Empathy, privilege, and researcher stance

The new book The Conspiracists: Women, Extremism, and the Lure of Belonging by Noelle Cook offers an unusually intimate look at why seemingly bizarre conspiracy worlds that involve starseeds, ascended masters, and shadowy cabals are powerfully compelling even when they damage the lives of believers. Rather than taking a detached academic approach, Cook traces how white, middle-aged women were pulled deeper into conspiratorial belief systems in the years leading up to and after January 6, through online communities, the pandemic, personal upheaval, and a New Age spiritual subculture fused with far-right politics. The book follows Cook’s long, complicated relationship with two women in particular: Yvonne St. Cyr and Tammy Butry. Yvonne, from Idaho, sought structure in the Marines after a turbulent childhood, then found a home in the world of conspirituality, where politics becomes divine destiny and January 6 becomes a “spiritual war.” Tammy, from Pennsylvania, carries a history of trauma and instability, including seeing how the real-world betrayal of the “Kids for Cash” scandal harmed her children, making QAnon’s “save the children” framing feel emotionally plausible. Together, their stories show how conspiracism can function as belonging, meaning, and an explanation big enough to encompass their pain. Travis and Jake talk to Noelle about how her book came together, her relationship with the two subjects, and why conspiracist movements like QAnon can appeal to women over fifty years old. Noelle Cook https://bsky.app/profile/noellecook.com The Conspiracists: Women, Extremism, and the Lure of Belonging https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798889832423/The-Conspiracists Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: www.patreon.com/qaa All six episodes of Annie Kelly’s new podcast miniseries “Truly Tradly Deeply” are available to Cursed Media subscribers, with new episodes released weekly. www.cursedmedia.net/ Cursed Media subscribers also get access to every episode of every QAA miniseries we produced, including Manclan by Julian Feeld and Annie Kelly, Trickle Down by Travis View, The Spectral Voyager by Jake Rockatansky and Brad Abrahams, and Perverts by Julian Feeld and Liv Agar. Plus, Cursed Media subscribers will get access to at least three new exclusive podcast miniseries every year. www.cursedmedia.net/ 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