The Case of the Vanished Scientists feat. Mike Rothschild (Premium E334) Sample

We’re joined by former U.S. diplomat Josef Burton to examine modern Pahlavism: an online, diaspora-driven movement built around nostalgia for Iran’s deposed Pahlavi dynasty and the imagined restoration of Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi. What was once a marginal exile politics of royalist uncles, former regime officials, and anti–Islamic Republic hawks has, in the past decade, been transformed into a bizarre right-populist scene. It’s part monarchist revival, part regime-change lobby, part “Make Iran Great Again” fandom. Josef traces how this movement emerged from the trauma and politics of the Iranian diaspora, then accelerated through Persian-language satellite TV, social media influencers, think tanks, bot campaigns, and the broader ecosystem of neoconservative, Israeli, Gulf State, and MAGA-aligned regime-change politics. Pahlavism presents itself as the authentic voice of Iranians, but often functions more like an astroturfed culture-war identity: anti-regime, pro-Western intervention, aggressively nostalgic for a whitewashed “Iran before the revolution,” and hostile toward Iranian dissidents who favor diplomacy, pluralism, or any future not centered on the Pahlavi name. The movement has started to resemble a QAnon-style political subculture: very online, retribution-focused, conspiratorial, obsessed with hidden agents and imminent deliverance, and convinced that posting, doxxing, street theater, and displays of loyalty are forms of revolutionary action. But unlike QAnon, modern Pahlavism’s fantasy of “the storm” has been tied to real intelligence networks, real lobbying money, and real military escalation. When the long-promised war finally arrived and failed to produce a restored monarchy, the movement was left to cope with betrayal, humiliation, factional infighting, and increasingly bizarre displays of royalist devotion. Josef Burton on Twitter https://x.com/pinstripebungle “Shah's infamous Savak deputy chief participates in LA protest” by MEE correspondent in Tehran https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iran-shah-infamous-savak-deputy-us-protest-press-review “The Problem of Iran Expertise in Washington” by Negar Razavi https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/39946 “The Iranian Diaspora Is Fracturing Over Trump’s War” by Keyvan Golsorkhi https://www.thenation.com/article/world/iran-diaspora-war-trump-israel/ “I’ll Burn You Alive” by Daniel Bock https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/04/22/iran-diaspora-harassment-00092598 “How Iranian monarchist networks built ties to Europe’s far-right” by Nima Ghadakpour https://www.theamargi.com/posts/how-iranian-monarchist-networks-built-ties-to-europes-far-right “Waiting for Day Zero” by Will Alden https://archive.is/20260427011144/https://www.nybooks.com/online/2026/04/22/waiting-for-day-zero-los-angeles-iranians/ Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: www.patreon.com/qaa Check out our new podcast series network Cursed Media! All episodes of Spectral Voyager Season 2 are now streaming! Binge the entirety of Truly Tradly Deeply by Annie Kelly and Megan Kelly as well as Science in Transition by Liv Agar and Spencer Barrows: cursedmedia.net Produced by Liv Agar & Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (instagram.com/theyylivve / sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (pedrocorrea.com) qaapodcast.com QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.

Are the nation’s top federal scientists being vanished to cover up earth-shattering revelations about aliens and advanced space technology? It’s a theory that President Trump, FBI Director Kash Patel, and the House Oversight Committee are at least pretending to take seriously. But what’s the truth behind the “dead or missing scientists” lists floating around social media for the last few months? Mike Rothschild joins us today to discuss the recent cases of scientists seemingly disappearing or dying under mysterious circumstances. Along the way we unpack the long tradition conspiracy theories that involve assembling lists of dead people and concluding they all have the same mysterious cause, including the “Curse of King Tut,” the Clinton body count, and little known GEC-Marconi scientist deaths conspiracy theory. Mike Rothschild on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/cw/MikeRothschild Mike Rothschild on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/rothschildmd.bsky.social Mike Rothschild on Twitter https://x.com/rothschildmd Federal Employees in the Physical Sciences and Engineering https://www.aip.org/statistics/federal-employees-in-the-physical-sciences-and-engineering Case Detail for Michael Hicks - LA County Medical Examiner https://me.lacounty.gov/case-detail/?caseNumber=2023-09733 Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: www.patreon.com/qaa Check out our new podcast series network Cursed Media! Spectral Voyager Season 2 is releasing now! Binge the entirety of Truly Tradly Deeply by Annie Kelly and Megan Kelly as well as Science in Transition by Liv Agar and Spencer Barrows: cursedmedia.net Produced by Liv Agar & Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (instagram.com/theyylivve / sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (pedrocorrea.com) qaapodcast.com QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.

The parent company of the satirical publication The Onion has a deal to take control of Infowars, the conspiracist media machine built by Alex Jones for the past 26 years. It is a proposed six-month licensing arrangement, pending approval from a Texas judge, with an option to renew. That is expected to be approved this Thursday, April 30th. Travis and Jake speak to former NBC News reporter and The Onion CEO Ben Collins about the deal, the new creative vision for Infowars, what it means to Sandy Hook parents who were victimized by Jones, and comedian Tim Heidecker's role as creative director for the venture. Before that, Julian joins us to unpack theories related to Cole Tomas Allen, the Torrance man who was charged with attempting to assassinate the president after attempting to storm the White House Correspondents' Association dinner. The Onion Print Edition https://membership.theonion.com/ Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/qaa Check out our new podcast series network Cursed Media! Spectral Voyager Season 2 is releasing now! Binge the entirety of Truly Tradly Deeply by Annie Kelly and Megan Kelly as well as Science in Transition by Liv Agar and Spencer Barrows:  https://cursedmedia.net Produced by Liv Agar & 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. Did a Time Traveling Superintelligent AI Try to Warn About White House Correspondents Dinner Shooting? An Investigation https://www.404media.co/did-a-time-traveling-superintelligent-ai-try-to-warn-about-white-house-correspondents-dinner-shooting-an-investigation/

After years of speaking to Liv through their computers, the OG QAA hosts have finally met Liv IRL before her and Jake attended Coachella. Liv was especially excited to see The Strokes, while Jake was just hoping for a better experience than the uncomfortable Sabrina Carpenter concert he had attended in the metaverse. In this episode the two investigate the conspiracies they witnessed growing around them once they passed the lax security and entered the festival. From Julian Casablancas to some poorly timed skywriting, no one was safe from the baking minds of Coachella influencers - and no VIP Spam Musubi was safe from Jake. Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: www.patreon.com/qaa Check out our new podcast series network Cursed Media! Spectral Voyager Season 2 is releasing now! Binge the entirety of Truly Tradly Deeply by Annie Kelly and Megan Kelly as well as Science in Transition by Liv Agar and Spencer Barrows: cursedmedia.net Produced by Liv Agar & Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (instagram.com/theyylivve / sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (pedrocorrea.com) qaapodcast.com QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.

In part two of this two part episode, Jack continues their look into the dubious practice of “de-extinction” this time as it is pushed in the 21st century by Colossal BioSciences. Created in 2019 by Ben Lamm and George Church, Colossal aims at making extinction, as well as the endangered species list, a thing of the past using CRISPR technology. Claiming to have revived the Dire Wolf and Red Wolf, the company actually has been more successful in massive PR campaigns and paying off critics than reversing species death. But who benefits when people believe that the ecosystem can be preserved through test tubes rather than policy aimed at protecting endangered animals? You guessed it: wealthy sociopaths who see traditional conservation efforts as a barrier to total planetary domination. Gimmie Truth by Brad Abrahams https://bradabrahams.net/independent/gimme-truth-be7s6 Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: www.patreon.com/qaa Check out our new podcast series network Cursed Media! Spectral Voyager Season 2 is releasing now! Binge the entirety of Truly Tradly Deeply by Annie Kelly and Megan Kelly as well as Science in Transition by Liv Agar and Spencer Barrows: cursedmedia.net Produced by Liv Agar & Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (instagram.com/theyylivve / sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (pedrocorrea.com) qaapodcast.com QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.

Travis and Jack are joined by Devin O’Shea to examine why even powerful billionaires like Peter Thiel and Jeffrey Epstein seek increasingly exclusive associations. Devin turns to the anthropological work The Power of Ritual in Prehistory: Secret Societies and Origins of Social Complexity by Brian Hayden to show how and why societies develop groups that declare themselves keepers of esoteric knowledge. How is this related to why Universities can’t seem to prevent dangerous fraternity hazing rituals? If you don’t want to join Kappa Sigma to find out, you could listen to this episode instead. The Veiled Prophet: Secret Societies, White Supremacy, and the Struggle for St. Louis https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2770-the-veiled-prophet Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: www.patreon.com/qaa Check out our new podcast series network Cursed Media! Spectral Voyager Season 2 is releasing now! Binge the entirety of Truly Tradly Deeply by Annie Kelly and Megan Kelly as well as Science in Transition by Liv Agar and Spencer Barrows: cursedmedia.net Produced by Liv Agar & Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (instagram.com/theyylivve / sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (pedrocorrea.com) qaapodcast.com QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.

The long history of humans bending biology for civilization eventually raised an important question: if animals can be domesticated, then couldn’t they also be de-domesticated? Further: could selective breeding allow scientists to reverse-engineer a species back from extinction and contain identical DNA to its ancestors? The first people to attempt “de-extinction” were, naturally, mad zoologists supported by Nazis. Modern attempts to leverage molecular biology to revive long-lost species provide a classic example of history rhyming. In part one of this two-part episode, Jack explores the disturbing ideology behind the de-extinction efforts of the Heck brothers in 1930s Germany, as well as their attempts to create so-called “genetically pure” species. Next week, we’ll unpack the floundering species revival program from genetic engineering startup Colossal Biosciences and why billionaires and the Trump administration are so invested in gaining the ability to make extinction less permanent than commonly believed. Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: www.patreon.com/qaa Check out our new podcast series network Cursed Media! Spectral Voyager Season 2 is releasing now! Binge the entirety of Truly Tradly Deeply by Annie Kelly and Megan Kelly as well as Science in Transition by Liv Agar and Spencer Barrows: cursedmedia.net Produced by Liv Agar & Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (instagram.com/theyylivve / sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (pedrocorrea.com) qaapodcast.com QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.

Welcome back to part two of two of Annie’s dive into the British homeschooling conspiracy scene. In this episode Annie explores what is being taught in these alternative home education centres like HOPE Sussex Community, and the truth behind the founders’ insistence that they’re not sites of conspiracist indoctrination. Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: www.patreon.com/qaa Check out our new podcast series network Cursed Media! Spectral Voyager Season 2 is releasing now! Binge the entirety of Truly Tradly Deeply by Annie Kelly and Megan Kelly as well as Science in Transition by Liv Agar and Spencer Barrows: cursedmedia.net Produced by Liv Agar & Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (instagram.com/theyylivve / sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (pedrocorrea.com) qaapodcast.com QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.

“THE BIBLE SAYS…JESUS IS NOT GOD - GOD’S SON DID NOT PRE-EXIST IN HEAVEN”. This billboard is what Julian was taking a photo of while attempting to not rear-end the driver in front of him. It was paid for by World’s Last Chance - an organization founded by Galal Philip Habib Doss. Established in 2004, the group claims its central office is the “World Wide Web,” asserts that the Earth is flat, and argues that Christians are wrong in nearly every aspect of their interpretation of life. Knowing a QAA episode when he sees one, Julian got to work. Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: www.patreon.com/qaa Check out our new podcast series network Cursed Media! Spectral Voyager Season 2 is releasing now! Binge the entirety of Truly Tradly Deeply by Annie Kelly and Megan Kelly as well as Science in Transition by Liv Agar and Spencer Barrows: cursedmedia.net Produced by Liv Agar & Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (instagram.com/theyylivve / sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (pedrocorrea.com) qaapodcast.com QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.

The UK’s National Baby is back alongside Julian and Travis with more British right-wing adjacent content. In the first part of a two-part episode, Annie Kelly examines the rise in popularity of “home education centers” that first began appearing during COVID. At first marketed towards the anti-lockdown minded, these centers slowly evolved to address other areas of discontent with the British education system and gained traction among parents who felt abandoned by the conventional school system. Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: www.patreon.com/qaa Check out our new podcast series network Cursed Media! Spectral Voyager Season 2 is releasing now! Binge the entirety of Truly Tradly Deeply by Annie Kelly and Megan Kelly as well as Science in Transition by Liv Agar and Spencer Barrows: https://cursedmedia.net Produced by Liv Agar & Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (instagram.com/theyylivve / sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (pedrocorrea.com) qaapodcast.com QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast.