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The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything
This is the real story of QAnon—what it is, what it means, and where it goes. And be warned—none of it is pretty.
On October 5th, 2017, President Trump made a cryptic extemporaneous remark in the State Dining Room. He called this gathering of top-ranking military officials, "the calm before the storm," and refused to elaborate as journalist and politicos inquired further. But on the infamous message boards of 4chan, elaboration began all on its own.
In the days that followed, an anonymous poster spun a yarn inspired by Trump's remarks that rivalled Tom Clancy and satisfied the deepest desires of MAGA-America. Did any of it come to pass? No. Did that stop people from clinging to every word they were reading, expanding its mythology and promoting the theory for years? No.
How did this happen, who are these followers, and how do adherents reconcile their worldview with the America they see around them? Mike Rothschild, a journalist specializing in conspiracy theories, explains all--taking readers from the earliest posts on 4Chan to its embrace by right-wing media, and the game that Donald Trump has played with its followers.
As rabid adherents to the theory show no sign of calming—with Baby Boomers especially susceptible to its messaging—families are being torn apart and politicians are starting to openly espouse the ideology in their campaigns. It's time to figure out what QAnon is, because QAnon explains everything you need to know about American politics and global fear after Trump.
On October 5th, 2017, President Trump made a cryptic extemporaneous remark in the State Dining Room. He called this gathering of top-ranking military officials, "the calm before the storm," and refused to elaborate as journalist and politicos inquired further. But on the infamous message boards of 4chan, elaboration began all on its own.
In the days that followed, an anonymous poster spun a yarn inspired by Trump's remarks that rivalled Tom Clancy and satisfied the deepest desires of MAGA-America. Did any of it come to pass? No. Did that stop people from clinging to every word they were reading, expanding its mythology and promoting the theory for years? No.
How did this happen, who are these followers, and how do adherents reconcile their worldview with the America they see around them? Mike Rothschild, a journalist specializing in conspiracy theories, explains all--taking readers from the earliest posts on 4Chan to its embrace by right-wing media, and the game that Donald Trump has played with its followers.
As rabid adherents to the theory show no sign of calming—with Baby Boomers especially susceptible to its messaging—families are being torn apart and politicians are starting to openly espouse the ideology in their campaigns. It's time to figure out what QAnon is, because QAnon explains everything you need to know about American politics and global fear after Trump.
319 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 22, 2021
About the author
Mike Rothschild
8 books70 followersMike Rothschild is a journalist focused on the intersections between internet culture and politics as seen through the dark glass of conspiracy theories. He has specialized in an investigation of the QAnon conspiracy cult since its inception in 2018, and is one of the first journalists to reveal its connections to past conspiracy theories and scams. Rothschild's expertise has led to his becoming a leading commentator on the subject for The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, CNN, MSNBC, the BBC, and elsewhere.
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July 30, 2021
“QAnon is Slender Man for Boomers.”
July 6, 2021
Thankfully the maelstrom of the Trump years are behind us and hopefully they won’t ever be back. He is still wildly popular there, his supporters see him as some godlike man who can purge American politics of liberalism and Democrats. His influence on American politics though has left a deep and long lasting scar on their country and it is going to take a long time to heal.
His 2016 campaign about Making America Great Again along with his popularist pitches reached a lot of people who felt that they had lost a voice in American politics. He was also attracting the voters who wouldn’t normally be that interested in politics, those that felt that the state had too much power and believed in the myriad of conspiracy theories that have been around for ages. Then in 2017, President Trump made a cryptic remark at a gathering of military officials, describing it as ‘the calm before the storm’ and then refused to explain himself to puzzled journalists.
A short time after this, a person identifying themselves as ‘Q Clearance Patriot’ started posting messages of the anarchic message board, 4chan. A follow up post hinted at massive riots taking place across the country. It read like the opening paragraph from a techno thriller and was the beginning of the mother of all conspiracy theories that would become QAnon. Q was claiming to be a high level military intelligence office who was there to tell the people that there was a secret war taking place, the culmination of this would be the end of the child trafficking rings, the end of the deep state, the end of all things evil and the beginning of true freedom. The posts or drops as they became known, were prolific at first, hinting at all manner of things happening, referencing the comment Trump had made earlier and hinting at a ‘mind blowing truth’ that cannot be fully revealed and the hell that was about to unleashed.
There was one tiny issue though; none of it was true.
People lapped it up though. What was a niche message board became wider known as more people wanted to read these drops for themselves and a whole cabal of people would interpret and reshare these messages across a variety of social media platforms adding to the myth and conspiracy. It didn’t take long for it to become part of the mainstream and QAnon believers to make up a substantial part of the Republican Party now. Its pinnacle though was the Capitol Hill invasion by its supporters eager to unleash the storm and reinstate Trump to the presidency.
But what is QAnon? In this book Mike Rothschild takes us through its short, intense and tumultuous history, outlining key moments as it grew into the phenomena that it is now. He systematically analyses the points where it went from being the delusions of a few cranks to a significant force in American politics. He tries to answer the question as to what it actually is, a cult, a political part of even a religion and given how it is driving families apart, makes suggestions on how to deal with those that have been sucked into its sphere.
I can’t really say this is a good book, the subject matter is quite terrifying to be honest, but it is a necessary book. Rothschild knows his subject, in particular about cults and the effects they can have of those that believe in them. He writes with empathy about the people that have asked questions about the way of the world and found that QAnon were on the surface, providing those answers to them. There are stories from those that have delved a little deeper into the drop and have come to the realisation that they is no substance to the message. He even goes as far to speculate who the person was who begun this. Well worth reading.
His 2016 campaign about Making America Great Again along with his popularist pitches reached a lot of people who felt that they had lost a voice in American politics. He was also attracting the voters who wouldn’t normally be that interested in politics, those that felt that the state had too much power and believed in the myriad of conspiracy theories that have been around for ages. Then in 2017, President Trump made a cryptic remark at a gathering of military officials, describing it as ‘the calm before the storm’ and then refused to explain himself to puzzled journalists.
A short time after this, a person identifying themselves as ‘Q Clearance Patriot’ started posting messages of the anarchic message board, 4chan. A follow up post hinted at massive riots taking place across the country. It read like the opening paragraph from a techno thriller and was the beginning of the mother of all conspiracy theories that would become QAnon. Q was claiming to be a high level military intelligence office who was there to tell the people that there was a secret war taking place, the culmination of this would be the end of the child trafficking rings, the end of the deep state, the end of all things evil and the beginning of true freedom. The posts or drops as they became known, were prolific at first, hinting at all manner of things happening, referencing the comment Trump had made earlier and hinting at a ‘mind blowing truth’ that cannot be fully revealed and the hell that was about to unleashed.
There was one tiny issue though; none of it was true.
People lapped it up though. What was a niche message board became wider known as more people wanted to read these drops for themselves and a whole cabal of people would interpret and reshare these messages across a variety of social media platforms adding to the myth and conspiracy. It didn’t take long for it to become part of the mainstream and QAnon believers to make up a substantial part of the Republican Party now. Its pinnacle though was the Capitol Hill invasion by its supporters eager to unleash the storm and reinstate Trump to the presidency.
But what is QAnon? In this book Mike Rothschild takes us through its short, intense and tumultuous history, outlining key moments as it grew into the phenomena that it is now. He systematically analyses the points where it went from being the delusions of a few cranks to a significant force in American politics. He tries to answer the question as to what it actually is, a cult, a political part of even a religion and given how it is driving families apart, makes suggestions on how to deal with those that have been sucked into its sphere.
I can’t really say this is a good book, the subject matter is quite terrifying to be honest, but it is a necessary book. Rothschild knows his subject, in particular about cults and the effects they can have of those that believe in them. He writes with empathy about the people that have asked questions about the way of the world and found that QAnon were on the surface, providing those answers to them. There are stories from those that have delved a little deeper into the drop and have come to the realisation that they is no substance to the message. He even goes as far to speculate who the person was who begun this. Well worth reading.
September 17, 2021
As an introduction to the underground Q community, it is fact-based, with plenty of examples and analysis and extrapolation. In other words, you can pretty much rely on this to give you the history and some of the threads, as far as we can understand them, and what it is.
So what is Q?
Conspiracy theories dressed up in moral outrage that tempt a lot of regular folks that can see that something is very wrong and just want to DO something about it.
Where it goes really wrong is also pretty clear. We all saw what happened on 1/6/21.
But Q has a direct-line to Anti-Vaxxers, anti-maskers, thinking there are mass pedophile rings in the Left, not to mention the Great Jewish Conspiracy, 9/11 Inside Job, FEMA camp concentration camps, microchip tracking devices (other than cell phones), Soros, Soros, Soros, and so much more.
It might have started as something kinda out-there but it absolutely got a lot of perceived legitimacy when Trump began taking on the mantle of being their messiah, listening to the cooky charges of what antifa was doing/planning, spouting key-words that Q posts wanted him to spout to give them a sign, alternative Covid treatments, including the most obvious and wild close-bleach option and Regeneron, and more.
We've seen what happened -- is still happening -- on Facebook and Twitter and more media outlets like Newsmax and Fox and countless blogs. How these kinds of conspiracy talking points have taken over whole governments in several states, how the problem is arguably worse now than it had ever been in the past, and is set to get much worse.
Suffice to say, the problem is real. Disinformation is, after all, a major branch of psy-ops.
We're dealing with massive amounts of propaganda and the continued rise of fascism is a direct result of people feeling scared and feeling the full strength of their moral outrage.
It doesn't matter whether the target of their moral outrage is the real problem. What matters is that they BELIEVE it to be so.
Q and those who use Q to dupe normal folks are THE biggest problem. Using lies and disinformation is only making this problem worse.
We all need to step outside of our echo chambers and actually listen to each other. Not just get outraged. Not just find any excuse under the sun to wail and rail against our perceived enemies. This whole moral outrage thing is really quite absurd. As humans, we're extremely susceptible to witch hunts and mass-momentum of movements. As long as we remain in our echo chambers, we only reinforce those beliefs that are repeated the longest and loudest.
It has nothing to do with the validity of the points. We're perfectly capable of hashing up the whole world without any enemy before us.
As we can see here.
So what is Q?
Conspiracy theories dressed up in moral outrage that tempt a lot of regular folks that can see that something is very wrong and just want to DO something about it.
Where it goes really wrong is also pretty clear. We all saw what happened on 1/6/21.
But Q has a direct-line to Anti-Vaxxers, anti-maskers, thinking there are mass pedophile rings in the Left, not to mention the Great Jewish Conspiracy, 9/11 Inside Job, FEMA camp concentration camps, microchip tracking devices (other than cell phones), Soros, Soros, Soros, and so much more.
It might have started as something kinda out-there but it absolutely got a lot of perceived legitimacy when Trump began taking on the mantle of being their messiah, listening to the cooky charges of what antifa was doing/planning, spouting key-words that Q posts wanted him to spout to give them a sign, alternative Covid treatments, including the most obvious and wild close-bleach option and Regeneron, and more.
We've seen what happened -- is still happening -- on Facebook and Twitter and more media outlets like Newsmax and Fox and countless blogs. How these kinds of conspiracy talking points have taken over whole governments in several states, how the problem is arguably worse now than it had ever been in the past, and is set to get much worse.
Suffice to say, the problem is real. Disinformation is, after all, a major branch of psy-ops.
We're dealing with massive amounts of propaganda and the continued rise of fascism is a direct result of people feeling scared and feeling the full strength of their moral outrage.
It doesn't matter whether the target of their moral outrage is the real problem. What matters is that they BELIEVE it to be so.
Q and those who use Q to dupe normal folks are THE biggest problem. Using lies and disinformation is only making this problem worse.
We all need to step outside of our echo chambers and actually listen to each other. Not just get outraged. Not just find any excuse under the sun to wail and rail against our perceived enemies. This whole moral outrage thing is really quite absurd. As humans, we're extremely susceptible to witch hunts and mass-momentum of movements. As long as we remain in our echo chambers, we only reinforce those beliefs that are repeated the longest and loudest.
It has nothing to do with the validity of the points. We're perfectly capable of hashing up the whole world without any enemy before us.
As we can see here.
January 15, 2023
Over here in Ireland, we watch the US news slack-jawed at the growing popularity of the QAnon movement. It blows my mind that there are people out there who actually believe the likes of Hillary Clinton are harming children in their efforts to harvest 'adrenochrome', or that John F. Kennedy Jr. had faked his own death and was going to reappear at Dealey Plaza, the site of his father's assassination.
So I read this book in an attempt to discover the origins of the organization and to understand how it attracts so many acolytes. From what I can gather, many QAnon followers are unhappy with how their life has turned out, and are more than happy to believe that the odds were stacked against them from the start, certain that a shadowy cabal of world leaders have been running things to suit their own advantage. Their circumstances are anybody's fault but their own.
Rothschild does a fair job of explaining the history of QAnon and how the group's manifesto has been communicated. But I do think the book suffers from repetition and that it could have benefitted from better examples of ordinary people who were brainwashed by the movement. Overall, it serves as a decent explainer of a modern phenomenon that many of us struggle to get our head around.
So I read this book in an attempt to discover the origins of the organization and to understand how it attracts so many acolytes. From what I can gather, many QAnon followers are unhappy with how their life has turned out, and are more than happy to believe that the odds were stacked against them from the start, certain that a shadowy cabal of world leaders have been running things to suit their own advantage. Their circumstances are anybody's fault but their own.
Rothschild does a fair job of explaining the history of QAnon and how the group's manifesto has been communicated. But I do think the book suffers from repetition and that it could have benefitted from better examples of ordinary people who were brainwashed by the movement. Overall, it serves as a decent explainer of a modern phenomenon that many of us struggle to get our head around.
July 12, 2021
As a factual play-by-play history of the Q movement, this books is a success. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to get caught up with the new reality of the GOP enmeshment with Q. My biggest criticism is that Rothschild fails to identify Q for what it really is - a fascist movement - despite an entire chapter dedicated to that question. This failure to properly identify the goals of the movement cuts the legs out from under the book’s ability to give meaningful answers to the question of *why* people believe Qanon aside from vague references to evolutionary desires to “see patterns.” Instead, Rothschild putters around in idealist sympathy for anons and occasionally ventures into “orange man bad” territory when he could have been actually identifying the issue. To be sure, a lot of these people are victims, but you have to focus on the end goals of the movement and it’s adherents - a Christian dominionist, genocidal, ultra conservative, whites-only society. Not every anon is a pure innocent victim of propaganda and paranoia, a lot of them were proto-fascists who were waiting for a push.
Overall, I think this is a work of journalism on a topic and in a scope which needs a historical approach. I look forward to the more retrospective books on Q and it’s place in the larger picture of American authoritarian movements.
Overall, I think this is a work of journalism on a topic and in a scope which needs a historical approach. I look forward to the more retrospective books on Q and it’s place in the larger picture of American authoritarian movements.
September 28, 2021
Followers believe Q is an official, high up in the pentagon, who is important to national security. Q creates cryptic “drops” on the internet which followers decode. These messages are designed to help followers protect children from sex trafficking and cannibalistic pedophiles and save the world from liberals, Democrats, Hillary Clinton and George Soros. There is veiled and not so veiled anti-Semitism. Since Q is an elusive leader, followers look to Donald Trump (whom they believe works closely with Q to protect the nation) as their leader.
Mike Rothschild takes you through this strange phenomenon. There are examples of the posts and how they excite devotees to harangue school boards, attack supposed enemies and distrust anyone that does not agree with them. There are stories of the damage this has done from intimidating Facebook posters, to breaking up friendships and families to murder.
The book follows Q as it is purged from one hosting source to another. After it was banned from Reddit it moved to increasingly dubious hosts (sites known for scams, racism and, ironically, child porno). When its recent host 8Chan was shut down, due to posting manifestos for mass shooters, it turned to 8kun and then (p. 83) a “variety of IP addresses and hosts… all based in Russia”.
Who is Q? Rothschild weighs the arguments for and against the possibilities. Informed speculation focuses on Ron Watkins, the administrator of 8chan. (His father Jim Watkins had earlier operated 8chan to host Japanese porn). Others suspect Russian involvement and others mention people associated with Donald Trump.
Q has never been a reliable oracle. Some of Q’s prophesies are vague such as “TRUST THE PLAN. WE ARE WINNING. ARRESTS WILL COME”. There is summary of some of the many prophesies that never came true on pp. 211-213). These include a soon to be posted video of Hillary Clinton murdering a young girl and cutting her face off to wear it as a mask; Donald Trump’s military parade which will be “never be forgotten”; John McCain, Pope Francis and others would resign; and 2018 and 2020 Republican electoral victories.
For an important security official helping “digital patriots” cleanse the nation, Q takes a lot of breaks, sometimes there are months between drops. This is filled in by active posters who are known to Q users. As of the book’s publication in mid 2011, Q had not “dropped” since December 8, 2020.
One chapter discusses whether QAnon is a cult, a game, a scam or a religion. Another is about deprogramming a friend or loved one who is obsessed. There is a glossary of QAnon terms.
If you want a quick guide to this unusual cult, scam, game, religion or whatever it is, you will find the information here. It is not a great reading book, but you cannot help but be jolted awake by the things that QAnon followers actually believe.
Mike Rothschild takes you through this strange phenomenon. There are examples of the posts and how they excite devotees to harangue school boards, attack supposed enemies and distrust anyone that does not agree with them. There are stories of the damage this has done from intimidating Facebook posters, to breaking up friendships and families to murder.
The book follows Q as it is purged from one hosting source to another. After it was banned from Reddit it moved to increasingly dubious hosts (sites known for scams, racism and, ironically, child porno). When its recent host 8Chan was shut down, due to posting manifestos for mass shooters, it turned to 8kun and then (p. 83) a “variety of IP addresses and hosts… all based in Russia”.
Who is Q? Rothschild weighs the arguments for and against the possibilities. Informed speculation focuses on Ron Watkins, the administrator of 8chan. (His father Jim Watkins had earlier operated 8chan to host Japanese porn). Others suspect Russian involvement and others mention people associated with Donald Trump.
Q has never been a reliable oracle. Some of Q’s prophesies are vague such as “TRUST THE PLAN. WE ARE WINNING. ARRESTS WILL COME”. There is summary of some of the many prophesies that never came true on pp. 211-213). These include a soon to be posted video of Hillary Clinton murdering a young girl and cutting her face off to wear it as a mask; Donald Trump’s military parade which will be “never be forgotten”; John McCain, Pope Francis and others would resign; and 2018 and 2020 Republican electoral victories.
For an important security official helping “digital patriots” cleanse the nation, Q takes a lot of breaks, sometimes there are months between drops. This is filled in by active posters who are known to Q users. As of the book’s publication in mid 2011, Q had not “dropped” since December 8, 2020.
One chapter discusses whether QAnon is a cult, a game, a scam or a religion. Another is about deprogramming a friend or loved one who is obsessed. There is a glossary of QAnon terms.
If you want a quick guide to this unusual cult, scam, game, religion or whatever it is, you will find the information here. It is not a great reading book, but you cannot help but be jolted awake by the things that QAnon followers actually believe.
December 5, 2021
I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.
-Umberto Eco, Foucault's Pendulum
I'd heard of this whole sordid mess of Q well before the events of January 6, 2021 - I'd heard of some of their posts and they were a target of mockery. Really, who believes this shit? I personally had seen a new model lifted truck with a Q sticker on the back windshield, spun out into a ditch in a winter storm. I, too, laughed, and went on my way. But with cults and 'new religious movements', I admit I laughed for too long.
I'd read this for a timeline of the events behind 'Q', and some of the known facts about its origin, where Q posted and how the information spread, a timeline of posts, and a summary and explanation of the content or 'leaks' as they were called. As a foundation for later research, this book has really done the work and kept rigorous citations. I do hope that the author or other researchers on cults/new religious movements have kept archival copies of these 'leaks', as whoever hosts the website could hide things very quickly. The book also discusses some of the key figures behind the identity of 'Q', although the author suggests that the identity of Q was not as important as the where, when, and how much. A fair point, in my modest opinion.
That said, I do have some modest questions about the analysis. There is only some explanation of the 'roots' of Q beliefs -- Bircherism, or the fetid rot of anti-Semitism (see Pizzagate and child sacrifies), or really anything that could be from The Paranoid Style in American Politics and Other Essays. The comparison to When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted the Destruction of the World makes sense, however. The author also makes a comparison to 'affinity scams' such as the Iraqi dinar scam, which is interesting but I don't follow - is the question that if someone is willing to fall for one conspiracy theory fostered by someone from an in-group, would they fall for more of them? As for why people buy into conspiracy theories, Rothschild suggests a kind of material determinism - bad life circumstances might fall into it, or a "conspiratorial mindset". I admit I don't buy that one all the way - what kind of people would be able to take off work and fly to DC on January 6th? Not always the "economically anxious".
Additionally, there is the question of how Q was laundered or sanitized by media - the far-right or its sympathizers would 'just ask questions' about sex scandals, perhaps, or reframe quotations in another way. Or, there is the question of the 'filter bubble' or how social media recommendation algorithms continue to funnel users into more extreme content. If there were some experts in foreign language social media might add another angle to the analysis - anybody with family members who go on Spanish WhatsApp might know what I mean.
The book ends with some questions of other experts and a serious discussion on where the movement heads after the failed putsch of January 6th, and a brief guide on the thankless task of approaching other people who have fallen into that kind of conspiratorial thinking. It's a good start.
-Umberto Eco, Foucault's Pendulum
I'd heard of this whole sordid mess of Q well before the events of January 6, 2021 - I'd heard of some of their posts and they were a target of mockery. Really, who believes this shit? I personally had seen a new model lifted truck with a Q sticker on the back windshield, spun out into a ditch in a winter storm. I, too, laughed, and went on my way. But with cults and 'new religious movements', I admit I laughed for too long.
I'd read this for a timeline of the events behind 'Q', and some of the known facts about its origin, where Q posted and how the information spread, a timeline of posts, and a summary and explanation of the content or 'leaks' as they were called. As a foundation for later research, this book has really done the work and kept rigorous citations. I do hope that the author or other researchers on cults/new religious movements have kept archival copies of these 'leaks', as whoever hosts the website could hide things very quickly. The book also discusses some of the key figures behind the identity of 'Q', although the author suggests that the identity of Q was not as important as the where, when, and how much. A fair point, in my modest opinion.
That said, I do have some modest questions about the analysis. There is only some explanation of the 'roots' of Q beliefs -- Bircherism, or the fetid rot of anti-Semitism (see Pizzagate and child sacrifies), or really anything that could be from The Paranoid Style in American Politics and Other Essays. The comparison to When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted the Destruction of the World makes sense, however. The author also makes a comparison to 'affinity scams' such as the Iraqi dinar scam, which is interesting but I don't follow - is the question that if someone is willing to fall for one conspiracy theory fostered by someone from an in-group, would they fall for more of them? As for why people buy into conspiracy theories, Rothschild suggests a kind of material determinism - bad life circumstances might fall into it, or a "conspiratorial mindset". I admit I don't buy that one all the way - what kind of people would be able to take off work and fly to DC on January 6th? Not always the "economically anxious".
Additionally, there is the question of how Q was laundered or sanitized by media - the far-right or its sympathizers would 'just ask questions' about sex scandals, perhaps, or reframe quotations in another way. Or, there is the question of the 'filter bubble' or how social media recommendation algorithms continue to funnel users into more extreme content. If there were some experts in foreign language social media might add another angle to the analysis - anybody with family members who go on Spanish WhatsApp might know what I mean.
The book ends with some questions of other experts and a serious discussion on where the movement heads after the failed putsch of January 6th, and a brief guide on the thankless task of approaching other people who have fallen into that kind of conspiratorial thinking. It's a good start.
June 27, 2021
The first thing I must say about this book is that Mike Rothschild is an incredible writer. This is the first book of his that I’ve read, and it’s difficult for me to really get into books like this, but a great writer like Mike can keep me engaged. Rothschild covers everything from top to bottom when it comes to the QAnon movement, so if you’re curious about what it is, how it started, and all of the stories that came from it, this book’s for you. I’ve been following the QAnon news for a long time and have even done content around some of the stories, so I thought I knew just about everything and figured this book wouldn’t tell me anything new. But I was wrong. There were plenty of stories in this book about QAnon followers that I hadn’t heard before. Although this book didn’t have as much psychology as I typically look for in books, Mike covered some big ideas when it comes to cognitive dissonance, how people get sucked in, and most importantly, how to get a loved one out. So, if you’re curious about learning more about what QAnon is or want to hear some new stories written by a great author, you should definitely get this book.
September 21, 2023
Disappointing.
This is a pretty surface-level treatment of QAnon. Rothschild seems unwilling to grapple with QAnon's ideological antecedents. The John Birch Society, Oath Keepers, and Satanic Panic are never mentioned; the Know-Nothings, existing online far-right movements (the "alt-right"), and Turner Diaries barely alluded to- I could fill out a long list with ideologies that set the stage for QAnon or lent it beliefs and believers that Rothschild barely touches. He instead chooses as his case studies to focus on NESARA and the Dinar scheme, two anodyne cult-like financial scams / millenarian movements (he refers to them as "affinity scams", which I don't think is strictly accurate). He tends to treat QAnon adherents as victims of mental illness and life circumstances or an "extant conspiratorial mindset"- not necessarily inaccurate, but it fails to answer why they chose this specific conspiracy theory.
Similarly, he fails to address how existing systems of power fed into QAnon. Big Tech's role is condensed down to "missed the rise of QAnon, then banned it too late"- no mention is made of the role of engagement-driven algorithms in radicalization, or the very specific ideological understanding social media companies had of free speech before 2018 or so (eg. the bizarre techno-libertarianism of Jack Dorsey). The way rich and powerful people feed QAnon for their own interests is likewise glossed-over (Rebekah Mercer, Peter Thiel, and many others are unaccountably absent from this book).
Also the author continually uses the word "extant". It's rarely misused; but it's overused, and often used where "pre-existing", "past", "prior", "previous", or "existing" would flow better and be more accurate. It's a small thing, and unrelated to the above, but it bothered me.
What does this book get right? There's a solid history of the major public figures involved in QAnon. Rothschild rejects some of the more hysterical takes that claim QAnon to be, itself, a foreign conspiracy against American democracy. NESARA and the Dinar scam are interesting stories I hadn't heard before, and they do provide interesting angles on QAnon. The chapter where Rothschild asks a number of experts questions ("Is QAnon a cult?" "Where will QAnon go from here?") and directly quotes their answers is excellent.
But it's all no more than the sum of its parts, and there are a lot of missing parts. The facts are disjointed and surface-level without deeper examination. You could, I think, get a better understanding of QAnon by reading some explanatory articles, skimming When Prophecy Fails, and reading whatever SPLC articles catch your eye. Or even just watching Dan Olson's excellent documentary In Search of a Flat Earth. There's a lot of interesting, deep stuff out there on conspiracy theories and far-right ideology- but The Storm is Upon Us sadly doesn't add much to the conversation.
This is a pretty surface-level treatment of QAnon. Rothschild seems unwilling to grapple with QAnon's ideological antecedents. The John Birch Society, Oath Keepers, and Satanic Panic are never mentioned; the Know-Nothings, existing online far-right movements (the "alt-right"), and Turner Diaries barely alluded to- I could fill out a long list with ideologies that set the stage for QAnon or lent it beliefs and believers that Rothschild barely touches. He instead chooses as his case studies to focus on NESARA and the Dinar scheme, two anodyne cult-like financial scams / millenarian movements (he refers to them as "affinity scams", which I don't think is strictly accurate). He tends to treat QAnon adherents as victims of mental illness and life circumstances or an "extant conspiratorial mindset"- not necessarily inaccurate, but it fails to answer why they chose this specific conspiracy theory.
Similarly, he fails to address how existing systems of power fed into QAnon. Big Tech's role is condensed down to "missed the rise of QAnon, then banned it too late"- no mention is made of the role of engagement-driven algorithms in radicalization, or the very specific ideological understanding social media companies had of free speech before 2018 or so (eg. the bizarre techno-libertarianism of Jack Dorsey). The way rich and powerful people feed QAnon for their own interests is likewise glossed-over (Rebekah Mercer, Peter Thiel, and many others are unaccountably absent from this book).
Also the author continually uses the word "extant". It's rarely misused; but it's overused, and often used where "pre-existing", "past", "prior", "previous", or "existing" would flow better and be more accurate. It's a small thing, and unrelated to the above, but it bothered me.
What does this book get right? There's a solid history of the major public figures involved in QAnon. Rothschild rejects some of the more hysterical takes that claim QAnon to be, itself, a foreign conspiracy against American democracy. NESARA and the Dinar scam are interesting stories I hadn't heard before, and they do provide interesting angles on QAnon. The chapter where Rothschild asks a number of experts questions ("Is QAnon a cult?" "Where will QAnon go from here?") and directly quotes their answers is excellent.
But it's all no more than the sum of its parts, and there are a lot of missing parts. The facts are disjointed and surface-level without deeper examination. You could, I think, get a better understanding of QAnon by reading some explanatory articles, skimming When Prophecy Fails, and reading whatever SPLC articles catch your eye. Or even just watching Dan Olson's excellent documentary In Search of a Flat Earth. There's a lot of interesting, deep stuff out there on conspiracy theories and far-right ideology- but The Storm is Upon Us sadly doesn't add much to the conversation.
August 16, 2022
Very informative and well balanced. Kept my interest throughout. The comparisons and contrasts with other cult-like belief systems and parapolitical ideologies are valuable and worth pursuing further.
July 3, 2021
It’s one thing to read in the news that some people believe in the myriad of weird stuff under the umbrella of Q and another thing entirely to have these believers in your life—people around you refusing to get vaccinated because of some nonsensical explanation of the government’s evil intentions with COVID, or expressing election views that sound like some kind of alternative reality. I wouldn’t go so far as to say anyone I know is a full-on Q believer, but I know people who have embraced at least some part of it. I’ve long found these beliefs puzzling and difficult to respond to. So I was really eager to read Mike Rothschild’s book.
I first heard of the book during a virtual book fair recently, where I got to listen in on a Q&A with the author. Even in that brief introduction, I understood QAnon much better than before. It also piqued my curiosity about how people could believe these things.
The Storm Is Upon Us begins by simply explaining what’s happened: the origins of the conspiracy theory, how it’s grown and why, and what impacts it’s had on the country and on individuals. Most interesting to me was his explanation of what kinds of people are typically most drawn to Q and why. I find it fascinating that it’s able to draw in such a spectrum of followers, from far-right political types to liberal anti-vaxxer mommy bloggers, and now I have a better understanding of why that is. It’s also so interesting to me to see all the influences Rothschild finds behind Q. A lot of the ideas within this new conspiracy theory have actually been around a long time.
The author also does some analysis of QAnon, asking questions like, can it be considered a cult? (A more complicated question to answer than I had realized.) He does a little debunking, which is fun, but the book is not primarily a rebuttal to any assertions made by Q or Q followers. That was fine with me, since I am not coming to this book from a place of belief in Q. I also get the impression that a lot of Q believers won’t take debunking arguments seriously if/until they’re ready to listen; until a niggling feeling of doubt is introduced, these believers will have answers ready to defend Q from all angles. That said, there is practical advice at the end of the book for dealing with any Q believers you may have in your own life.
Given the prominence of this conspiracy theory in our political landscape at the moment and the deep divide between people who believe it and people who don’t, I can’t recommend this book highly enough. Rothschild does a good job taking a complex and sprawling subject and finding the most important points of discussion. He makes something that I find deeply bizarre and unexpected into something a little easier to understand. He also manages to be respectful and empathetic without pulling any punches about the nature of this conspiracy theory and its impact. He makes a good point that a lot of Q believers are not crazy. They may believe crazy stuff, but, the author asserts (quoting Brian Dunning), “The ordinary conspiracy theorist is an intelligent, sane, and generally rational person.” So I appreciated not just what Rothschild has to say but also how he says it.
I first heard of the book during a virtual book fair recently, where I got to listen in on a Q&A with the author. Even in that brief introduction, I understood QAnon much better than before. It also piqued my curiosity about how people could believe these things.
The Storm Is Upon Us begins by simply explaining what’s happened: the origins of the conspiracy theory, how it’s grown and why, and what impacts it’s had on the country and on individuals. Most interesting to me was his explanation of what kinds of people are typically most drawn to Q and why. I find it fascinating that it’s able to draw in such a spectrum of followers, from far-right political types to liberal anti-vaxxer mommy bloggers, and now I have a better understanding of why that is. It’s also so interesting to me to see all the influences Rothschild finds behind Q. A lot of the ideas within this new conspiracy theory have actually been around a long time.
The author also does some analysis of QAnon, asking questions like, can it be considered a cult? (A more complicated question to answer than I had realized.) He does a little debunking, which is fun, but the book is not primarily a rebuttal to any assertions made by Q or Q followers. That was fine with me, since I am not coming to this book from a place of belief in Q. I also get the impression that a lot of Q believers won’t take debunking arguments seriously if/until they’re ready to listen; until a niggling feeling of doubt is introduced, these believers will have answers ready to defend Q from all angles. That said, there is practical advice at the end of the book for dealing with any Q believers you may have in your own life.
Given the prominence of this conspiracy theory in our political landscape at the moment and the deep divide between people who believe it and people who don’t, I can’t recommend this book highly enough. Rothschild does a good job taking a complex and sprawling subject and finding the most important points of discussion. He makes something that I find deeply bizarre and unexpected into something a little easier to understand. He also manages to be respectful and empathetic without pulling any punches about the nature of this conspiracy theory and its impact. He makes a good point that a lot of Q believers are not crazy. They may believe crazy stuff, but, the author asserts (quoting Brian Dunning), “The ordinary conspiracy theorist is an intelligent, sane, and generally rational person.” So I appreciated not just what Rothschild has to say but also how he says it.
February 19, 2022
Excellent resource for aiding understanding of this horrible and destructive movement. Rothschild is extremely careful to bring compassion for the people and understanding of how and why they believe, far more so I can easily do. The book is thoroughly refenced, which of course will not stop detractors from bashing it.
I've lost a couple friends to this bullshit, one in particular who started spouting memes and baseless claims about Hillary Clinton orchestrating numerous murders, but without any seeming awareness that those claims came straight from Q. I didn't know where they were coming from either, but now I do. He was already on a negative trajectory, but has since become increasingly nasty and withdrawn, constantly ranting about the "decadence" of modern society. I haven't spoken to him in a couple years, and it makes me very sad.
I've lost a couple friends to this bullshit, one in particular who started spouting memes and baseless claims about Hillary Clinton orchestrating numerous murders, but without any seeming awareness that those claims came straight from Q. I didn't know where they were coming from either, but now I do. He was already on a negative trajectory, but has since become increasingly nasty and withdrawn, constantly ranting about the "decadence" of modern society. I haven't spoken to him in a couple years, and it makes me very sad.
July 27, 2021
I guess I learned that I can’t save the group of young “creative” women in our city who are enmeshed in Qanon and Q-adjacent conspiracy theories, but I will continue to report their posts when they are harmful and false! :)
January 14, 2022
3.5 stars--One of the strangest manifestations of the strange era in which we’re living is QAnon, a cultlike conspiracy theory that combines centuries-old witchhunt imagery with modern pop culture and politics. This is the story of its origins, the ways in which it was allowed to grow unchecked on mainstream social media prior to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, what its future may be, and a bit of advice on dealing with friends and family members who have come under its sway.
Periods of upheaval and uncertainty in society have always lent themselves well to the growth of cults and extremism. The COVID-19 lockdowns found people isolated, confused, and fearful in a way that many have not experienced in their lifetimes. It may not be a surprise that this helped QAnon flourish from its original adherents in the trolling and far-right communities to everyone from senior citizens to New Agers.
While it’s easy for us to dismiss all of this as whackadoodle beliefs for gullible or unintelligent people, the fact is, cults exert a powerful pull and offer people something they may not be getting in their everyday lives. Humans have a deep need for community and validation, the author explains, and QAnon and similar groups provide a social group and a sense of agency and importance many don’t get in their everyday lives. As more people continue to struggle, we can only expect to see more cultlike belief systems springing up.
Online discussion groups have been developed for people who have watched friends and loved ones spiral deeper into the QAnon rabbit hole, and despair at ever again seeing the person they once knew. But at some point I would think you’d have to say, if COVID-19 denialism, etc., is the hill this person wishes to die on--and thousands have--well…it’s their life.
One last word about how extremism has re-shaped our outlook on the world. A woman was in the library with her elderly mother, when they stopped and looked at our MLK Day book display. Mom appeared to be in her 70s or 80s, so Martin Luther King was well within her lifetime and memory, but she looked at a book cover depicting crowds gathered in Washington, DC, and immediately assumed the library had put up a display celebrating the Jan. 6, 2020, insurrection! The daughter sounded more than a little annoyed when she corrected her mother, and I imagine she has to deal with comments such as this frequently.
Periods of upheaval and uncertainty in society have always lent themselves well to the growth of cults and extremism. The COVID-19 lockdowns found people isolated, confused, and fearful in a way that many have not experienced in their lifetimes. It may not be a surprise that this helped QAnon flourish from its original adherents in the trolling and far-right communities to everyone from senior citizens to New Agers.
While it’s easy for us to dismiss all of this as whackadoodle beliefs for gullible or unintelligent people, the fact is, cults exert a powerful pull and offer people something they may not be getting in their everyday lives. Humans have a deep need for community and validation, the author explains, and QAnon and similar groups provide a social group and a sense of agency and importance many don’t get in their everyday lives. As more people continue to struggle, we can only expect to see more cultlike belief systems springing up.
Online discussion groups have been developed for people who have watched friends and loved ones spiral deeper into the QAnon rabbit hole, and despair at ever again seeing the person they once knew. But at some point I would think you’d have to say, if COVID-19 denialism, etc., is the hill this person wishes to die on--and thousands have--well…it’s their life.
One last word about how extremism has re-shaped our outlook on the world. A woman was in the library with her elderly mother, when they stopped and looked at our MLK Day book display. Mom appeared to be in her 70s or 80s, so Martin Luther King was well within her lifetime and memory, but she looked at a book cover depicting crowds gathered in Washington, DC, and immediately assumed the library had put up a display celebrating the Jan. 6, 2020, insurrection! The daughter sounded more than a little annoyed when she corrected her mother, and I imagine she has to deal with comments such as this frequently.
October 7, 2024
Trudno zrozumieć wszystko to, co dzieje się wokół Trumpa i objąć rozumem teorie sportowe, bez wiedzy na temat tego, czym tak naprawdę jest QAnon, jak działa i co głosi. Ta książka jest idealna dla wszyskich, którzy interesują się nie tylko polityką USA, ale również społeczeństwem. Świetny, wyczerpujący temat i bardzo szczegółowy reportaż. Przede wszystkim podobało mi się, że autor nie pokazał QAnonu jako zjawiska tylko dla naiwnych i głupich, jako zabawy na rasistowskich forach internetowych, a udowodnił, że to ogromnie niebezpieczny ruch, mający realny wpływ na to, co dzieje się w USA i siejący potężne spustoszenie w rodzinach tych, którzy zbyt mocno uwierzyli w Q. Ode mnie duża polecajka, dla freaków Stanów Zjednoczonych istna gratka - koniecznie do przeczytania przed wyborami!
Oczywiście to temat, który wciąż jest w toku, więc to też taka książka, która co roku powinna mieć dodruk z updatem, ale po jej lekturze jest szansa, że będziesz chciała śledzić to na własną rękę.
Oczywiście to temat, który wciąż jest w toku, więc to też taka książka, która co roku powinna mieć dodruk z updatem, ale po jej lekturze jest szansa, że będziesz chciała śledzić to na własną rękę.
January 5, 2022
It’s a weird middle group where for a lot of people that have been following this narrative for years (I’m in this group) the history portion of this book is a little light, treading over simply the major points and doing little with the smaller portions. For people who have remained on the outside of this and with no personal connections, it might be too much, in some ways.
What the book does well is the concluding section with conjectures of what QAnon even is and what it’s possible futures might be.
This is a light recommendation, but only if this is something you’re confident you want to read. For others, I think there is likely better starting points.
What the book does well is the concluding section with conjectures of what QAnon even is and what it’s possible futures might be.
This is a light recommendation, but only if this is something you’re confident you want to read. For others, I think there is likely better starting points.
October 11, 2024
Bardzo dobry reportaż z obszerną bibliografią. Momentami miałam wrażenie, że autor obraca się wokół tych samych wątków i tylko dlatego odejmuję jedną gwiazdkę.
November 6, 2021
This was truly interesting. Like rational people everywhere, I have watched the rise of this movement/cult with slack-jawed incredulity. But still, not knowing a single person (thankfully) who would buy into such nonsense, I had to rely on the occasional CNN report to glean info on what it was, where it came from, and what it was all about.
Mr. Rothschild does an excellent job of explaining the origins of QAnon and the various sub-conspiracies contained within. The book is well-organized, with chapters like The Crimes of QAnon, looking at everything from financial frauds, kidnappings, and murders that have been inspired by the beliefs. Or, a look at QAnon and the events of January 6th. Or how mommy bloggers and influencers got sucked in!
It goes on and on. And there is no end to the crazy, but Rothschild isn't ridiculing or looking down on anyone. He is reporting more empathetically that I ever could. He does his best to explain the appeal of these conspiracies and how people get immersed so deeply into an ideology that's so patently insane.
On a personal note, while I'm certainly aware of the significant overlap in the Venn diagram of QAnon, White nationalists, the Alt-right, and Trump supporters, I was surprised and saddened to learn how significantly and explicitly a lot of these conspiracies are based on good, old-fashioned antisemitism. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
This is a great introduction if you want to learn about an incredibly disturbing trend in both our politics and our psychology. It is deeply unsettling, all the more so for being reported in a calm and unhyperbolic manner.
Mr. Rothschild does an excellent job of explaining the origins of QAnon and the various sub-conspiracies contained within. The book is well-organized, with chapters like The Crimes of QAnon, looking at everything from financial frauds, kidnappings, and murders that have been inspired by the beliefs. Or, a look at QAnon and the events of January 6th. Or how mommy bloggers and influencers got sucked in!
It goes on and on. And there is no end to the crazy, but Rothschild isn't ridiculing or looking down on anyone. He is reporting more empathetically that I ever could. He does his best to explain the appeal of these conspiracies and how people get immersed so deeply into an ideology that's so patently insane.
On a personal note, while I'm certainly aware of the significant overlap in the Venn diagram of QAnon, White nationalists, the Alt-right, and Trump supporters, I was surprised and saddened to learn how significantly and explicitly a lot of these conspiracies are based on good, old-fashioned antisemitism. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
This is a great introduction if you want to learn about an incredibly disturbing trend in both our politics and our psychology. It is deeply unsettling, all the more so for being reported in a calm and unhyperbolic manner.
Read
November 24, 2021I've listened to enough podcasts about QAnon that nothing here was really new, but if you are curious about where it got started and how it spread, this is a good primer. The best part was at the end: supportive answers for concerned friends and family members whose relationships have been destroyed. It boils down to general cult advice:
1. Don't argue, it's useless and only entrenches someone further in their beliefs. Facts obviously don't matter to someone who believes this stuff, so there's no point in bringing them up.
2. If you feel up to it, try to find a point of common doubt about the Q universe. The book gives several ideas, but one example is: Why did Q use a janky porn message board to communicate this very important information? I'd like to think of more questions like this for Q-fringe believers, eg people who believe the stuff peddled on Fox but don't realize that it comes from QAnon and don't even understand what Q is exactly.
3. Keep communication open - you might be the only link to reality that this person has if they ever do have a doubt they would like to talk about. But this doesn't mean you have to accept listening to the latest conspiracy theories or politics. Try to stick to conversations about good memories you had together in the past (preferably pre-Q).
4. Go outside with them. Literally. Try to get out of cell signal range and connect with nature.
Good luck this holiday season, folks!
1. Don't argue, it's useless and only entrenches someone further in their beliefs. Facts obviously don't matter to someone who believes this stuff, so there's no point in bringing them up.
2. If you feel up to it, try to find a point of common doubt about the Q universe. The book gives several ideas, but one example is: Why did Q use a janky porn message board to communicate this very important information? I'd like to think of more questions like this for Q-fringe believers, eg people who believe the stuff peddled on Fox but don't realize that it comes from QAnon and don't even understand what Q is exactly.
3. Keep communication open - you might be the only link to reality that this person has if they ever do have a doubt they would like to talk about. But this doesn't mean you have to accept listening to the latest conspiracy theories or politics. Try to stick to conversations about good memories you had together in the past (preferably pre-Q).
4. Go outside with them. Literally. Try to get out of cell signal range and connect with nature.
Good luck this holiday season, folks!
Currently reading
October 12, 2021If you have only a vague idea what QAnon is (or none at all), this book is a great introduction. Mike Rothschild does a great job explaining how it started, who may be behind it, why it is such an attractive conspiracy theory and what the real-life consequences of becoming a follower are. If you‘ve been following QAnon for a while, you likely won’t learn anything new, but it’s still a very good read.
September 9, 2021
Interesting read!
My goal in reading this book was to learn more about QAnon and try to understand how they are able to influence so many people - how people fall for this type of stuff.
This book was great at teaching me those facts, and I found it very interesting.
Pretty shocking read at times.
3.8/5
My goal in reading this book was to learn more about QAnon and try to understand how they are able to influence so many people - how people fall for this type of stuff.
This book was great at teaching me those facts, and I found it very interesting.
Pretty shocking read at times.
3.8/5
June 27, 2021
While those of us who've been following QAnon for years will not learn much new from this book, it is a well-written, thoughtful but often funny overview of the content and history of this bizarre worldview that presents it as coherently as is possible.
Shelved as 'abandoned'
January 6, 2022Bailed out after 80 pages. The topic, QAnon, is awful, but I was hoping to read a good and perhaps interesting explanation. The book didn’t seem very good to me. So a book I don’t like very much about a putrid topic? Nope, life’s too sort.
August 1, 2022
Even though it seems like Qanon has gone dark (since their ideology is waiting for a prophecy that involves Trump), the fact that many Evangelicals and GOP members believe, if not in Qanon itself, then in some tenets of it is deeply concerning.
There's a tangent here for how the American left is actually not equipped to deal with the racist and antisemitic violence that these types of groups seem to traffic in (at least ideologically since Qanon says that anyone can join their group and they dont condone violence - even though they and Proud Boy thpes stormed the capital).
A relevant read for anyone who is curious about people who have taken conspiracy theory too far, cutting off contact with friends and family and just getting sucked into this.
The author spends some time trying to understand if Qanon is a cult and to be honest, the only real criteria missing is that Qanon has no leader which cults require.
Highly recommend! There is apparently a HBO film about Qanon too that I will try to find.
There's a tangent here for how the American left is actually not equipped to deal with the racist and antisemitic violence that these types of groups seem to traffic in (at least ideologically since Qanon says that anyone can join their group and they dont condone violence - even though they and Proud Boy thpes stormed the capital).
A relevant read for anyone who is curious about people who have taken conspiracy theory too far, cutting off contact with friends and family and just getting sucked into this.
The author spends some time trying to understand if Qanon is a cult and to be honest, the only real criteria missing is that Qanon has no leader which cults require.
Highly recommend! There is apparently a HBO film about Qanon too that I will try to find.
March 10, 2022
I have given up being amazed at the gullibility of people, but it is still disheartening. I have seen people in my own life fall for and spout off the most wild conspiracy theories as though they were established fact, all because they heard them from charlatans that they (unfortunately) trust. While it amazes me that people fall for the Qanon nonsense, it is happening and this book does a great job chronicling the madness.
November 3, 2024
Amerykanie to stan umysłu 🤯
bardzo wnikliwy reportaż, który raczej na chłodno podchodzi do tematu (co jak dla mnie na plus)
niewiarygodne jak bardzo w dobie xxi wieku można sterować emocjami ludzi i jak skutecznie można im prać mózgi
*uwaga, polskie tłumaczenie nieidealne i można wyłapać trochę baboli
bardzo wnikliwy reportaż, który raczej na chłodno podchodzi do tematu (co jak dla mnie na plus)
niewiarygodne jak bardzo w dobie xxi wieku można sterować emocjami ludzi i jak skutecznie można im prać mózgi
*uwaga, polskie tłumaczenie nieidealne i można wyłapać trochę baboli
November 4, 2024
Fascynujące, przerażające i zmuszające do myślenia. Podoba mi się, że autor podchodzi do tematu od wielu stron. Książka próbuje pokazać wielowymiarowy obraz ludzi odpływających w odmęty teorii spiskowych. Straszne, ale niestety coraz bliższe wielu z nas, którym bliskie osoby dały się wciągnąć w odmęty internetu.
August 25, 2023
fascinating read
December 31, 2022
My last read of 2022. QAnon is an incredibly difficult phenomenon to understand because it isn’t coherent and it constantly changed and contradicted earlier pronouncements. That being said, I think Rothschild explains it as clearly and helpfully as can be done with a movement like this. And it is WAY safer to read this book than to do Internet research and possibly get exposed to the movement’s insidious lies. I think it’s a book that should be widely read.
September 28, 2021
An insightful read (though I did this as an audiobook, so, an insightful listen) with some good linear storytelling and relevant information. If, like me, you found this conspiracy gaining ground without really understanding what these people believed, then this book is super helpful in reaching into the bag of snakes and laying them all out straight. It reaches its own conclusions about who might be behind such a thing, deliberates the nature of cults vs. political movements and simple grifts - and then explores the Venn intersection where Q lives within all of these. Useful if you're trying to understand.
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