' - NPR

(Jul 2024) The Thomas Crooks Conspiracy Theories Aren't Going Anywhere - WIRED

Protocols of the Elders of Zion -Britannica

(Aug 2022) The Charlottesville rally 5 years later: 'It's what you're still trying to forget' - NPR

(Nov 2020) A Conspiracy at the Heart of It: Religion and Q - Religion in Public

(Aug 2018) - How three conspiracy theorists took 'Q' and sparked QAnon - NBC News

(Sep 2022) Here's why conspiracy theories about Jeffery Epstein keep flourishing - NPR

(Jan 2024) Pizzagate, QAnon and the 'Epstein List': Why the Far Right Is Obsessed with Sex Trafficking - Politico

(Mar 2021) The future of QAnon, explained by 8 experts - Vox

(May 2024) As Trump campaigns, he's spreading QAnon posts anew. Some call that 'playing with fire' - USA Today

(May 2024) Trump has now amplified QAnon-promoting accounts over 800 times on Truth Social - Media Matters

(Sep 2024) Trump promotes yet another Truth Social account that suggests killing his enemies - Media Matters

(Jun 2017) 'Pizzagate' shooter sentenced to 4 years in prison - CNN

(Dec 2016) The saga of 'Pizzagate': The fake story that shows how conspiracy theories spread - BBC News

(Nov 2017) Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal - Rolling Stone

(Dec 2019) Man please guilty to setting fire at 'Pizzagate' restaurant in DC - NBC/AP News

(Feb 2020) Man pleads guilty to terrorism charge after blocking Hoover Dam bridge with armored truck - ABC

(Dec 2019) Accused of Killing a Gambino Mob Boss, He's Presenting a Novel Defense - NYT

(Sep 2020) QAnon fans spread fake claims about real fires in Oregon - CNN

(Feb 2022) Who Is Behind QAnon? Linguistic Detectives Find Fingerprints - NYT

Timeline of incidents involving QAnon - Wikipedia

Misc Sources

(Jul 2018) The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump - book written by Michiko Kakutani

(Dec 1960) Jehovah's Witnesses - Christianity Today

(Jun 2023) Who are the Jehovah's Witnesses - Ligonier Editorial

Leninism - Britannica

Marxist-Lenininsm: The Ideology of Twentieth Century Communism - Science Direct

(May 2021) U.S. Jews' political views - PEW Research Center

(Dec 2022) There Are Lots of Jews in Hollywood.  Let a Rabbi Explain the Way - Rolling Stone

(Aug 2019) The Weird, Dark History of 8Chan - Wired

2019 El Paso Walmart Shooting - Wikipedia

8Chan -Wikipedia

Ron Watkins - Wikipedia

Psychology and the DWP

(May 2021) Janja Lalich - Democratic Workers Party and Bounded Choice in Cults - Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation via Spotify

(Jan 2021) Jitarth Jadeja - Former QAnon Believer - Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation via Spotify

(Jun 2023) What is a Cult? With Dr. Janja Lalich - Navigating Narcissism with Dr. Ramani via Spotify

(Aug 1987) On the DWP's Demise: What Leninism Is and Is Not - Max Elbaum via the Encyclopedia of Anti-Revisionism On-Line

The Democratic Worker's Party - Wikipedia

About Dr. Lalich - Lalich Center

Dr. Janja Lalich - Janja Lalich

Janja Lalich - IMdB

(Oct 2021) How Online Conspiracy Groups Compare to Cults - Wired

Word of Faith Church

(Sep 2024) Trump’s Volunteers: ‘Beautiful Ladies’ From a Secretive Evangelical Church - NYT

(2019) Word of Faith - People Magazine Investigates: Cults (accessed via Max)

(Oct 2024) Trump's 'beautiful ladies' part of evangelical cult - Premier Christian News

(Sep 2024) 'Beautiful' Trump volunteers belong to 'cult' accused of kidnapping and child abuse: NYT - Raw Story

(Jul 2024) Robinson to hold fundraiser with NC church previously investigated for slavery, child abuse - WRAL News

(2017) Ex-congregants reveal years of ungodly abuse - AP News (Mitch Weiss)

(2017) Prosecutors gone from jobs after AP report on church abuse - AP News (Mitch Weiss)