The Storm Is Upon Us by Mike Rothschild BLOG TOUR @rothschildmd @Octopus_Books @RandomTTours #StormIsUponUs #RandomThingsTours

 

In 2017, President Trump made a cryptic remark at a gathering of military officials, describing it as 'the calm before the storm' - then refused to explain himself to puzzled journalists. But on internet message boards, a mysterious poster called 'Q Clearance Patriot' began an elaboration all of their own.

Q's wild yarn hinted at a vast conspiracy that satisfied the deepest desires of MAGA-America. None of Q's predictions came to pass. But did that stop people from clinging to every word, expanding Q's mythology, and promoting it ever more widely? No.

Conspiracy culture expert Mike Rothschild is uniquely equipped to explain QAnon, from the cults that first fed into it, to its embrace by Trump and the right-wing media. With families torn apart and with the Capitol under attack, he argues that mocking the madness of QAnon will get us nowhere. Instead, he argues that QAnon tells us everything we need to know about global fear after Trump-and that we need to understand it now, because it's not going away.

The Storm Is Upon Us : How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything by Mike Rothschild was published on 22 June 2021 by Monoray / Octopus. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review for this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour 

Probably one of the most eye-opening, frightening and incredibly fascinating books that I've read in a long time. I've always had a fascination with conspiracy theories and also with cults. I'm really interested in how the people behind these movements are able to recruit intelligent, stable people and how they are able to influence the beliefs and decisions taken by so many. 

Over the years, I've looked at many theories about some of the most famous and infamous happenings in our world. There seems to be a theory trying to disprove everything; from whether the world is actually circular, to the Twin Tower 911 attacks. It's been fascinating, and I can truly understand how some people can believe what appear to be credible arguments, and evidence to disprove what the world has been told. 

The QAnon movement does not concentrate on just one thing though, and the way that they create links to things and tell their followers the 'truth' behind quite innocent Tweets and online articles is fascinating. We could just disregard them as crazies, but these people are dangerous, and wide reaching. 

During the COVID pandemic, I've seen comments from people who I'd guess haven't even heard of QAnon, and don't know anything about them, yet they quote things that were first stated in Q Drops, online. Quoting things that they believe because they saw someone else quote them, and someone else. This is how this works, and it's terrifying. 

I will be reading this again, most certainly going back to certain chapters when I spot yet another post in a discussion that I think is connected. 

Mike Rothschild is a journalist, author, and the foremost expert in this ever-changing QAnon conspiracy theory. 

He is a contributing writer for the Daily Dot, where he explores the intersections between internet culture and politics through the lens of conspiracy theories. 

As a subject matter expert in the field of fringe beliefs, Mike has been interviewed by the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN and Yahoo - among many others. 

He is also a frequent speaker, and podcast and radio guest on the topic of conspiracy theories, including NPR’s weekly show “On the Media” and a Vice documentary. 

Rothschild has been studying the QAnon phenomenon since early 2018, and was one of the first journalists not only to reveal its connections to past conspiracy theories and scams, but also to openly address its danger to the American public—and beyond.

Twitter @rothschildmd