Informed Paranoia

Recorded prior to any episodes with "real" content, we're offering a mid-season break with no deep dives or wild theorising. Instead, Matt and Lach indulge some personal reflections to ponder why they bothered to create a podcast about conspiracy theories and irrational belief. Was it an irrational thing to do? Probably...

Lach and Matt relate the infiltration of the Bohemian Grove by UK writer Jon Ronson and conspiracy demagogue Alex Jones, emerging slightly pilled and questioning how to reframe your reality after learning bizarre truths.

Links:

Alex Jones expresses his concerns for amphibians: "Turning the Freaking Frogs Gay" - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tVrntKgdN0

Alex Jones full documentary, Dark Secrets Inside Bohemian Grove

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpKdSvwYsrE

Introduction and other extracts from Jon Ronson’s Them: Adventures with extremists

http://www.jonronson.com/them.html

Matt and Lach leave Pizzagate behind and look at the related claim that Hillary Clinton admits to devil-worship in a leaked email. Branches of the rabbit-hole include Ancient Near-Eastern religion, black magick and David Icke. Matt attempts to initiate Lach into the mysteries of the Bohemian Grove.

A basic introduction to Bohemian Grove by The Washington Post Bohemian Grove: Where the rich and powerful go to misbehave - The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/bohemian-grove-where-the-rich-and-powerful-go-to-misbehave/2011/06/15/AGPV1sVH_blog.html

This article includes a link to Phillip Weiss’ 1989 reporting on Bohemian Grove for Spy Magazine Masters of the Universe Go to Camp: Inside the Bohemian Grove (ucsc.edu)

https://whorulesamerica.ucsc.edu/power/bohemian_grove_spy.html

In discussing the links between Moloch and Bohemian Grove, I draw heavily on the work of conspiracy researcher Terry Melanson for Conspiracy Archive, who identified the link with David Icke’s The Biggest Secret Bohemian Grove: Molochs, Moles and Rituals – Conspiracy Archive

https://www.conspiracyarchive.com/2013/12/16/bohemian-grove-molochs-moles-and-rituals/

Matt and Lach continue their analysis of the doughy mess that is Pizzagate, focusing on those who promoted the theory and its tragic repercussions for the figures of James Alefantis and Maddison Welch. Matt attempts a risky "reverse debunking" of the paedophile symbology claimed by Pizzagate "investigators."

Links:

Andrew Rossi (Dir.) -

After Truth Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News 2020 1080p WEBRip x264 RARBG - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6hzehEbJ0I&t=1675s

Gregor Aisch, Jon Huang and Cecilia Kang -

Dissecting the #PizzaGate Conspiracy Theories - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/10/business/media/pizzagate.html

Matt and Lach look at the historical context of the leak of the personal email of Clinton Campaign Manager John Podesta, examine the sources of the so-called "pedo-code" that is the basis of the bizarre Internet phenomenon that is Pizzagate and debunk the "proofs" behind it. 

Links and further reading:

Richard J. Hofstader- "The paranoid style in American politics."

Hofstadter.pdf (washington.edu)

Joshua Moore- "Pizzagate: and the Research that nobody wanted to do."

Pizzagate: and the Research that nobody wanted to do – C U L T I C (wordpress.com)

Ben Schreckinger- "World War Meme"

World War Meme - POLITICO Magazine

Lulz University, Geneva- "The psychology of 4chan"

https://tinyurl.com/f8ewe5a8