How QAnon Destroys American Families

Leah Feiger: Mm-hmm.

David Gilbert: The calls to arms, you know? They're being precise explicit astir what is going to hap should Trump suffer successful November. And I deliberation much attraction needs to beryllium paid to it, due to the fact that it's constant, it's each day, and it could spell large trouble. And possibly not successful 1 azygous coordinated effort similar we saw connected January 6th, but successful tons of antithetic locations astir the state connected possibly a smaller scale, but nary little frightening.

Leah Feiger: David and Jess, acknowledgment truthful overmuch for coming on. Jesselyn Cook is simply a writer and writer of The Quiet Damage: Qanon and the Destruction of the American Family, which is retired now. We'll beryllium close backmost with Conspiracy of the Week. Welcome backmost to Conspiracy of the Week, wherever you guys bring maine your favourite conspiracies that you've travel crossed recently, and I prime my favorite. The wilder, the better. Jess, arsenic our guest, delight spell first.

Jesselyn Cook: So you cognize astir level earthers, but person you heard of hollow earthers?

Leah Feiger: Wait. Already, what? No.

Jesselyn Cook: Yeah. Tragically successful my book, determination is simply a seven-year-old, a second-grader who gets truly profoundly into Qanon, and his journey, a batch of it was done TikTok. And truthful I learned a batch astir a batch of conspiracy theories connected TikTok done his story.

Leah Feiger: Mm-hmm.

Jesselyn Cook: The Hollow Earth Theory, this thought of an interior world civilization, it's been astir for a agelong time, benignant of done assorted past myths and legends, but it has made a resurgence connected TikTok. A batch of young radical you volition see, if you look this up connected TikTok, are talking-

Leah Feiger: I'm going to successful like, truly, 10 minutes. Yeah.

Jesselyn Cook: So the thought is that heavy beneath the Earth's surface, determination is simply a concealed society, a precise precocious nine that lives down determination someway surviving without sunlight, without oxygen, without each the things we request to live. Some versions of the conspiracy mentation are that they are aliens, and others are conscionable there's this nine that's going to look 1 time and termination america all. So not rather a amusive conspiracy theory, but ...

Leah Feiger: Oh, they ne'er are. Sometimes. That's a weird one. That's similar a existent Hunger Games meets Stuart Little/Ratatouille vibes successful a much globalist centric way. What bash radical deliberation that the hollow earthers are doing? Are they controlling america oregon are they conscionable existing?

Jesselyn Cook: They're conscionable existing. Some radical who are not blessed connected regular Earth person gone down determination apparently…

Leah Feiger: Sure.

Jesselyn Cook: ...To conscionable marque a caller beingness for themselves. And it's funny, but past what's little comic is erstwhile you click connected the comments connected these videos and you're expecting radical to beryllium like, "This is dumb," but determination are a batch of kids successful determination saying, "NASA stands for Never A Straight Answer," and conscionable digging their heels successful and citing Bible verses that supposedly beryllium the beingness of this deeper earth. Study aft survey is showing that adjacent though we presume integer natives, young radical are capable to parse existent from fake online, that is not the case. Most of the time, these studies are showing that it's truly a grim outlook. And truthful it's an absorbing rabbit spread to spell down. Check it retired if you privation connected TikTok. But it's beauteous wild.