Conspiracy Clearinghouse

High(er) Strangeness w/Eric Bickernicks

EPISODE 116 | High(er) Strangeness w/Eric Bickernicks
Guest: Eric Bickernicks, writer, author of High Strangeness and Higher Strangeness
What does a guy who's made novelty songs, short comedy videos, an indie film for $32k, kettle corn aplenty, and a novel about art theft do next? If he's Eric Bickernicks, he writes two books about UFOs, hoaxes, alien thoughts, UFO cults, gullibility and Cape Cod. 
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SECTIONS
02:49 - High/Higher Strangeness and other books, pranksters, unintended consequences, UFO cults, Cape Cod minus buzzards
13:16 - Aliens and fiction become folklore, truly alien aliens
19:42 - Crop circles, re-hoaxing, not bright guys, Hanlon's Razor, emotional processing is conservative, lazy writing, fridge logic, butts in seats, good writing can happen, fold-your-laundry content, ignorance is a right
32:56 - Believe in God never really goes away, we've evolved to be paranoid, nihilism is stressful
40:45 - Rampant existentialism, keeping busy, novelty songs, kicking Weird Al's ass, A Dead Guy
Music by Fanette Ronjat
More Info
A Dead Guy - the website of Eric Bickernicks
High Strangeness has its own website
Eric Bickernicks on Amazon
Rampant Existentialism
alt.sex - Eric's indie film
The Defectives - Eric and another guy's novelty songs
Dr. Demento website
More of Eric's Crap
The Buzzards Bay Coalition
Buzzards Bay Brewing - because why not?
The New England Science Fiction Association, Inc. - the genre bullies who reject Eric
9 Outrageous Pranks in History
7 of History's Greatest Pranks
The Merry Pranksters And the Art of the Hoax - NYT
The Logistical Challenges of a Supersize Acid Test: On the Merry Pranksters’ Trips Festival
THIS IS AMERICA: Twilight of a Merry Prankster
Research Books - Pranks!
UFOs Keep Appearing in the News. Here’s Why We Can’t Quit Them - Scientific American
UFO Mania Is Out of Control. Please Stop. - Washington Post
List of UFO-related hoaxes on Wikipedia
4 INFAMOUS UFO HOAXES REVEALED | The Proof is Out There - video
Alien 'Hoaxes' That Went Viral From Roswell's Flying Saucers to Mexican & Australian X-Files - Spyscape
Crop circles: Cynical hoax, natural phenomenon or proof of alien life? - The Independent
Crop Circles: The Art of the Hoax - Smithsonian
Circlemakers - website for people who make crop circles
Hanlon’s Razor: Not Everyone is Out to Get You
Fridge Logic on TV Tropes
The 5 Basic Laws of Human Stupidity
The Stupidity Quotient by Dennis L. Holeman, The Systems Perspective
The Darwin Awards website
Are Americans Just Stupid? - Psychology Today
The reason why America has become 'uniquely stupid'
Stupid People: Our Society is Succumbing
Why Do Stupid People Rule the World? 
Stupid People Are Surprisingly Confident - How Stuff Works
Bonhoeffer’s “theory of stupidity”: We have more to fear from stupid people than evil ones - Big Think
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DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a 2022 Gold Quill Award, 2022 Gold MarCom Award, 2021 AVA Digital Award Gold, 2021 Silver Davey Award, 2020 Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists. 
PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER 

Cuckoo Coups in the U.S.

EPISODE 115 | Cuckoo Coups in the U.S.
Alarmist rhetoric has been used multiple times in America’s past with the express intent of fomenting a rebellion or even a coup. The game is to create a sense of urgency in the hopes that enough people will commit to extreme actions, so you can get what you want (which is power).
According to Wikipedia, there have been 13 coup attempts in the United States since it won its independence from the British crown, plus an additional 29 rebellions and well, lots of moments of civil unrest. Things are not always happy and peaceful in the Land of the Free. Often because some people don’t think everyone should, in fact, be free. 
Here's a look at those that occurred before the 20th century.
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SECTIONS
02:54 - Early Daze - Bacon's Rebellion, Virginia (1676); the Newburgh Conspiracy (1783) and George Washington's spectacles, the Pennsylvania Mutiny (1783)
09:16 - Dorr's Rebellion - Rhode Island (1841)
11:47 - The Status of Slavery - Slave revolt in Orleans (1811), Nat Turner's Rebellion in Virginia (1831); largest slave escape (1842), the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), Bleeding Kansas (1854-1859), John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry in Virginia (1859), states secede (1861), Sam Houston deposed in Texas, militia groups form throughout the South after the Civil War
18:31 - Brindletails and Minstrels - The Brooks–Baxter War in Arkansas (1874)
25:23 - The Battle of Liberty Place, New Orleans (1874) - Rise of the White League and another city under siege, the Compromise of 1877 ends Reconstruction
33:53 - The Jaybird-Woodpecker War, Texas (1888)
37:47 - The Secret Nine and the Wilmington Insurrection in North Carolina (1898) - The Populists and Fusionists, the Secret Nine and the Committee of Twenty-Five, the Red Shirts
Music by Fanette Ronjat
Lapsus Linguae: At 33:44, I say the Wilmington Insurrection was also in the 1880s, but it was not.
More Info
EPISODE 69 | Electoral Collage – Voter Fraud, Election Interference & Other Shenanigans
EPISODE 76 | Klown Kar - The KKK Can KMA
Bacon's Rebellion on Historic Jamestowne page on the National Park Service website
George Washington and the Newburgh Conspiracy, 1783 at The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
The Pennsylvania Mutiny - This Day in History - June 20, 1783 on The Constitutional Walking Tour
The Dorr Rebellion on Rhode Tour
Our Hidden History: Racism and Black suffrage in the Dorr Rebellion in The Providence Journal
The Enslaved Peoples’ Uprising of 1811 on New Orleans Historical
Nat Turner’s Revolt (1831) on Encyclopedia Virginia
Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) at the National Archives
Bleeding Kansas on the American Battlefield Trust
Bleeding Kansas: From the Kansas-Nebraska Act to Harpers Ferry on Civil War on the Western Border
Remembering John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry on ReImagine Appalachia
Sam Houston and Texas Secession on the Abbeville Institute
The 1858 New Orleans Mayoral Election on Emerging Civil War
Brooks-Baxter War on Encyclopedia of Arkansas
Battle of Liberty Place on 64 Parishes
The Battle of Liberty Place: A Matter of Historical Perception on 64 Parishes
March 1, 1874: White League Formed on the Zinn Education Project
Louisiana White League Platform (1874) on Facing History & Ourselves
34 Documented Mass Lynchings During the Reconstruction Era
The Compromise of 1877 on the Khan Academy
Jaybird-Woodpecker War on Texas State Historical Association
THE JAYBIRD-WOODPECKER WAR (1888-1889) on BlackPast
Wilmington Massacre and Coup d’état of 1898 – Timeline of Events on New Hanover County Cape Fear Museum
Wilmington 1898: When white supremacists overthrew a US government on the BBC
The Wilmington Massacre of 1898 at the Equal Justice Initiative
The Lost History of an American Coup D’État in The Atlantic
America’s Only Successful Coup d’Etat Overthrew a Biracial Government in 1898 on History.com
A North Carolina city begins to reckon with the massacre in its white supremacist past on NPR
The 1898 Wilmington Massacre Is an Essential Lesson in How State Violence Has Targeted Black Americans in Time
'Better organized, more disciplined': Capitol rioters mirror Red Shirts in 1898 Wilmington Coup in Wilmington Star News
A Tale of Two Insurrections
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DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a 2022 Gold Quill Award, 2022 Gold MarCom Award, 2021 AVA Digital Award Gold, 2021 Silver Davey Award, 2020 Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists. 
PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER

All Your Base Are Belong to Us – U.S. Military Installations

EPISODE 114 | All Your Base Are Belong to Us – U.S. Military Installations
The United States spends more on their military than the next nine countries combined. With around 450 bases (or maybe 500 or maybe 750 or maybe 800 or even more) operating more than 111,000 installations in 80 or more countries, there’s a lot to keep track of. In fact, no one is really sure how accurate those numbers are, since a lot of places are deemed classified or even top secret, and yes, cover stories have sometimes been deployed.
Some of the things we do know about are pretty interesting and often sad or infuriating, depending on your outlook. And yet that’s not enough for some folks, who feel the need to fill in the gaps with long, complicated conspiracy narratives that are better suited to novels than anywhere else. 
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SECTIONS
02:43 - Living in Danger - "Wargames", NORAD, Cheyenne Mountain, Mount Yamantau and the Perimeter System
08:14 - Happy Nation - Granite Mountain, Utah Data Center and PRISM; Dugway Proving Ground, CHASE and the Sheep Kill Incident; the Deseret Test Center at Fort Douglas, Project 112 and SHAD; Nellis AFB, Pahute Mesa and the Tolicha Peak Electronic Combat Range
17:14 - Waiting for Magic - Area 51, OXCART/D-21/Tagboard, Operation Diamond, AQUATONE and the U2, Majestic 12 stuff, the alien autopsy, Sean David Morton, Bob Lazar, Dan Burisch, Bill Moore, Storm Area 51, the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository and the Tonopah Test Range, Area 6 
23:08 - The Sign - Edwards AFB, Plant 42 and Site 10; 1957 UFO sighting at Kirtland AFB, Paul Bennewitz, Richard Doty and Yucca Mountain
32:03 - Always Have, Always Will - Wright-Patterson AFB, Hangar 18 and T-2; Camp Hero, the Montauk Project, Lab 257 on Plum Island; COG sites - Mount Weather and TWA flight 514; Raven Rock and Site R
37:23 - Never Gonna Say I'm Sorry - Fort Detrick, USAMRIID, Building 470, Operation Whitecoat, Operation INFEKTION/Denver
42:34 - Don't Turn Around - Fort Hunt and P.O. Box 1142, Camp Peary and The Farm (Veritania)
46:03 - All That She Wants - The Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, Naval Air Station Jacksonville and Hangar 511
47:49 - Wheel of Fortune - James Casbolt's DUMBs
Music by Fanette Ronjat
More Info
EPISODE 31 | Scammers, Inc. - MJ-12, Bennewitz & Serpo
EPISODE 44 | The Philadelphia Experiment & the Montauk Project - Time Tunnel Vision
EPSIODE 85 | Project Pegasus - Mars and Beyond!
EPISODE 94 | Peek-A-Boo: Project Star Gate
THE UNITED STATES SPENDS MORE ON DEFENSE THAN THE NEXT 9 COUNTRIES COMBINED
The World's 30 Strangest Military Bases in Popular Mechanics
Listverse's 10 Not-So-Secret Classified Military Installations
No Trespassing: America’s Ultra-Secret Sites on Spyscape
10 Military Bases More Secret Than Area 51 on Serve
Most Interesting TOP SECRET US Military Facilities on Covert Cabal channel (video)
15 Most Secret Military Bases on Top Fives channel (video)
15 Most ADVANCED Military Bases on Top Fives channel (video)
Worlds Most Famous Secret Bases on Sideprojects channel (video)
13 secrets of NORAD and Cheyenne Mountain on Denver ABC 7
The Granite Mountain Records Vault - take the virtual tour
Military Mystery Solved: Two Guys Out-Googled Google for an Image of Secretive US Base on LiveScience
Tolicha Peak Electronic Combat Range at Otherhand.org
UFOs seen near Nellis Air Force Base which is home to aliens, conspiracy theorist claims
Revealed: How Area 51 Hid Secret Craft 
Alien Autopsy video 
Area 51 warning: Man shot dead for trying to enter military base
The Secret Facility "Hangar 18" Crashed UFOs in Ohio's Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (video)
Air Force Names Wright-Patterson’s Hangar 18 as Newest Software Factory
How the Death of 6,000 Sheep Spurred the American Debate on Chemical Weapons
National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC)
ALIEN WAR and The Horrors of Dulce Underground Base on The Why Files channel (video)
Long hidden, a Nazi-interrogation unit gets its due
Spy School Confidential: CIA Officers Spill Secrets About ‘the Farm’ on Spyscape
EX-CIA AGENT TELLS OF SIX-WEEK PEARY COURSE extract from the Richmond Times Dispatch, 1972
Operation Whitecoat on PBS Religion & Ethics Weekly
Article on Hangar 511 titled Hangar Life
James Casbolt MI6 -Buried Alive pdf
Underground Bases, Missing Children and Extra-Terrestrials 2006 testimony by James Casbolt
Agent Buried Alive - a whole bunch of Casbolt/Project Mannequin stuff 
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DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a 2022 Gold Quill Award, 2022 Gold MarCom Award, 2021 AVA Digital Award Gold, 2021 Silver Davey Award, 2020 Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists. 
PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER

Power Is Power: The Vulnerable Electrical Grid

EPISODE 113 | Power Is Power: The Vulnerable Electrical Grid
Guest: Chris Underwood, author of the The Cold Winter series
Our digital age needs electricity more than anything else. But what would happen is part of the power grid went down during one of the worst winter storms in history? That's the premise of Chris Underwood's thriller series The Cold Winter. The fact is that power grid is vulnerable, and a series of low-tech in recent years have highlighted some serious problems that have still not been addressed. 
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SECTIONS
02:35 -  A look at the first two novels, the inspiration and overall plot
09:10 - The third book, the history of the Ohio River, companies still use COBOL, Huey helicopters and LST-235
13:56 - Blackouts inspire the Pentagon to commission the report Brittle Power, it all costs money, attacks against the grid in the 70s and later - the Metcalf Sniper Attacks, Russian hacks by Grizzly Steppe, transformers made in China, Jason Woodring's Arkansas attacks, a neo-Nazi couple in Baltimore, human attacks increasing, power stations themselves need power
24:20 - Weaponizing extreme climate, HAARP, the Walking Dead with weather, people become extreme in extreme situations
27:47 - Four types of threats, false flags 
32:57 - We ship coal to China, cold fusion holdouts, education is the cure, the cavalry is not coming 
37:38 - Point Pleasant's Mothman Festival, The Creatures of Holden Beach, this is a different Chris Underwood, prepper conventions, the Dayton Air Show
Music by Fanette Ronjat
More Info
Chris Underwood website
The Cold Winter series by Chris Underwood
The Mist by Stephen King
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
How a butterfly's wing can bring down Goliath / Chaos theories calculate the vulnerability of megasystems
Blackouts cause N America chaos
Hacking The Electric Grid Is Damned Hard
Keeping the electric grid safe from attack
Sophisticated but low-tech power grid attack baffles authorities
U.S. Power Grid Vulnerable to Attack: Congressional Research Service
Attacks on power substations are growing. Why is the electric grid so hard to protect?
How the US power grid is a target for far-right groups
The story of Jason Woodring, the Arkansas power grid vandal
Southern Idaho Man Sentenced for Destruction of Energy Facility After Shooting at Idaho Power Hydroelectric Plants
Sniper attack on California power grid may have been 'an insider,' DHS says
Physical attacks on power grid surge to new peak
Extremists keep trying to trigger mass blackouts — and that’s not even the scariest part
What is going on with attacks on American power stations?
Brittle Power: Energy Strategy for National Security by Amory B. Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins
Electric Power Grid 'Inherently Vulnerable' to Terrorist Attacks
Girding the Grid in Security Management 
Scientists successfully replicate historic nuclear fusion breakthrough three times
A Bridge Too Far: The Mothman Visits Point Pleasant episode
Mothman Festival website
The Creatures of Holden Beach.....And the Murder they did NOT Commit! by Chris Underwood
Prepper Camp
The Dayton Air Show
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DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a 2022 Gold Quill Award, 2022 Gold MarCom Award, 2021 AVA Digital Award Gold, 2021 Silver Davey Award, 2020 Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists. 
PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER
 

GESARA & the Red Caesar

EPISODE 112 | GESARA & the Red Caesar
What do proposed economic reforms, the idea of a post-constitutional American dictator and Christian Nationalism have in common? Donald Trump, for starters - at least for some people. Scammers and grifters of all stripes find common ground with would-be authoritarians in a weird confluence of conspiracy narratives that hope to create and capitalize on chaos to further their own agendas.
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SECTIONS
02:00 - NESARA Nest Eggs - Harvey Francis Barnard drains the swamp, the Dove of Oneness swaps Judy "Zebra" Knight and Ramtha for the Omega Trust and becomes the first 9/11 "truther", various weirdos like Sheldan Nidle, Jennifer Lee, Sherry Shriner and channelers jump aboard and lay the groundwork for QAnon
10:26 - The GESARA that Lays the Golden Eggs - White Dragons, Alcuin Bramerton and other scammers promise an end to debt
13:39 - Solace in Quantum - The Quantum Financial System, Quantum AI, Comte St. Germain, lots of metals, the Alliance await Q Day
20:20 - Red Caesar - Kevin Slack hates modernism, loves the Roman Empire
23:54 - Caesarism - Tracing the term, the Claremont Institute is more dangerous than you suspect
27:56 - The Flight 93 Election - Alexander Michael Black likes Red Caesar, Michael Anton tortures a metaphor but finds a new career
33:36 - Haywood for Warlord - Shampoo king and "Maximum Leader" Charles Haywood founds the Society for American Civic Renewal, builds a compound and organizes private militias
38:14 - King of the Seven Mountains - Stephen Wolfe makes the case for Christian Nationalism, Lance Wallnau sells coins; Rafael Cruz, Paula White-Cain, Michele Bachman, Lauren Boebert and Mike Johnson scale the Seven Mountains
40:42 - A Clear and Present Danger - Trump's words vs his track record, a possible "revenge term", watch out for the sucker fish, Wisconsin tries to hobble Justice Janet Protasiewicz, North Carolina gives Gov-Ops sweeping powers, Ron DeSantis creates not one but two private militias 
47:45 - True Grift - The monetization of narrative and attention, Trump is all things to all grifters, the future might be just more chaos or it might be something worse
Music by Fanette Ronjat
More Info
Draining the Swamp: The NESARA Story by Harvey F. Barnard
Conspiracy Watch: The Best Law Ever in Mother Jones
Dove of Oneness/NESARA founder Shaini Goodwin page on Cult Education Institute website
The Nesara Cult and Qanon's Origins video on Behind the Bastards
Ramtha's School of Enlightenment website
QAnon Teams Up With Alleged Cult Leader on Daily Beast
Still waiting for NESARA?
Draining the Swamp: Monetary and Fiscal Policy Reform by Harvey F. Barnard
Galactic Human Activation Materials for sale 
Deepfake Quantum AI Investment Scam Pops Up on Facebook
Nesara: The financial fantasy ruining lives on BBC Sounds
Inside the QAnon Crypto Scam That Cost People Millions and One Man His Life
Project Leap: Quantum-proofing the financial system by the Bank for International Settlements
Project Leap pdf
NESARA and The Mark of The Beast by Dr. Scott Young
Scott Young's YouTube channel
The Quantum Financial System Manual of GESARA-NESARA & XRP 
GESARA/QFS map 
Quantum Financial System (QFS): Revolutionizing Finance or Conspiracy Theory? on CoinCodex YouTube
Prosperity at Risk: The Quantum Computer Threat to the US Financial System video from the Hudson Institute ( four white guys complaining)
Exposing the Quantum AI Investment Scam on Blossom Social YouTube
War on the American Republic: How Liberalism Became Despotism by Kevin Slack
The Claremont Institute
The Red Caesar Code: A guidebook for the installation of the American dictator by Alexander Michael Black
Calls for an American Julius Caesar are ignorant, dangerous on R Street
‘Red Caesarism’ is rightwing code – and some Republicans are listening in The Guardian
Red Caesarism threatens democracy and the rule of law in the Concord Monitor
The right's "Red Caesar" plan: GOP's new order marches onward — only voters can stop it on Salon
Red Caesar and the Next Regime on Rick Wilson's substack
The Flight 93 Election by Michael Anton ("Publius Decius Mus")
After the Flight 93 Election: The Vote that Saved America and What We Still Have to Lose by Michael Anton
Flight 93 and Our National Disease on Law & Liberty
How Michael Anton’s ‘Flight 93 Election’ Essay Defined the Trump Era in New York Magazine
Departing the Shining City from the Cato Institute
The Crash of the Flight 93 Presidency on Politico
The Stakes: America at the Point of No Return by Michael Anton
Charles Haywood's review of Anton's The Stakes
Up from Conservatism: Revitalizing the Right after a Generation of Decay by Arthur Milikh 
Society for American Civic Renewal (SACR) archived website
The Worthy House - Towards a Politics of Future Past website by Charles Haywood
US businessman is wannabe ‘warlord’ of secretive far-right men’s network in The Guardian
The Case for Christian Nationalism by Stephen Wolfe
The Rise of Right-Wing Wokeism (review of Wolfe's book)
Beware the 'Christian Prince' (another review of Wolfe's book)
Of Gods and Men: A Long Review of Wolfe’s Case for Christian Nationalism (a long review of Wolfe's book)
Televangelist’s show sells $45 Trump coin as ‘point of contact’ to God
Pastor Paula White calls on angels from Africa and South America to bring Trump victory
'The Lord says it is done': White House spiritual adviser Paula White prays for 'angels from Africa' to cement Trump's re-election
Tracing the rise of Christian nationalism, from Trump to the Ala. Supreme Court on NPR (audio)
How Evangelicals Lose Will Make All the Difference
Ali Velshi warns of the fringe Seven Mountains doctrine going Mainstream
The Radical GOP’s “Seven Mountains Mandate” on The Big Picture
Trump-O-Meter on PolitiFact
‘A revenge term’: what would another four years of Trump look like? from The Guardian
Trump Warns He Could ‘Certainly’ Indict Political Opponents if He’s Reelected
Ex-RNC Chair's Stark Warning on 'Threat' Posed by Donald Trump
Impeach Justice Janet Protasiewicz? Here’s what’s missing from debate
Wisconsin Republicans Walk Back Efforts to Impeach Newly Elected State Supreme Court Justice Protasiewicz
North Carolina Republicans create "secret police force"
NC lawmakers exempt themselves from public records laws while Democrats blast 'secret police' powers
Ron DeSantis plans Florida paramilitary force outside federal control
Governor Ron DeSantis Unveils the Florida State Guard  
The Dangers of DeSantis's Militia on the Southern Poverty Law Center 
America's most effective fascism enforcers are bored boomers, not youthful brawlers
My QAnon Date
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Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt
DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a 2022 Gold Quill Award, 2022 Gold MarCom Award, 2021 AVA Digital Award Gold, 2021 Silver Davey Award, 2020 Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists. 
PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER
 
 

Us vs. Them: Antisemitism Goes to School

EPISODE 111 | Us vs. Them: Antisemitism Goes to School
Guest: Scott Shay, president of Chai Mitzvah and author of Conspiracy U
Hamas forces swept into Israel on October 7, 2023, committing atrocities and taking hostages. Literally the next day, American student groups were blaming Israel. Protests on campuses began to multiply and today the situation seems out of control and pro-Israel and pro-Palestine groups go at one another while school administrations react heavy-handedly. What's behind all the shrill rhetoric?
Scott Shay's 2021 book Conspiracy U looked at antisemitic trends on American campuses, and saw an uptick in sales at the end of last year as some of the things he'd talked about seemed to be coming to the fore. He shares some of his thoughts as to what is going on today on American universities. 
Like what we do? Then buy us a beer or three via our page on Buy Me a Coffee. #ConspiracyClearinghouse #sharingiscaring #donations #support #buymeacoffee
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SECTIONS
02:57 - The Double Standard - There's no equality in otherization
15:29 - Totem and Taboo - Logos, ethos, and pathos, political intent in conspiracy theories
24:53 - Facts and Integrity - Digital and information literacy is lacking, the line between hate speech and threat
29:35 - Trends or Tactics - Weaponizing plagiarism, economic antisemitism, BDS started on the far right 
42:52 - Jewish Otherness - Anti-idolatry threatens god-king-pharaohs
Music by Fanette Ronjat
More Info
Chai Mitzvah 
Conspiracy U: A Case Study by Scott Shay
In Good Faith: Questioning Religion and Atheism by Scott Shay
Getting Our Groove Back: How to Energize American Jewry by Scott Shay
The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements by Eric Hoffer
A new wave of antisemitism threatens to rock an already unstable world on CNN
Defining Antisemitism of the US State Department website
What elite universities — and their critics — get wrong about campus antisemitism on Vox
Major events in Pro-Palestinian protests at US universities on Reuters
How pro-Palestinian protests unfolded on college campuses across the US: A timeline on ABC News
Echoes of Vietnam war protest — A timeline of America's Student Spring
Where are the US college campus protests and what is happening? in The Guardian
As Columbia University protests on Israel-Hamas war come to a head, what to know
Students protested for Palestine before Israel was even founded
Is Hate Speech Legal? on TheFire.org
Hate speech versus freedom of speech on the United Nations
Why We Must Reject Efforts to Restrict Constitutionally Protected Speech on College Campuses on ACLU.org
Pro-Palestinian campus protests are evolving. Here’s what to watch on PBS
Student Protests in America Now: Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze?
Why Palestinians can count on American students but not Arab allies to protest 
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DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a 2022 Gold Quill Award, 2022 Gold MarCom Award, 2021 AVA Digital Award Gold, 2021 Silver Davey Award, 2020 Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists. 
PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER

How to Be a Fascist

EPISODE 110 | How to Be a Fascist
People use the term "Fascist" a lot these days, but do they really know what that means? Fascism is a very specific combination of ideas and goals that occurred within very clear historical and philosophical contexts. 
This is a look at where Fascism came from, Mussolini's rise to power, and variations and offshoots of the first Fascist ideologies. And while not everyone you don't like is a "Fascist", there are some actual fascists out there, and they are not being all that quiet. 
Like what we do? Then buy us a beer or three via our page on Buy Me a Coffee. #ConspiracyClearinghouse #sharingiscaring #donations #support #buymeacoffee
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SECTIONS
02:33 - The Future Refusing to Be Born - General characteristics of Fascism
10:52 - The Measles of Mankind - Mussolini encounters the Völkisch Movement, Carlism, Integralism, Adapted Syndicalism, Sorelianism and Maurassism; rises high in the Revolutionary Socialist movement, is kicked out of the movement, starts the Fascists 
19:07 - How to Get There from Here - Fascism kicks off in 1919, the Fiume Republic of Gabriele D’Annunzio, the 1921 Fascist platform, disorder and fighting in Italy, Mussolini as PM in October 1922
25:33 - Mussolini makes changes 1923-1925, the Fascist takeover is completed Nov. 1925-Nov. 1926
30:21 - We Ain't There. Yet. - Hitler was inspired, as were Franco and Salazar; the US has never seen similar conditions
33:41 - A Smörgåsbord of BS - Corporatism, neo-Corporatism and Tripartism; Ultranationalism, Strasserism, Falangism
39:13 - Neo-Fascism, Neo-Nazism, Esoteric Nazism - Savitri Devi, Robert Charroux, Miguel Serrano and Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke
43:03 - Clerical Fascism, British Israelism, Christian Identity
46:01 - White Nationalism, White Separatism, Apartheid
47:21 - The British National Front, Third Position, diagonalism and the "cross-front", Black Nationalism, Hutu Power
50:47 - National-Anarchism
52:44 - To Infinity and Beyond! - Islamofascism, Saddam Hussein's spin on Ba'athism, Muammar al-Gaddafi used leftwing rhetoric for rightwing aims
53:58 - The current threat of Accelerationism
56:43 - Active Fascist political parties today, what we can do
Music by Fanette Ronjat
More Info
RationalWiki page on Fascism
Fascism definition on Britannica
Is This Fascism? on Slate
What is fascism? on LiveScience
Mussolini's 10 Pillars of Fascism
How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
The Anatomy of Fascism by Robert O. Paxton
Introducing Fascism: A Graphic Guide by Litza Jansz and Stuart Hood
GLEICHSCHALTUNG: COORDINATING THE NAZI STATE
Mussolini: A study in power by Ivone Kirkpatrick
Mussolini and Italian Fascism by Hamish MacDonald 
World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia edited by Cyprian Blamires
A History of Fascism, 1914–1945 by Stanley G. Payne
Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present by Ruth Ben-Ghiat
The Problem of Fascism in Everyday Life paper by G. V. Loewen
Ur-Fascism essay by Umberto Eco
Fascism: Past, Present, Future by Walter Laqueur
Fascism: A Warning by Madeleine Albright
The Problem With Using Fascist as a Political Insult
The overuse and abuse of ‘fascism’
Column: The use and misuse of the word ‘fascism’
On The Use And Abuse Of The Term “Fascism” To Describe Current Events
Fascism: Who is and isn't a fascist, and how you can tell the difference
It’s Time to Use the F-word: An Anti-fascist Approach to Trump and Franco
Is Donald Trump a Fascist?
On American Fascism: The Fascist Rhetoric of Donald Trump and The Right Wing-Media paper by Aaron Huff
How fascist is Donald Trump? -- a 2016 assessment revisited
Eco-fascism: justifications of terrorist violence in the Christchurch mosque shooting and the El Paso shooting
A CHORUS OF VIOLENCE: JACK DONOVAN AND THE ORGANIZING POWER OF MALE SUPREMACY
The Strange, Strange Story of the Gay Fascists
Fighting Fascism: How to Struggle and How to Win by Clara Zetkin 
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder
How Dictatorships Work: Power, Personalization, and Collapse by Barbara Geddes, Joseph Wright and Erica Frantz 
A Brief History of Fascist Lies by Federico Finchelstein 
Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism by Anne Applebaum
How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt 
Follow us on social:
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Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt
DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a 2022 Gold Quill Award, 2022 Gold MarCom Award, 2021 AVA Digital Award Gold, 2021 Silver Davey Award, 2020 Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists. 
PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER

What's in a Name? The Shakespeare Authorship Debate

EPISODE 109 | What's in a Name? The Shakespeare Authorship Debate
Guest: Scott Jackson, Mary Irene Ryan Executive Artistic Director of Shakespeare at the University of Notre Dame, current vice president of the Shakespeare Theatre Association (STA) and incoming president, actor, director and Shakespeare scholar 
William Shakespeare wrote at least 36 plays, 154 sonnets, two narrative poems and a few shorter poems - more than 884,000 words total, more than 1700 of which he invented. But just who was this guy? Was he really "the Man from Stratford", or merely a pen name for... well someone else?
We look at some of the more popular Anti-Stratfordian theories and also look at why some people seem hell bent on proving that someone else, anyone else, actually wrote all that stuff.
Like what we do? Then buy us a beer or three via our page on Buy Me a Coffee. #ConspiracyClearinghouse #sharingiscaring #donations #support #buymeacoffee
You can also SUBSCRIBE to this podcast.
Review us here or on IMDb!
SECTIONS
03:02 - Upstart Crow - No evidence of his education, the First Folio, not much biographical evidence, a common hand, Bardathon
12:28 - The Ireland Shakespeare Forgeries - Compiling the First Folio, Vortigern and Rowena gets most of a performance
19:13 - The Baconian Theory - Bardolotry, Hart's The Romance of Yachting, Robert W. Jameson's "Who Wrote Shakespeare?", James Wilmot makes a bonfire
24:19 - Delia Bacon goes for the Rutland Theory, then the Groupists Theory, then all in on Bacon, travels to England, gets into codes and ciphers, loses her mind, inspires the New Historicists and cultural poetics; William Henry Smith and Nathaniel Homes kick off the Baconist Theory
30:11 - Baconist Orville Ward Owen builds a machine to find "proof", the first Mock Trial (1892-93)
33:17 - The Derbyite Theory & the Marlovian Theory - Classism, partnership with Marlowe, death and pseudonyms 
39:57 - The Rutlandite Theory & More - More classism, Baconists still persist, more expeditions from Owen, schoolteacher Elizabeth Wells Gallup gets into codes, Stylometrics, the Claremont Shakespeare Authorship Clinic
44:31 - The Oxfordian Theory - John Thomas Looney fingers Edward de Vere based on spurious logic, lots jump on this bandwagon, geography in Shakespeare, "the coast of Bohemia", the media focuses on "reasonable doubt" over evidence, how plays were written back then, evidence gets lost in time
50:18 - A Single Hand - Though there is some reasonable doubt, Shakespeare probably wrote Shakespeare; Applied Shakespeare, humanity owns him, Shakespeare as a force for good (PTSD therapy, in prisons, etc.)
Music by Fanette Ronjat
More Info:
Shakespeare Was Shakespeare by Isaac Butler on Slate
Revisited Myth # 68: Shakespeare didn’t write Shakespeare on History Myths Debunked
The Shakespeare Index on TheatreHistory.org
20 words and phrases you didn’t know Shakespeare invented
Shakespeare's Words
Shakespeare's Phrases
Bard-a-thon at Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre
Ian McKellen performs Sir Thomas More, Act II, Scene 4 video
"The Strangers' Case" Speech from Sir Thomas More with various speakers and annotations
Professor Sir Stanley Wells
Peter Holland, McMeel Family Chair in Shakespeare Studies at University of Notre Dame
James Shapiro, playwright and Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University
Stephen Greenblatt, general editor of The Norton Shakespeare, John Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University
The Shakespeare First Folio
Vortigern and Rowena text
The Confessions of William-Henry Ireland on WikiSource
William Henry Ireland's Shakespeare Forgeries on Hoaxes.org
Bardolotry on Wikipedia
James Wilmot and Shakespeare's Authorship
Bacon Bacon Shakespeare Spy 
The Doctor Who Designed a Cipher Wheel to Decode Shakespeare
Theories of identity – the alleged Shakespeare mystery 
Marlowe as Shakespeare
The Controversy of Shakespeare and Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe Has Officially Been Credited as Co-Author of 3 Shakespeare Plays
Born with Teeth by Liz Duffy Adams webpage
Roger Manners, 5th Earl of Rutland on ShakespeareAuthorship.com
Shakespeare by the Numbers: What Stylometrics Can and Cannot Tell Us
The Claremont Shakespeare Clinic
Computer Reads Shakespeare, Dismisses Authorship Candidate
The Claremont Shakespeare Authorship Clinic: How Severe Are the Problems?
The Globe theatre fire of 1613: when Shakespeare’s playhouse burned down
The Great Fire of London
Finding Shakespeare - Skeptoid podcast
What Shakespeare can teach us about conspiracy theories today
How Shakespeare describes post-traumatic stress disorder
In Shakespeare, veterans find a “tower of strength”
Shakespeare and Possibility, Part 1: Shakespeare in Prisons video
Shakespeare in Prisons
Shakespeare Theater Association
Prague Shakespeare Company (Shakespeare Summer Intensive (SSI)
Follow us on social:
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Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt
DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a 2022 Gold Quill Award, 2022 Gold MarCom Award, 2021 AVA Digital Award Gold, 2021 Silver Davey Award, 2020 Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists. 
PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER

Swiftboating Redux: Taylor Swift Derangement Syndrome

EPISODE 108 | Swiftboating Redux: Taylor Swift Derangement Syndrome
She's the most successful pop star today, yet some people seem to suffer brain meltdowns when thinking about Taylor Swift. Call it TDSD, Taylor Swift Derangement Syndrome, and it takes hold especially in MAGAmaniacs, Trumpeteers, Trad Chads and broflakes. 
Tracing the conspirasphere's treatment of Swift along with her career and life, including Kanyegate and the Masters Dispute, shows some interesting connections as TDSD spreads far and wide, outpaced only by her own wildly popular musical output.
THIS EPISODE MARKS THE BEGINNING OUR 5TH YEAR. THANKS FOR ALL THE SUPPORT! 
Like what we do? Then buy us a beer or three via our page on Buy Me a Coffee. #ConspiracyClearinghouse #sharingiscaring #donations #support #buymeacoffee
You can also SUBSCRIBE to this podcast.
Review us here or on IMDb!
SECTIONS
02:53 - Fearless - Beginning successes with Big Machine, first conspiracy theories
07:48 - Kanyegate - The 2009 MTV VMA Awards echoes through the years
11:47 - Speak Now - Swift as Satanic priestess, the reincarnation of Zeena Schreck (Lavay), or a clone; No, it's Becky
15:28 - Red - Kanye West pipes up again, moves to NYC, starts advocating for artists' rights
17:02 - 1989 - The Gaylor Theory and Taylor Swift Is Gay, the Squad, no belly button, goes after Spotify and Apple Music
21:25 - Bad Blood - Kanye West sends flowers, then makes a phone call about "Famous", Swifties and Squaddies respond, Swift supports young women, West freaks out backstage at SNL, Kim Kardashian tells fibs, the video for "Famous" keeps the flames fanned, Kim releases a short video of the phone call and promotes #KimExposedTaylorParty, "I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative", battle lines were drawn, snake memes proliferate, friendships are broken, they're all part of the Illuminati
29:47 - Out of the Woods - Harry Styles and Taylor Swift killed someone in 2012, David Mueller lawsuit, the $1, #MeToo kicks off, Time's "Silence Breakers"
33:08 - Reputation - Swift died, gave birth to a snake baby, is a clone (again), Scooter Braun and Swift's masters dispute, Swift threatens to re-record her first six albums, Big Machine tries to shackle Swift, "Karyn" the inflatable snake, MAGA takes notice of Swift, Qtips think Monte Lipman is Jeffrey Epstein
38:52 - You Need to Calm Down - Lover comes out, Covid-19 lockdown starts, the entire West-Swift call video is leaked, Swift takes the high road, the West flap has flashbacks and echoes, Swift hates the Statue of Liberty, some Squaddies defect, Swift gets down hard and retreats to London, watches movies with Joe Alwyn
42:30 - Folklore Evermore - folklore is the ultimate lockdown album, "cardigan" sells sweaters, Swifties tank Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008, Scooter Braun stops his feet but then sells to Disney's Shamrock Holdings, evermore comes out in just five months
45:19 - Taylor's Version - Swift re-records and expands earlier work, reminds one of the Prince-Warner dispute, Braun makes a lot more money, the Carlyle Group tells Braun to make nice but he goes the other way, piss off the Swifties and find out, reminds one of Madonna and Brittany Spears, the attention economy is a new thing, Swift is too left wing for the alt-righties
50:48 - In the Midnight Era - Midnights and the Eras Tour, Swift gives back to her truck drivers, more Taylor's Versions, starts seeing Travis Kelce, Swifties register to vote, MAGA is worried Swift will endorse Biden, a slew of conspiracy theories (ice cream, human skin hat, CIA psy-ops agent, mind control master, AI-porn on Twitter, Trump says he's more popular than Swift, Trumpeteers declare a holy war on Swift, Kelce is gay), much nonsense about the Super Bowl, Trump wades in again, she's a golddigger and also super gross
58:14 - Scientific American looks into TSDS, The Tortured Poets Department is nigh
Music by Fanette Ronjat
Lapsus Linguae - At 10:15, I accidentally call the album Fearless "Fear", forgetting the "less". I also mistakenly call the song "You Belong With Me" You Belong to Me. 
More Info:
Donate to the World Health Organization
Feeding America website
Taylor Swift website
Taylor Swift on Facebook
Taylor Swift on Instagram
Taylor Swift on YouTube
Reasons why I love Taylor Swift by springapple
r/TaylorSwift
Swifties on Wikipedia
Swifties on Taylor Swift fandom wiki
Taylor Swift and the Swifties: A Love Story Forged in Song
Why Taylor Swift's Fans Love Her So Much in Psychology Today
Understanding Swifties’ mindsets using the Taylor/Travis love story
14 Outrageous-But-Accurate Taylor Swift Theories That Prove Swifties Are The Best Detectives
Taylor Swift’s boyfriends: A timeline of all the megastar’s famous exes
Taylor Swift Is Incredibly Good At Being A Celebrity
A Timeline of Taylor Swift’s Generosity
Let’s go down the rabbit hole of Taylor Swift conspiracy theories
Style Theory: The Cult of Taylor Swift video
The 15 Wildest Conspiracy Theories About Taylor Swift
The Taylor Swift iceberg video
The wildest Taylor Swift conspiracy theories, from Biden 2024 to a cat spy comedy
Snopes articles about Taylor Swift
The Taylor Swift Conspiracy Theory Iceberg video
Taylor Swift Conspiracy Theories Hold Sway With 1 in 5 Americans
I'm losing my friends to Taylor Swift conspiracies :(
Decoding Taylor Swift Conspiracies and Outrage on The Center for Inquiry
Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and a wild internet theory about a snow mobile
Taylor Swift Has A Japanese Doppelganger Who Starred In A McDonald’s Ad
Does an Image Show Taylor Swift Hawking an Electric Burner?
Numbers You Didn't Know You Needed: All the Times Taylor Swift Has Carried an Empty Purse
Taylor Swift Had An Incredible Response To A Tumblr Meme About Herself
18 Taylor Swift Memes You'll Only Find In Your 'Wildest Dreams
Taylor Swift deepfakes could be the tip of an AI-generated iceberg
Tweet uses a ham sandwich as 'evidence' that Taylor Swift is a slut in USA Today
Let’s call the abuse of Taylor Swift what it really is – a hate crime against women in The Independent
The Squad on Swiftpedia
A Complete History of Taylor Swift's Squad
Is Taylor Swift gay? The Dianna Agron and Karlie Kloss relationship rumors, explained
r/Gaylor_Swift
I Cracked the Code on Galyor_Swift
Taylor Swift is Gay on Tumblr
Is Taylor Swift gay? | Deep Dive video
Taylor Swift DOESN'T want you to THINK she's GAY video
Taylor Swift puts decades-long romance rumour to rest with single missive
“Haters Gonna Hate, Hate . . . .” Can Taylor Swift “Shake it Off”?
HOW THE EXTREMIST RIGHT HIJACKED ‘STAR WARS,’ TAYLOR SWIFT AND THE MIZZOU STUDENT PROTESTS TO PROMOTE RACISM
Taylor Swift has angered many people with her 'You Need To Calm Down' release. Here's why
The 10 Most Convincing Theories About Taylor Swift’s Album Reputation
Taylor Swift Has Written an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal
Taylor Swift Pens Open Letter Explaining Why ‘1989’ Won’t Be on Apple Music
Apple Changes Course After Taylor Swift Open Letter: Will Pay Labels During Free Trial
Taylor Swift won her day in court. Here's what you need to know.
Top 10 References You Missed in Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do" video
A Complete Timeline of Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun’s Feud
Taylor Swift Explains Why She's Re-Recording Her Albums on Seth Meyers video
How Taylor Swift Outsmarted Her Record Label video
Taylor Swift and Kanye West's 'Famous' Phone Call Video Leaks Online — Read the Transcript
A Complete Timeline of Taylor Swift and Kanye West's Feud
Swift an ‘Aryan goddess' to alt-right
This is why you hate Taylor Swift - thoughts on women who have an ego
Taylor Swift Admits She Was ‘Lonely’ While Writing Her ‘Folklore’ Album During the Pandemic
All the records Taylor Swift has broken in 2023
MAGA movement targets Taylor Swift with pitiful conspiracy theories
From nightmare ticketing to online abuse, being a pop fan is becoming miserable
Haters gonna hate: Pentagon pushes back against Fox News conspiracy theory involving Taylor Swift
A Timeline of Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce’s Relationship
The right is coming for Taylor Swift. They don't stand a chance
Conservatives have picked the wrong enemy with attacks on Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift fans sent me death threats, doxxed my family, and accused me of being a pedophile after I criticized her Eras Tour
Taylor Swift’s ‘Time’ Cover Is Breaking Far-Right Brains
Sean Hannity Has Surprising Take On Taylor Swift Criticism
Republicans Are Once Again Being Very Weird About Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift Has Broken Conservatives’ Brains
Why Taylor Swift Is Making Conservatives Crazy
The meaning of the hysteria over Taylor Swift
Secrecy and Taylor Swift: What Conspiracy Theories Reveal About Our Growing Distrust of Institutions
GOP invents Taylor Swift conspiracy theory instead of facing reality about unpopular policies on MSNBC video
Trump reportedly said he's "more popular" than Taylor Swift, worrying about her endorsing Biden
Trump Allies Pledge ‘Holy War’ Against Taylor Swift
Study: Taylor Swift, social media conspiracy theories suggest record Super Bowl ratings
Trump makes a plea for Taylor Swift's loyalty in pre-Super Bowl post to Truth Social
GOP extremists whine about Taylor Swift after Chiefs' AFC championship win
Untangling 13 Taylor Swift Midnights Theories: Real or Our Wildest Dreams?
All the times number 13 was relevant in Super Bowl 58: A Taylor Swift conspiracy theory
Taylor Swift has encouraged her fans' numerology habit yet again
A Comprehensive Breakdown of Taylor Swift's Easter Eggs video
Taylor Swift's music video symbolism video
How the internet built a conspiracy theory around a new spy flick, a debut novel, and Taylor Swift
When Nerds Attack - Gamergate, Elevatorgate & Sad Puppies (ep. 40)
44 for 44 - The Obama Conspiracies (Thanks, Obama!) (ep. 05)
Follow us on social:
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Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt
DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a 2022 Gold Quill Award, 2022 Gold MarCom Award, 2021 AVA Digital Award Gold, 2021 Silver Davey Award, 2020 Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists. 
PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER
 

Traces of Reality: Abstract Art and the CIA (WIW 13)

EPISODE 107 | Traces of Reality: Abstract Art and the CIA (World Is Weird 13)
Guest: Mandy Theis, founder and director of the School of Atelier Arts, academic director and professor at the Florence Academy of Art
Maybe you've walked into a museum or gallery and seen a big white, blank canvas, or a huge circle, and thought, "So, this is art, eh?". But why is there so much of this abstract stuff around? The answer might be surprising - because the CIA promoted it as part of the Cold War.
And then it rather got away from them. Today, the art market is the most unregulated in the world, and aesthetics and skill take a back seat to branding. 
Like what we do? Then buy us a beer or three via our page on Buy Me a Coffee. #ConspiracyClearinghouse #sharingiscaring #donations #support #buymeacoffee
You can also SUBSCRIBE to this podcast.
Review us here or on IMDb!
SECTIONS
02:31 - Atelier training, the CIA begins, the cultural Cold War was run by elitists, Julia Child, Realism gets rebranded as Communist, the Springville Museum of Art in Utah, cadmium red as protest, dry brushing technique, techniques follow money, skill list art, technical skills are being lost
12:30 - Social Realism, Czech Functionalism and German Bauhaus, Cubist architecture, art is always in motion, Russians tweaked French Realism, Abstract art eclipses realism, a war of aesthetics and marketing, the French discount the Americans, America pushes Abstract Expressionism, Marshall Plan money becomes a black bag, the Congress of Cultural Freedom, Clement Greenberg, Art criticism as marketing
23:18 - the NCL (Non-Communist Left), Jackson Pollack was a CIA tool, American racial attitudes work against them
28:24 - Abstract Expressionism promoted as ultimate American style because it has no inherent meaning, it's safe; Picasso had atelier training, Truman hated abstract art ("ham and egg men"), George Dondero goes nuts about abstract art on the House floor, Realism is not retrograde, we are losing the artistic skills to make beautiful things
36:06 - the CIA's efforts were very successful, the modern art market is the most unregulated in the world, technique gets separated from art so it all becomes about money, everything is branded,  Warhol critiques all this, fine art feels remote from most of us, the art world is a closed circuit, Thomas Kinkade was successful because at least his work meant something to some people, scribbles are scribbles but branding makes them art
47:51 - Don't know if it's art, but I like it; Realism is still villainized 
Music by Fanette Ronjat
More Info: 
The School of Atelier Arts website
Bodyguard of Lies: The Ghost Army & Wartime Deception (World Is Weird 11)
The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters by Frances Stonor Saunders
Springville Museum of Art -  largest public collection of 20th century Russian and Soviet art in the western United States
15 things to know about Norman Rockwell
Why Norman Rockwell Matters
Ralph McQuarrie: Star Wars' Concept Artist
A Visit to the CIA’s “Secret” Abstract Art Collection
Was Modern Art Really a CIA Psy-Op?
Class 8. The CIA and the Cultural Cold War
Origins of the Congress of Cultural Freedom, 1949-50 Cultural Cold War on CIA.gov
WHEN FREEDOM TOOK THE OFFENSIVE: The Congress for Cultural Freedom and the Power of Ideas
Congress for Cultural Freedom on Spartacus Educational 
Cold Warrior: The Clement Greenberg Phenomenon
CIA Weaponizing Abstract Art and Its Fallout
The use of American art in the Cold War
How MoMA and the CIA Conspired to Use Unwitting Artists to Promote American Propaganda During the Cold War
Ford Foundation - Funding transatlantic exchange between the arts and politics
The Ford Foundation and the CIA: A documented case of philanthropic collaborationwith the Secret Police
Modern art was CIA 'weapon'
How the CIA Secretly Used Jackson Pollock & Other Abstract Expressionists to Fight the Cold War
Was modern art a weapon of the CIA?
Jackson Pollock & the CIA on The Conspiracy of Art website
Why did the CIA sponsor Jackson Pollock?
Pollock is Bollocks
Pollock: genius or charlatan?
Jackson Pollock: Separating Man from Myth
Viewpoint: Why racism in US is worse than in Europe - BBC Viewpoint
“They treated us royally”? Black Americans in Britain during WW2
Why abstract art is not valid
Abstract Art Is Not Art and Definitely Not Abstract
The Tyranny of Abstract Art in The Atlantic
Communist conspiracy in art threatens American museums, Congressional Record, March, 17, 1952
Anticommunism and Modern Art - selection from the George Dondero Papers
THE SUPPRESSION OF ART IN THE MCCARTHY DECADE
The Shame of the Mural Censors — Why Art and History Matter
Between Avant-Garde and Kitsch: Deconstructing Art And/As Ideology on Project MUSE
Modern American Art and the Politics of Cultural Diplomacy
Abstract Expressionism and the Cold War
'The art trade is the last major unregulated market'
A Fascinating, Sexy, Intellectually Compelling, Unregulated Global Market. - Freakonomics ep. 484
The Art Market: Unregulated Unscrupulous And Worth Billions
High-end art is one of the most manipulated markets in the world
THE ART MARKET: AFFLUENCE AND DEGRADATION on Art Forum
Billion Dollar Painter: The Triumph and Tragedy of Thomas Kinkade, Painter of Light book
Thomas Kinkade: A Success - 60 Minutes
Thomas Kinkade: The Painter Art Critics Hated but America Loved
Much to the Chagrin of the Art Establishment, the Numbers Indicate that Thomas Kinkade Is the Most Successful and Relevant Artist in Human History
Thomas Kinkade Was the World's Biggest Selling Painter. Art for Everybody Asks Why
Follow us on social:
Facebook
Twitter
Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt
DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a 2022 Gold Quill Award, 2022 Gold MarCom Award, 2021 AVA Digital Award Gold, 2021 Silver Davey Award, 2020 Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists. 
PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER