Posting Through It

Trapezoid of Discovery is the pseudonym used by an information security engineer who has cataloged and refuted claims from election deniers as they’ve toured around the country, drawing crowds and inspiring conspiracy-minded activism. We discuss what these traveling events have been like, why people should pay attention to what’s happening around them, and how they relate to the broader Republican...

Emmi Conley is an extremism researcher who joins the show to talk about the far-right’s reaction to the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago, the revelation that the cringe @BasedMikeLee Twitter account does in fact belong to Sen. Mike Lee, Democrats’ encounters with “Dark Brandon” memes and more. Follow Emmi: @GamerGirlRights Read the newsletter: postingthroughit.com Support the show Subscribe to the Posting...

Kristen Doerer is the managing editor of Right Wing Watch, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to cataloguing the goings-on of the American far-right. (Jared used to work there, and Kristen was his boss!) Kristen joins the show this week to discuss recent January 6th Committee hearings that broached far-right extremists’ and the online communities’ roles in the Capitol riot. In the first half, Jared an...

Nick Backovic and Ernie Piper are writers at Logically who produce investigative journalism related to online disinformation and conspiracy theories. They join the podcast this week to discuss an investigation they published about a QAnon cryptocurrency scheme that scammed believers out of gobs of cash, including one who died by suicide after losing more than $100,000 in the racket. Jared and the...

Ali Breland is a reporter at Mother Jones who covers online disinformation. He joins the podcast this week to talk about two of his recent essays that confront the flaws and shortcomings of conversations around disinformation, extremism, violence and other harms. Ali discusses why terms like “echo chamber” don’t adequately capture the dynamic social media platforms play in shaping political ideolo...

India McKinney is the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s director of federal affairs. She joins the podcast this week to talk about privacy and data protection at a time when many anticipate the Supreme Court will roll back reproductive healthcare rights. In this episode, India and Jared talk about concerns that online data could be used by those wanting to punish people seeking abortions. Then, the...

Michael E. Hayden is a senior investigative reporter at the Southern Poverty Law Center and good friend of the podcast. Mike joins SH!TPOST this week to chat about all the stories the show missed while it was on break. In this episode, Mike and Jared discuss Elon Musk bidding for Twitter, the far-right laundering fascist aesthetics via “Ultra MAGA”, a right-wing YouTube star who was caught on tape...

Kelly Weill is a reporter at The Daily Beast. She recently published a book on Flat Earth conspiracy theory followers and what their beliefs can tell us about the ways people can arrive at absurdly false beliefs. She joins SH!TPOST to talk about her new book and its lessons for the rest of us. Follow Kelly on Twitter: @KELLYWEILL Get the book: “ Off the Edge: Flat Earthers, Conspiracy Culture, and...

Sebastian Murdock is a senior reporter at HuffPost who has been covering lawsuits filed against notorious conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his media outlet Infowars. Jared and Sebastian recount some of the latest updates in those lawsuits and what we can gather from how things are progressing. (Spoiler: Not well for Alex!) Follow Sebastian on Twitter: @SebastianMurdoc Read some of Sebastian’s re...

Justin Ling is a freelance investigative reporter covering misinformation, conspiracy theories, extremism, and national security. He joins SH!TPOST to talk about the recent rise of Russian “bio lab” disinformation among MAGA movement figures. Ling walks listeners through the origins of these claims, why they gained overnight popularity with pro-Trump opinion makers in the US, and how governments h...

Sara Aniano is a graduate student at Monmouth University studying communication with a focus on the rhetoric of the far-right on social media. She joins SH!TPOST to talk about US activists’ attempts to replicate Canadian trucker-themed protests stateside. In this episode, Jared and Sara examine the “People’s Convoy”: the most put-together of such efforts. They discuss who is behind People’s Convoy...

Jacob Silverman is a writer at The New Republic and a critic of the cryptocurrency industry. He joins SH!TPOST to talk about the ongoing wave of celebrities throwing their reputations and star powers behind the cryptocurrency industry and the potential devastation it wreak have on consumers who don’t understand the high risks involved. Jared and Jacob discuss NFTs, all those cryptocurrency Super B...

Ryan Broderick is a journalist covering technology and internet culture. He’s also the author of the Garbage Day newsletter. Ryan joins Jared this episode to discuss the latest standoff in ongoing debates over COVID-19 misinformation on major tech platforms. In one corner stands Joe Rogan and Spotify. On the other side of the ring is a cohort of musical artists, researchers, and dissatisfied Spoti...

Ksenia Coffman has been contributing edits and research regarding the history of World War II to Wikipedia since 2015, taking deliberate efforts to weasel junk history out of the internet’s go-to collection of information. Ksenia recently stepped out from behind the screen to share her identity and work with Wired magazine. This week, she joins SH!TPOST to talk about her motivations for taking on...

On the one year anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Jared Holt and Matt Binder teamed up for a discussion of the state of play in far-right politics. This conversation originally aired live on Matt’s YouTube channel. Jared talked about his latest report published with the Atlantic Council, which outlines the ways domestic extremist movements have evolved since January 6, 2021....

On New Year’s Day, Jared took calls from listeners for about an hour and a half live on Twitch. This episode contains audio is from that session, cleaned up and edited for listening in podcast form. Here’s to another year of this god-forsaken podcast! shtpost.substack.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shtpo...

Nick Lutsko is a musician, producer, and songwriter based out of Chattanooga, Tennessee. He is the creative voice behind beloved Super Deluxe parody songs like “ Alex Jones Rants as an Indie Folk Song ” and “ Donald Trump’s Speeches as an Emo Song .” More recently, you may have seen him sweaty and red, singing about his longing to be adopted by right-wing pundit Dan Bongino or his love of the Spir...

Claire Atkin is the co-founder of Check My Ads, an organization dedicated to boosting awareness of online advertising’s financing of hate and misinformation and working to drive change against it. She joins SH!TPOST to talk about the work her organization is doing, Dan Bongino’s targeting of her co-founder Nandini Jammi, and what a better future in online advertising looks like. Learn more about C...

Amanda Moore spent a year undercover within the grassroots of the post-election Trump movement and its various subcultures, attending events and integrating herself with pockets of true believers. All along the way, she recorded what she witnessed with a hidden microphone. She joins SH!TPOST this week to share her observations and takeaways from a year living and breathing MAGA in its purest forms...

Michael Hobbes is a writer and co-host of the podcast “Maintenance Phase.” You may also recognize his voice from the acclaimed podcast “You’re Wrong About.” He joins SH!TPOST to discuss the steady stream of stories and columns from national American media about the supposed rise of an “illiberal left”—something he argues to be a modern moral panic reinforced by thin hype. Jared and Michael talk th...

Vic Berger is an acclaimed video editor and satirist. He joins SH!TPOST to talk about his path into making his bizarre edits of American culture, the parody potential of the post-Trump years, and what he’s up to these days. This interview was a long time coming and we hope you enjoy! Vic’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/VicBergerIV/ Vic's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/VicBerger/featured Of...

Joe Mulhall is Head of Research at HOPE not hate and one of the UK's leading authorities on far-right extremism. He joins SH!TPOST for a chat about his latest book, “ Drums in the Distance: Journeys in the Global Far Right .” In it, Joe provides an exhaustively researched accounting of far-right political movements around the world that he tastefully pairs with vivid recounting of his time sp...

Joseph Bernstein is a senior reporter for BuzzFeed News. He joins SH!TPOST this week to discuss the overly simplistic story of online disinformation that many American audiences have been sold. Joe encourages those interested in understanding online disinformation to pause and recognize several fundamental issues with the way some of our current conversations have been framed. These flaws, he argu...

Vera Bergengruen is a Washington correspondent for Time Magazine who joins the show to explain why some unvaccinated people are seeking out Ivermectin as a supposed shield against COVID-19. Demand for the drug has overwhelmed many pharmacies, leaving some so desperate in their hunt that they’ve bought and ingested horse paste and other livestock drugs that contain Ivermectin as an active ingredien...

Puck News national correspondent  Tina Nguyen  joins SH!TPOST to talk about her time covering Mike Lindell’s 72-hour “Cyber Symposium” in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, last week. We’ll talk to her about what she saw, her takeaways, the dang big shrimps on the buffet bar, and more. Learn more about Puck News here: https://puck.news/ And sign up for Tina’s newsletter here: https://tina-nguyen.news/ Fol...