QAA Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The Joker Bombs Brazil feat Andrew Fishman & Caio Almendra (E304) Dec 06, 2024

Show notes

A failed bombing by a profoundly redpilled man dressed as the Joker, a world-cup-themed assassination plot, fallout from an attempted coup, the indictment of the former President… Brazil is full of stories these days. Head of the Intercept Brasil Andrew Fishman is our guest along with editor and repeat guest Caio Almendra. Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: https://patreon.com/qaa Intercept Brasil: https://www.intercept.com.br/ Andrew Fishman: https://x.com/AndrewDFish Caio Almendra: https://x.com/CaioAlmendra Editing by Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (https://instagram.com/theyylivve / https://sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (https://pedrocorrea.com) https://qaapodcast.com QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.

Pokémon Go To Langley (Premium E269) Sample Dec 01, 2024

Show notes

Pokémon Go is more than a worldwide craze that inspired millions to hunt Zigzagoons through smartphone-enabled alternate reality. According to intelligence officials in several countries, it’s also an information security threat. Since the game’s release by game developer Niantic in 2016, people have pondered the potential uses of the data that’s collected by aspiring PokéMasters as they meander outside and scan virtual PokéStops. Travis, Jake, Julian, and Liv dive into why a children’s game about collecting fighting pets has inspired such paranoia. Including how Niantic’s startup ancestor Keyhole, Inc. was saved from bankruptcy by the CIA, how Niantic’s former parent company Google committed one of the worst data privacy violations in history through the “Wi-Spy” scandal, and Niantic’s recent announcement that Pokemon Go data is being used to produce an artificial intelligence system they call a Large Geospatial Model (LGM). Gotta Catch ‘Em All! And by “Em All” we mean “massive amounts of data from everyone’s smartphones for undisclosed purposes.” Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/qaa Editing by Julian Feeld. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (https://instagram.com/theyylivve / https://sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (https://pedrocorrea.com) https://qaapodcast.com QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast. REFERENCES Consumer Watchdog. Lost In The Cloud: Google And the US Government https://insidegoogle.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/GOOGGovfinal012411.pdf Gawker. Pokemon Go Is A Government Surveillance Psyop Conspiracy https://web.archive.org/web/20160712023458/http://blackbag.gawker.com/pokemon-go-is-a-government-surveillance-psyop-conspirac-1783461240 Pando. Oakland emails give another glimpse into the Google-Military-Surveillance Complex https://web.archive.org/web/20150819032041/https://pando.com/2014/03/07/the-google-military-surveillance-complex/ Financial Times. Lunch with the FT: Pokémon Go creator John Hanke https://www-ft-com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/content/596ec790-afe8-11e6-9c37-5787335499a0 Dalton, Craig M. "Sovereigns, spooks, and hackers: An early history of Google geo services and map mashups." Cartographica: The International Journal for Geographic Information and Geovisualization 48.4 (2013): 261-274. Kilday, Bill. Never lost again: The Google mapping revolution that sparked new industries and augmented our reality. Harper Business, 2018. Wes’s Blog. My Personal Journey On Google Earth https://westhierry.blogspot.com/2008/07/my-personal-journey-on-google-earth.html Intercept. Privacy Scandal Haunts Pokemon Go CEO https://theintercept.com/2016/08/09/privacy-scandal-haunts-pokemon-gos-ceo/ CJR. Poor coverage of Google’s Street View scandal settlement https://www.cjr.org/the_audit/misleading_coverage_of_street.php RFI. Pokemon Go to jail - Frenchman nabbed hunting Pokemon on Indonesian military base. https://www.rfi.fr/en/asia-pacific/20160719-pokemon-go-jail-frenchman-nabbed-hunting-pokemon-indonesian-military-base CIA Office of Security. Are you At An Agency Facility? Pokemon NO! https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/are%20you%20at%20an%20agency%20faci%5B15210727%5D.pdf Foreign Policy. The Great Pokemon Go Spy Panic. https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/11/29/pokemongo-cia-nsa-intelligence-spying/ Niantic Labs. Building a Large Geospatial Model to Achieve Spatial Intelligence https://nianticlabs.com/news/largegeospatialmodel

Wild Faith feat. Talia Lavin (E303) Nov 27, 2024

Show notes

The election of Donald Trump means that the Christian right expects to have even more political influence than they did before. That might be bad news for those of us who don’t believe worldly events are merely the byproducts of a transcendent spiritual battle of good vs. evil. To better understand the philosophy and goals of American theocrats, Travis and Jake spoke to Talia Lavin, author of Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America. We explore her research into how rightwing evangelical Christians have worked to become a powerful constituency over past five decades, the modern-day prophets and apostles who drive the movement, the Christian Patriarchy movement which justifies the subjugation of women and the abuse of children, and why extremist Christians so easily became online conspiracy theorists. It’s challenging subject matter which is made more palatable by Talia’s deep knowledge and Jake making an overextended metaphor about eating moldy bagels. Talia Lavin on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/swordsjew.bsky.social Wild Faith: How The Christian Right Is Taking Over America by Talia Lavin https://bookshop.org/p/books/wild-faith-how-the-christian-right-is-taking-over-america-talia-lavin/21057649 Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: www.patreon.com/QAA Editing by Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe, Nick Sena, Jake Rockatansky. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (https://instagram.com/theyylivve / https://sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (https://pedrocorrea.com) https://qaapodcast.com QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.

Rise of the Ancap President in Argentina feat Caio Almendra (Premium E268) Sample Nov 24, 2024

Show notes

Being told to run for president by his dead dog. Cosplaying as a superhero called “General Ancap”. Beating up a piñata of Argentina’s central bank on television. Sleeping in a bed with his sister and their dogs. Javier Milei is Donald Trump’s “favorite president” of Argentina and has a lifestyle verging on parody. He’s also been screwing up the country in short order. Our guest writer is Caio Almendra, editor at The Intercept Brasil. Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/qaa Caio Almendra: https://x.com/CaioAlmendra / https://www.intercept.com.br Editing by Corey Klotz. Copy Editing by Whitney Mower. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Jake Rockatansky. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (https://instagram.com/theyylivve / https://sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (https://pedrocorrea.com) https://qaapodcast.com QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.

Springtime for QAnon (E302) Nov 22, 2024

Show notes

Cursed McDonald’s humiliation rituals, secret messages sent through a filet-o-fish, Elon posting a QAnon News Network meme, UFO disclosure in congress, and Tucker Carlson being attacked by a demon in his sleep. Sit down and eat, children. Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/qaa Editing by Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe, Nick Sena, Jake Rockatansky. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (https://instagram.com/theyylivve / https://sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (https://pedrocorrea.com) https://qaapodcast.com QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.

The LOST Experience (Premium E267) Sample Nov 16, 2024

Show notes

“I tried to think of the most harmless thing. Something I loved from my childhood. Something that could never ever possibly destroy us: LOST.” And I was wrong. This week, Jake strands the co-hosts and listeners on a small, dangerous island, and dissects the ‘LOST’ alternate reality game from 2006. In an effort to steer the show away from politics and conspiracy theories in these trying times, Jake has inadvertently uncovered the inconvenient truth that TV shows and their advertisers may have primed us for Qanon. Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: www.patreon.com/QAA Liv’s newsletter: https://www.livagar.com/ Editing by Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Jake Rockatansky. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (https://instagram.com/theyylivve / https://sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (https://pedrocorrea.com) https://qaapodcast.com QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.

Post Traumatic Election Disorder (E301) Nov 14, 2024

Show notes

The election has come and gone. Liv, Jake, Travis and Julian talk about conspiracism among online Republicans and Democrats in the wake of Trump’s victory. We also talk a bit about Kash Patel, who guested on QAnon podcasts before becoming the future Director of the FBI. Plus Jake brings us a sequel to his story: Letter from the Meme War. Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: www.patreon.com/QAA Editing by Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe, Nick Sena, Jake Rockatansky. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (https://instagram.com/theyylivve / https://sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (https://pedrocorrea.com) https://qaapodcast.com QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.

UK Catch-up: Princesses and Pogroms (Premium E258) Sample Nov 08, 2024

Show notes

You’ve heard more than your fill about terrible news in America. So you should take a break by hearing some terrible news from a nation more experienced in empire death. UK Correspondent Annie Kelly returns from maternity leave to explain the most significant recent outbreaks of British brainworms. First we meet the online community of obsessive “Royal Watchers,” which spawned conspiracy theories to explain the mysterious but brief absence of Princess Kate Middleton from public life. Then to reaffirm our commitment to brutal tonal shifts, Annie tells of Twitter-amplified misinformation about a teenage triple murder suspect which helped to fuel race riots. It’s an awful tale, but also usefully illustrative of how Elon Musk likes to moderate his social media platform. Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: http://www.patreon.com/QAA Annie Kelly on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/annieknk.bsky.social Editing by Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (https://instagram.com/theyylivve / https://sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (https://pedrocorrea.com) https://qaapodcast.com QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.

Madison Square Garbage (E300) Nov 02, 2024

Show notes

To celebrate 300 regular episodes we have brought on a special guest: Julian Feeld. And what a beefy episode number 300 is. First we cover Trump’s lively Madison Square Garden rally and a conspiracy theory that sprang up in the wake of stand up comedian Kill Tony’s appearance there. Plus, the return of the “Panda Eyes” conspiracy theory at a Trump event. If you don’t know what “Panda Eyes" are, then just assume the worst before listening to the episode. Then we dive into the bizarre claims among some liberal posters who believe the first Trump assassination attempt was “staged.” There’s a new twist, with new lore, and the plot has thickened. Get ready for quality ear analysis. Finally we go through the ways the US election is being besieged by efforts to skew the vote and apply some well honed election denial tactics, including an app by an organization you might remember from the last cycle: True The Vote. It’s a window into alternate realities and a preview of the kind of paranoid delusions that will become popular as America struggles through the first presidential post-election cycle since January 6th. Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: www.patreon.com/QAA Editing by Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (https://instagram.com/theyylivve / https://sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (https://pedrocorrea.com) https://qaapodcast.com QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.

The Hunt For The Richest Anon (Premium E265) Sample Oct 31, 2024

Show notes

Someone invented internet money, and we want to find out who they are. We’re not mad, we just want to talk. For a decade and a half, the true identity of “Satoshi Nakamoto,” the author of the Bitcoin whitepaper, has been a closely guarded secret. Several major publications have tried to uncover crypto’s founding father, including New Yorker, Vice, Newsweek, New York Times, and Wired. But definitive answers are elusive, despite the fact that Satoshi possibly controls over a million bitcoin worth tens of billions of dollars. In the HBO Documentary “Money Electric: A Bitcoin Mystery” director Cullen Hoback makes an original case that the person behind Satoshi isn’t any of the usual suspects. Hoback, who also directed the docuseries “Q: Into the Storm,” believes that Satoshi is the Canadian Bitcoin core developer Peter Todd, who was 23 years old at the time of the whitepaper’s publication. Peter Todd, in the film itself and after the film’s release, denies that he is Satoshi. We chat with Cullen about what inspired him to take on this project, why it even matters who Satoshi is, the evidence that convinced Cullen that he’s “very close to the answer,” and the internet mysteries he plans to tackle in future documentaries. Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: www.patreon.com/QAA Cullen Hoback https://x.com/cullenhoback Editing by Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (https://instagram.com/theyylivve / https://sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (https://pedrocorrea.com) https://qaapodcast.com QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected