The women of QAnon

Episode SummaryWhen we hear the term “conspiracy theorist,” most people probably imagine someone who looks a bit like Alex Jones, a middle-aged white guy who’s slightly overweight and loves to scream. And to be sure, there are a lot of people out there like that—supporting Donald Trump as fanatically as possible. But the reality of American right-wing extremism includes many people who look completely different.Noelle Cook, my guest on today’s episode discovered that firsthand in her research on women who believe in QAnon conspiracy theories, which began, fatefully enough, when she coincidentally happened to be at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Conspiracism is a new type of religion, one that’s similar to past ones in having doctrines, leaders, and tales of apocalypse—but also different in that it’s much more narcissistic and self-directed than modern-day cults like Scientology or Heaven’s Gate.This is fascinating research that’s much deeper than the rural diner safaris than had become infamous in American media. Her findings are the basis of her new book, The Conspiracists: Women, Extremism, and the Lure of Belonging, as well as a film documentary about the women she profiles.The video of our conversation is available. Access the episode page to get the full text transcript. You can subscribe to Theory of Change and other Flux podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, YouTube, Patreon, Substack, and elsewhere. (Note: Purchasing a book through the links in show notes helps support Theory of Change.)Related Content--How the sex and drugs counterculture fell in love with Donald Trump and Jesus--Rather than moderate to find more voters, Republicans are using lurid Satanic fables to terrify fundamentalist Christians--How ‘tradwives’ use sex to sell religion--Charlie Kirk was a masterful political organizer, and a dangerous religious extremist--Far-right religion has been offering absurd and unhelpful advice to women for decades--Why conspiracy theories about the famous Rothschild family tell the history of antisemitism--Trumpism isn’t conservative, and saying this is still important--Far-right members of Congress are making the internet a safe space for misinformationAudio Chapters00:00 — Introduction06:13 — QAnon as a religion of narcissism12:18 — What conspiracism offers middle-aged and older women20:13 — Media proliferation and political manipulations have made conspiracy belief much easier28:27 — The women of January 6th faced widely divergent economic circumstances34:32 — Charismatic evangelicalism as the common starting point for QAnon believers44:02 — Astrology, space aliens, and QAnon48:44 — ‘Soul contracts’ and tragic morality52:49 — Right-wing politicians harm society and then use the nihilism they engender as campaign leverage55:42 — What do QAnon believers think about the Epstein files now?01:04:35 — Prevention is easier than de-radicalization This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit plus.flux.community/subscribe