Episode 165: Havana Syndrome Spreads & JFK Returns feat Natalie Shure

Brian Thompson, the CEO of the health insurance company UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed in Midtown Manhattan on December 4th. Five days later, police arrested Luigi Mangione as a suspect in the killing at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Liv, Julian, and Travis discuss the ideological waters that Magione swam in and how this incident proves that everyone is an online investigator. Plus we explore the reaction to the killing, which includes a surprising amount of AO3 fan fiction. Finally, we break down the popular claim that there’s a special connection between the killing and the number 286, which isn’t as impressive when closely examined. 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. 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 Discover, Defend, Desire https://archiveofourown.org/works/61349623/chapters/156809128

Was Dr. Who right when he said military intelligence is a contradiction in terms? Brad Abrahams is back (with Liv, Jake, and Travis) with the story of the “Gulf Breeze 6”, in which six military intelligence officers with top-secret clearance went AWOL from one of Europe’s largest Cold War bases in 1990. Their reason? A Ouija board told them to. Convinced they were on a divine mission to stop Armageddon, they fled to Florida, believing Jesus (piloting a UFO) would meet them for the rapture. Even more bizarre than that last sentence was the punishment meted out to them. Were they part of an end-of-the-world cult? Did figures like Bob Dole and George Bush intervene on their behalf? This insane tale is a true mystery to this day, as the trail has gone cold since its explosion in the early ‘90s news cycle. At the end of the episode, we’re joined by Tanner Boyle of the ‘Getting Spooked’ newsletter to dive deeper into the Gulf Breeze 6 mystery, and explore whether any parapolitical shenanigans were at play. Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: https://patreon.com/qaa Brad Abrahams: https://x.com/LoveAndSaucers / https://www.instagram.com/bradwtf/ Tanner Boyle: https://gettingspooked.com/ Editing by Corey Klotz. Writing by Brad Abrahams. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe and 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.

Hulk Hogan as Santa Claus in 1996. Jake has found the perfect movie to torture Julian and Liv with. Somehow he finds an ally in Travis. Merry Christmas to the sickos. 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. 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.

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 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

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.