Episodes

In which Fletcher, our hero, becomes a big deal in the UFO world. And reveals what really happened to JFK. theparanoidstrain.com facebook.com/groups/theparanoidstrain Listen to the music as an album on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/paranoidstrainorchestra/sets/upon-a-red-horse-act-i-the-rider patreon.com/theparanoidstrain Like it? Please do spread the word. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we hear the origin story of Marvell James Fletcher. theparanoidstrain.com facebook.com/groups/theparanoidstrain Listen to the music as an album on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/paranoidstrainorchestra/sets/upon-a-red-horse-act-i-the-rider patreon.com/theparanoidstrain Like it? Please do spread the word. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's finally here. Our second major musical project, Upon A Red Horse, will appear in the feed daily from Monday May 1 to Friday May 5th. In this prelude episode, we explain the real-life story of Bill Cooper, the conspiracy theorist, author, radio host, and all around interesting guy whose heyday was the 1990s. I also explain why I thought this dude was a good subject for a 5-act musical pseudo-biography. Can't wait for you to hear the real thing next week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privac...

Action packed, that's the only word for it. This time, we start with the greatest conspiracy-slash-prophecy show around, Newswatch Magazine with David J Smith. Next, we talk about what, exactly, the New World Order is, and how it served as a prelude to the eventual obsessions of Qanon. We get a little nostalgic about the shit people were panicked about during the 1990s, and we explore some of the more...interesting ideas Kindle Unlimited authors have about the continued threat that the New World...

Yeah, this is kind of a weird one. Starts with a deconstruction of the two versions of the Christian End of the World novel Left Behind, then follows with an analysis of the weird shit young Jesuit listened to back in his 20s, and how those apocalyptic loons draw a straight line to the Qanon of our current day. It was a fun episode to put together. Hope you all like it. Join our Facebook group, and if you are so inclined, join our patreon: patreon.com/theparanoidstrain. See you in a couple of we...

We're a day late, but boy howdy do we have some nonsense to share with you. Learn how the book of Revelation apparently predicted modern attack helicopters. And how Christian and Jewish zealots are working together to raise sacrifice a red cow to bring the arrival and/or return of the Messiah. And how Donald Trump had Hillary and Bill executed. And then somehow had her arrested again, three years later. It's a humdinger. This episode also marks the introduction of our new patreon--sign up if you...

When we started this series, who thought we would be doing a multi-episode detour into the Book of Revelation? Certainly not your fearful host. But the more we got into this topic, the more we realized that end-times fanaticism, which defines not just the decade of the 90s, but also certainly Q's whole "the storm is coming" thing, deserved a thoroughgoing review. So that's this week's episode, and into the week after's. Then, we'll probably get around to talking about the Xfiles. Talk to you soo...

Yeah, there's still a little sex-trafficking teaser at the beginning of this one, but it also inaugurates our next topic. That is--how did the apocalyptic year-2000 obsessions of the 90s seed the ground for the eschatological focus of the Qanon cult? Over a few episodes, we plan to answer that question, and in the process, we plan to revisit some of the best cultural touchstones of our youth. Yes, I'm basically talking about the X-files. But that show as great! Anyway, we're definitely on the do...

We said last episode was our final Satanic Panic episode, and we meant it! At least, mostly--we still have to wrap up the surprising and awful story of how our interviewee, Justin Sledge, found himself caught up in a late-breaking satanic panic as a 1990s teenager. Plus--Debbie Nathan helps us see what forest we're missing for the sex trafficking panic trees. That makes more sense after you listen. See you in a couple of weeks, when we actually, really get to a totally new topic. Seriously. I pr...

The Paranoid Strain? They still do episodes of that show? Will wonders never cease. Sorry we're late. I promise, we weren't being neglectful. We just got caught up in a combination of holiday obligations, ongoing research, and a mountain of work for an upcoming project so ridiculously grandiose, we can't believe it ourselves (and it was our idea). That's coming soon. How soon? Who knows. But for now, enjoy the last part of our coverage of the satanic panic proper--this time, focusing on the sto...

Our de facto holiday episode is here, not that there's anything notably Christmassy about it. Or even Hannukah-y. We continue to lift up the rocks of the Satanic Panic and watch the horrible worms and bugs squirm in the disinfecting light of the truth. This time, we turn our attention to the way the media fanned the flames of the panic, convincing people across North America that Satan was coming for their kids. We also do a deep dive into one of the most heart-warmingly silly anti-rock and roll...

We're waist-deep in Satanic Panic, with no end in sight. Our story continues with details of the McMartin preschool trial, the highest-profile, most emblematic event of the whole sad, deluded era. Our expert interviewees walk us through the gory details...you know, normally when people use that expression, they don't mean it. Unfortunately, in this case, the details are pretty awful, and we don't want to mince words: this episode includes catalogues of truly nauseating accusations. The only reli...

You asked for it, you got it. The 80s Satanic Panic--especially related to supposedly abusive daycares, was a direct antecedent to the Qanon child abuse/sacrifice mania. So we dive into the whole icky story. Joining us is interviewee Debbie Nathan, pioneering skeptical journalist who was among the first to call bullshit on the whole nightmare, which boiled down to well-meaning parents and officials inadvertently planting horrific memories in the minds of impressionable little kids, who then furt...

Last stop before our full, multi-part discussion of the Satanic Panic of the 80s and early 90s. This stop is back in the depths of antisemitism, the miasma from which so many conspiracies arise. Learn how the unsolved murder of a 12-year-old boy in 12th century England was transformed into an unkillable, slanderous rumor tying Jews to ritual murder, blood-letting, and cannibalism. We wish we could tell you the subject matter gets lighter from here, but that would be a lie. Buckle up, Strainiacs....

Out with the old, in with the new. In this case, no more Birchers of fluoride--we've moved on to other Q-related topics. This time, we're taking a long windup to get to the Satanic Panic period of the 80s and early 90s in the US and Canada, which is the direct antecedent of the Q "democrats harvesting adrenochrome from abused sex trafficked youngsters" meme that has so obsessed lunatics in recent times. But on the way there, we need to consider how human sacrifice--and even moreso, the idea of o...

A Stupid Surprise

We're finishing up our Bircher talk here, with our discussion of the group's great crusades to keep people from having more rights, because apparently expanding civil, women's, or gay rights played right into the commies' hands. Plus, they really, really wanted to get rid of Chief Justice Earl Warren. Did they? Kinda. I mean, he retired. So Victory! Plus, you'll learn who this John Birch guy is, and why it's not called The Robert Welch Society. Next week--well, we don't wanna spoil it. But you'r...

We find ourselves falling deeper into the history of the John Birch Society, Robert Welch's baby, and the anti-communist organization that seemed so fringey in the mid-20th century, yet seems so clearly a prologue to Qanon today. Learn how the group formed, how it misjudged the communist menace, and how Welch's unique personal history shaped its worldview. See you in a couple of weeks with more exciting adventures in red-baiting! Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast...

As the title suggests, this is the moment where we hand off the story from contemporary Russia to the USA's number one Cold Warrior, a former candy magnate who founded the most successful and influential anti-Communist movement in our nation's history. The John Birch Society is truly the forerunner of today's unhinged right-wing conspiracy culture--the proto-Qanon, if you will. So let's examine what they were all about, starting with the man who founded and led the society for a quarter-century,...

Our second full part on the topic of Putin's Russia, we cover more of that fun-loving gaggle of nationalist extremist conspiracy theorists who run that place these days, and with the help of our intrepid guide, Professor Yablokov, we learn how they do that conspiracy and repression voodoo that they do...so well. Also, we explore a series of interlocking theories that post-Soviet nationalists dreamed up about US plans to destroy the USSR during the Cold War. They're ridiculous. Not more ridiculou...

Having finished our dissection of Fed conspiracies, we now move on to consider how the other great world power of the 20th Century ended up becoming a dysfunctional autocracy overwhelmed by conspiracies. We learn what makes Russian conspiracy culture unique (and uniquely damaging), so that we can better understand Q and our own homegrown crazy. Of course, part of the Q crazy also overlaps with the Russian crazy, so obviously, this whole thing is gonna take a while to dig through. Hope you enjoy....

(Plus, satanic giants found the Federal Reserve)

Episode 3! We hope you like hearing Federal reserve conspiracy theories debunked, because boy, that's what you're getting this time. Thrill to the history of monetary policy. Experience the chills of arguing with bitcoin enthusiasts on Twitter! Seriously, though, our interviewee is great, and we think this is a really rare opportunity to learn some super-interesting stuff about the way the most complex and hidden parts of our economic system works. We hope you agree. Next time, a bunch of Really...

Second episode! Which means the introduction to this series literally took up an entire episode. Does that mean we're getting better or worse? Hard to say. This time, we're taking on the conspiracist view of what actually transpired on Jekyll Island back in 1910. Was it a conspiracy? Yes! Did mainstream historians already know that? Yes. What does it have to do with Qanon? We're more than happy to show you. Hope you enjoy it--see you next time. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out infor...