Mar 31, 2018Roseanne Barr is tweeting about QAnon, a new Pizzagate-style conspiracy theoryThe success of ABC’s “Roseanne” reboot has brought new attention to comedian Roseanne Barr’s belief in the absolutely crazy “QAnon” conspiracy theory. Barr alluded to the theory on Twitter on Friday night, baffling her followers.Politics4 min readPolitics4 min read
Jan 12, 2018Meet “The Storm,” the conspiracy theory taking over the pro-Trump internetUpdate, 3/30: Roseanne’s tweets have drawn new attention to QAnon! Read more at my updated post here. Barack Obama will be shipped off to Guantanamo Bay any day now. MS-13 murdered Seth Rich, probably at the DNC’s behest. Special counsel Robert Mueller isn’t investigating the Donald Trump campaign — he’s…Politics6 min readPolitics6 min read
Nov 29, 2017Meet Groyper, the alt right’s favorite cartoon toadCharlottesville brought unprecedented scrutiny to the internet far-right, driving a wedge between explicitly racist and anti-Semitic elements and more moderate elements of the pro-Trump internet. Now, in a sign of how fractured the internet far right has become, the white nationalist ones have picked up a new cartoon frog to…Parody3 min readParody3 min read
Oct 31, 2017How the “November 4” conspiracy theory took over the pro-Trump internetNothing in America will be the same after November 4. Or at least that’s how YouTube user Steve Yeater sees it. For most people, Nov. 4 is shaping up to be just another fall Saturday. But to Yeater and others steeped in the conspiracy-minded corners of the pro-Trump internet, that…Politics6 min readPolitics6 min read
Oct 26, 2017How “soy boy” became the far right’s favorite new insultRemember “cuck”? For a while in 2016, it seemed like all anyone on the right could talk about was cuckservatives, who was cucking out, and so on. Well, readers, I’m here to tell you that cuck’s time in the sun as the right’s go-to insult is over. …Politics3 min readPolitics3 min read
Sep 28, 2017Milo Yiannopoulos and the end of the pro-Trump fameballsFrom Right Richter, a weekly newsletter on right-wing media Welcome to this week’s Right Richter, where we’re doing something a little different and focusing on one single topic. That’s All, Folks: Milo Yiannopoulos’s “Free Speech Week” imploded over the weekend in Berkeley, cutting short what was supposed to be the…Twitter6 min readTwitter6 min read
Jul 13, 2017Right-wing media is really into Guam all of a suddenExcerpted from Right Richter, a newsletter on right-wing media One of the pleasures of following right-wing media is trying to puzzle out why certain columnists collectively become fixated on certain issues that had never interested them much before. This summer, inexplicably, the hot new topic is Guam. In the course…Politics2 min readPolitics2 min read
Mar 14, 2017Does this true crime book sound true to you?Assuming that the events depicted in reporter Kevin Deutsch’s new true crime book Pill City actually happened, it’s one of the most astounding pieces of crime reporting in years. If only Deutsch could prove that the events in the book actually happened. The book’s remarkable story has earned Deutsch appearances…Baltimore9 min readBaltimore9 min read
Mar 6, 2017Right Richter: Cast of CharactersAlong with the likes better-known figures like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, Right Richter covers some figures that are lesser-known but still have a good amount of influence on Donald Trump’s new right. The Alt Right: A nebulous collection of groups with sometimes overlapping groups they oppose. …Donald Trump3 min readDonald Trump3 min read
Feb 5, 2017The fratty Proud Boys are the alt right’s weirdest new phenomenonExcerpted from Right Richter, a weekly newsletter on right-wing media. The first-ever Right Richter Special Report covers the phenomenon that is the Proud Boys adult “Western chauvinist” fraternity. It’s like Old School, but with uncomfortable racial and sexual subtext! I suspect that the Proud Boys will soon get a…Donald Trump7 min readDonald Trump7 min read