The Storm is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything
- Downloads：1218
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-07-03 07:51:12
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Mike Rothschild
- ISBN：1612199291
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
This is the real story of QAnon—what it is， what it means， and where it goes。 And be warned—none of it is pretty。
On October 5th， 2017， President Trump made a cryptic extemporaneous remark in the State Dining Room。 He called this gathering of top-ranking military officials， "the calm before the storm，" and refused to elaborate as journalist and politicos inquired further。 But on the infamous message boards of 4chan， elaboration began all on its own。
In the days that followed， an anonymous poster spun a yarn inspired by Trump's remarks that rivalled Tom Clancy and satisfied the deepest desires of MAGA-America。 Did any of it come to pass？ No。 Did that stop people from clinging to every word they were reading， expanding its mythology and promoting the theory for years？ No。
How did this happen， who are these followers， and how do adherents reconcile their worldview with the America they see around them？ Mike Rothschild， a journalist specializing in conspiracy theories， explains all--taking readers from the earliest posts on 4Chan to its embrace by right-wing media， and the game that Donald Trump has played with its followers。
As rabid adherents to the theory show no sign of calming—with Baby Boomers especially susceptible to its messaging—families are being torn apart and politicians are starting to openly espouse the ideology in their campaigns。 It's time to figure out what QAnon is， because QAnon explains everything you need to know about American politics and global fear after Trump。
On October 5th， 2017， President Trump made a cryptic extemporaneous remark in the State Dining Room。 He called this gathering of top-ranking military officials， "the calm before the storm，" and refused to elaborate as journalist and politicos inquired further。 But on the infamous message boards of 4chan， elaboration began all on its own。
In the days that followed， an anonymous poster spun a yarn inspired by Trump's remarks that rivalled Tom Clancy and satisfied the deepest desires of MAGA-America。 Did any of it come to pass？ No。 Did that stop people from clinging to every word they were reading， expanding its mythology and promoting the theory for years？ No。
How did this happen， who are these followers， and how do adherents reconcile their worldview with the America they see around them？ Mike Rothschild， a journalist specializing in conspiracy theories， explains all--taking readers from the earliest posts on 4Chan to its embrace by right-wing media， and the game that Donald Trump has played with its followers。
As rabid adherents to the theory show no sign of calming—with Baby Boomers especially susceptible to its messaging—families are being torn apart and politicians are starting to openly espouse the ideology in their campaigns。 It's time to figure out what QAnon is， because QAnon explains everything you need to know about American politics and global fear after Trump。
Reviews
Michelle Whitham （curled_up_with_a_good_book）
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This is an interesting book that will definitely get you thinking。 It looks into Q – who they are， how they started and how they’ve escalated， as well as looking at stories of those who are family members of people who follow Q or who themselves， have abandoned the ideas。 Split into three sections it covers the origins， the escalation and the fallout。I’m aware of the conspiracy theories believed by followers of Q but when reading this wanted to remain completely impartial。 It’s always good to lo This is an interesting book that will definitely get you thinking。 It looks into Q – who they are， how they started and how they’ve escalated， as well as looking at stories of those who are family members of people who follow Q or who themselves， have abandoned the ideas。 Split into three sections it covers the origins， the escalation and the fallout。I’m aware of the conspiracy theories believed by followers of Q but when reading this wanted to remain completely impartial。 It’s always good to look at both sides of an idea/argument。 I found this to be well written and thoroughly intriguing， and enjoyed seeing things from a different perspective。 It definitely got me asking questions and pondering the answers。If you’re a follower of Q then you won’t like this。 If you have no idea of who Q is then this will make for an eye opening and intriguing read。 And if you’re like me and have an idea of Q and their ideals but are open minded and willing to look at both sides then you should read this。If you’re into conspiracy theories – and I have to say most people I know are at least intrigued by them – then this is worth checking out！ 。。。more
Rebe
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It’s one thing to read in the news that some people believe in the myriad of weird stuff under the umbrella of Q and another thing entirely to have these believers in your life—people around you refusing to get vaccinated because of some nonsensical explanation of the government’s evil intentions with COVID， or expressing election views that sound like some kind of alternative reality。 I wouldn’t go so far as to say anyone I know is a full-on Q believer， but I know people who have embraced at le It’s one thing to read in the news that some people believe in the myriad of weird stuff under the umbrella of Q and another thing entirely to have these believers in your life—people around you refusing to get vaccinated because of some nonsensical explanation of the government’s evil intentions with COVID， or expressing election views that sound like some kind of alternative reality。 I wouldn’t go so far as to say anyone I know is a full-on Q believer， but I know people who have embraced at least some part of it。 I’ve long found these beliefs puzzling and difficult to respond to。 So I was really eager to read Mike Rothschild’s book。 I first heard of the book during a virtual book fair recently， where I got to listen in on a Q&A with the author。 Even in that brief introduction， I understood QAnon much better than before。 It also piqued my curiosity about how people could believe these things。 The Storm Is Upon Us begins by simply explaining what’s happened: the origins of the conspiracy theory， how it’s grown and why， and what impacts it’s had on the country and on individuals。 Most interesting to me was his explanation of what kinds of people are typically most drawn to Q and why。 I find it fascinating that it’s able to draw in such a spectrum of followers， from far-right political types to liberal anti-vaxxer mommy bloggers， and now I have a better understanding of why that is。 It’s also so interesting to me to see all the influences Rothschild finds behind Q。 A lot of the ideas within this new conspiracy theory have actually been around a long time。 The author also does some analysis of QAnon， asking questions like， can it be considered a cult？ （A more complicated question to answer than I had realized。） He does a little debunking， which is fun， but the book is not primarily a rebuttal to any assertions made by Q or Q followers。 That was fine with me， since I am not coming to this book from a place of belief in Q。 I also get the impression that a lot of Q believers won’t take debunking arguments seriously if/until they’re ready to listen; until a niggling feeling of doubt is introduced， these believers will have answers ready to defend Q from all angles。 That said， there is practical advice at the end of the book for dealing with any Q believers you may have in your own life。Given the prominence of this conspiracy theory in our political landscape at the moment and the deep divide between people who believe it and people who don’t， I can’t recommend this book highly enough。 Rothschild does a good job taking a complex and sprawling subject and finding the most important points of discussion。 He makes something that I find deeply bizarre and unexpected into something a little easier to understand。 He also manages to be respectful and empathetic without pulling any punches about the nature of this conspiracy theory and its impact。 He makes a good point that a lot of Q believers are not crazy。 They may believe crazy stuff， but， the author asserts， “The ordinary conspiracy theorist is an intelligent， sane， and generally rational person。” So I appreciated not just what Rothschild has to say but also how he says it。 。。。more
Victoria
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Well researched and very interesting， even if you think you already know a lot about QAnon。
T。J。 Hoffpauir
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Pretty much everything you need to know about Q and the certain climate that it got started。
CJ
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This is a fascinating and very accessible explainer of what QAnon is and how it exploded in popularity in such a short amount of time。 Great if， like me， you have a passing familiarity with the subject but felt overwhelmed with all the arcane parts of the movement and want something to give you more knowledge。 The most interesting （and frightening） part of the book for me was when Rothschild spoke to cult researchers and other experts about what drives people to believe in QAnon and what the mov This is a fascinating and very accessible explainer of what QAnon is and how it exploded in popularity in such a short amount of time。 Great if， like me， you have a passing familiarity with the subject but felt overwhelmed with all the arcane parts of the movement and want something to give you more knowledge。 The most interesting （and frightening） part of the book for me was when Rothschild spoke to cult researchers and other experts about what drives people to believe in QAnon and what the movement's future could be。 I felt like Rothschild drove a good balance between having compassion for the ways people become entangled in QAnon while also being blunt about its roots in antisemitism and the darkest parts of online culture。 。。。more
Erika
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While those of us who've been following QAnon for years will not learn much new from this book， it is a well-written， thoughtful but often funny overview of the content and history of this bizarre worldview that presents it as coherently as is possible。 While those of us who've been following QAnon for years will not learn much new from this book， it is a well-written， thoughtful but often funny overview of the content and history of this bizarre worldview that presents it as coherently as is possible。 。。。more
Chris Boutté
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The first thing I must say about this book is that Mike Rothschild is an incredible writer。 This is the first book of his that I’ve read， and it’s difficult for me to really get into books like this， but a great writer like Mike can keep me engaged。 Rothschild covers everything from top to bottom when it comes to the QAnon movement， so if you’re curious about what it is， how it started， and all of the stories that came from it， this book’s for you。 I’ve been following the QAnon news for a long t The first thing I must say about this book is that Mike Rothschild is an incredible writer。 This is the first book of his that I’ve read， and it’s difficult for me to really get into books like this， but a great writer like Mike can keep me engaged。 Rothschild covers everything from top to bottom when it comes to the QAnon movement， so if you’re curious about what it is， how it started， and all of the stories that came from it， this book’s for you。 I’ve been following the QAnon news for a long time and have even done content around some of the stories， so I thought I knew just about everything and figured this book wouldn’t tell me anything new。 But I was wrong。 There were plenty of stories in this book about QAnon followers that I hadn’t heard before。 Although this book didn’t have as much psychology as I typically look for in books， Mike covered some big ideas when it comes to cognitive dissonance， how people get sucked in， and most importantly， how to get a loved one out。 So， if you’re curious about learning more about what QAnon is or want to hear some new stories written by a great author， you should definitely get this book。 。。。more
Joshua Nykamp
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This is good explanation of Qanon and the madness taking over the republican party。 It's pretty eye opening and terrifying what people believe。 These people have isolated themselves and created their own truth。 This is good explanation of Qanon and the madness taking over the republican party。 It's pretty eye opening and terrifying what people believe。 These people have isolated themselves and created their own truth。 。。。more
Cat
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Review to come
Amanda
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