Special: Conspiracy Theories and Cults part 2

This is the second part of our discussion with our good friend Bence Szlamka about the murky grey area between cults and conspiracy theories. Those of you on our Discord server will know Bence as TRNSHMN, one of our moderators. While Bence is clear that he is not a scholar, he has spent a great deal of time studying conspiracy theories. Our last episode largely focused on QAnon, which dominates the modern conspiracy landscape. In this instalment, Scott talks to Bence about some of the weirder aspects of modern conspiracies, including, mole children, flat Earth adherents, and the role of Jesus in network security. While we try to keep the tone relatively light, some of these conspiracy theories involve unpleasant ideas. QAnon, especially, embraces various beliefs about the abuse, trafficking and sacrifice of children. We avoid going into too much detail, but be warned that we at least touch upon these subjects. In the end, however, this is an RPG podcast, and our focus is to find inspiration for our games. We will be back next week with a regular episode: the second part of our journey into the weird west. Links Things we mention in this episode include: * Anti-vaccination movement * Alex Jones * Save the Children Rallies * Thimerosal * Mole children under Central Park * Adrenochrome * Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson * “The Rats in the Walls” by HP Lovecraft * Praying Medic * John F Kennedy Jr conspiracy theories * The murder of New York mob boss Franceso Cali * Other violent crimes committed by QAnon followers * Marjorie Taylor Greene * The Omega Kingdom Ministry