With Trump Gone, What’s Next For QAnon?

1/28/21 by NPR

Web player: https://podcastaddict.com/episode/118398289
Episode: https://play.podtrac.com/npr-381444908/edge1.pod.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/fa/2021/01/20210128_fa_fapodthurs.mp3?awCollectionId=381444908&awEpisodeId=961636383&orgId=1&d=2853&p=381444908&story=961636383&t=podcast&e=961636383&size=45546408&ft=pod&f=381444908

‘Washington Post’ reporter Craig Timberg suggests some in the QAnon movement will become even more extreme now that Trump, their “messiah,” has left office. “There is a real danger that what we’ll see is a somewhat smaller but maybe more fervent and maybe more hateful and maybe more stealthy remnant that remains a force in our political life for years to come,” Timberg says. We talk about the impact of Trump’s ban from social media, the inception of the conspiracy theory/extremist group, and how the movement is responding to a new administration.

QAnnon is such a fascinating phenomenon as its really a bizarre cult. It seems like a vast group of people who suffer from mental illness or at least somebody playing on certain people’s troubled emotions.

What can we do as a society about this? It really is unclear as folks have freedom of conscience and speech but it sure seems like a lot of good lives are being destroyed by this predatory organization.