Posting Through It

Meghan Conroy and Alex Newhouse worked for the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol as investigator and investigative analyst, respectively. They join Posting Through It on the second anniversary of the Capitol riot to talk about the work they did in the Congressional investigation, particularly related to the roles social media platforms had in the attack.Read their essay in Just Security: Insiders’ View of the January 6th Committee’s Social Media InvestigationFollow Meghan Conroy: @meghaneconroyFollow Alex Newhouse: @AlexBNewhouseThe Where's Waldo-style Insurrectionist illustration: https://www.brianmichaelweaver.com/updates/insurrection-mazeSupport the showSubscribe to the Posting Through It newsletter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postthroughit.substack.com

Dr. Anthea Butler is a historian of African American and American religion who serves as the Chair of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She joins the show to discuss the influence of Christian nationalism in American politics and how it expresses itself online. Host Jared Holt and Dr. Butler discuss the uprising of the movement, its impacts on modern politics, and the white supremacy in its subtext.Follow Dr. Anthea Butler on Twitter: @AntheaButlerhttps://www.amazon.com/White-Evangelical-Racism-Politics-Morality/dp/1469661179Support the showSubscribe to the Posting Through It newsletter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postthroughit.substack.com

Kyle Spencer is an award-winning journalist and the author of "Raising Them Right: The Untold Story of America's Ultraconservative Youth Movement." Kyle explains how political activists like Charlie Kirk have risen to power in a new era of internet-forward youth outreach by the conservative movement, bringing with them increasingly radical messages.Follow Kyle Spencer on Twitter: @KyleYSpencerGrab a copy of "Raising Them Right" by Kyle Spencer: CLICK HERESpencer's favorite thing: 'Echo 3' on Apple TVJared's favorite thing: 'Kleo' on NetflixSupport the showSubscribe to the Posting Through It newsletter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postthroughit.substack.com

Max Rizzuto and Alyssa Kann are researchers at the Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) who Jared used to work with. They join the show to talk about the anti-climactic passing of midterm elections. Is election denialism still as potent as it was in 2020? Were fears overblown? Have threats to democracy receded? They argue no to all of the above, even if things went better than expected. If everyone on this episode sounds tired, it's because they are exhausted from working around the elections.Follow Max Rizzuto on Twitter: @maxbrizzutoFollow Alyssa Kann on Twitter: @AlyssaKann Max's favorite thing: The first Fast and Furious movie posted as a Twitter thread (since struck down for copyright violations)Alyssa's favorite thing: "The day I fell into a crevasse"Support the showSubscribe to the Posting Through It newsletter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postthroughit.substack.com

Adam Kovacevich is the founder and CEO of the tech-funded trade group Chamber of Progress, which encourages lawmakers to take pro-tech positions in their policymaking. He joins the show to offer a hopeful view for the future of Twitter under Elon Musk at a time where many others have forecasted the platform's demise.Follow Adam Kovacevich on Twitter: @adamkovacChamber of Progress website: progresschamber.org/Adam's favorite thing online: Stephen Patula on YouTubeCheck out the newsletter and episode archive at postingthroughit.comSupport the showSubscribe to the Posting Through It newsletter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postthroughit.substack.com

Will Sommer is a reporter at The Daily Beast and the author of an upcoming book on the Qanon conspiracy theory. He also co-hosts the Fever Dreams podcast. Sommer joins the show to run down a few notable stories from right-wing internet land, including Kanye West's announced plan to buy Parler, an alt-right movie evaporating a million bucks, and more.Follow Will Sommer on Twitter: @willsommerPre-order: 'Trust the Plan: The Rise of Qanon and the Conspiracy That Unhinged America'Check out the newsletter and episode archive at postingthroughit.comSupport the showSubscribe to the Posting Through It newsletter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postthroughit.substack.com

Mike Rothschild is the author of a great book on the QAnon conspiracy theory and its cultural significance. He joins the show to discuss former President Donald Trump's promotion of content from the conspiracy theory's followers on Truth Social, what the movement has been up to in the last year or two, and what its believers have planned for midterm elections.Follow Mike Rothschild on Twitter: @rothschildmdRead: The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of EverythingCheck out the newsletter and episode archive at postingthroughit.comSupport the showSubscribe to the Posting Through It newsletter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postthroughit.substack.com

Molly White is the software engineer, Wikipedia editor, and independent researcher behind Web3 Is Going Just Great, a project that chronicles the not-so-fabulous drumbeat of disasters related to cryptocurrency and other web3 products. She joins the show to explain "web3" technologies and squash the hype around them. Molly and Jared talk about the political implications of web3 tech, and they also hear a few words from Molly's dog, who barks a few times in the middle of the episode.Follow Molly White on Twitter: @molly0xFFFFollow Web3 Is Going Just Great on Twitter: @web3isgreatCheck out the newsletter and episode archive at postingthroughit.comSupport the showSubscribe to the Posting Through It newsletter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postthroughit.substack.com

Robert Silverman is a reporter who has published some of the most definitive reporting on pro-Trump social media personality Tim Pool to date. As much as Tim Pool may sell his offerings as better alternatives to mainstream media, Robert Silverman explains how writers at his news blog have relied almost entirely on work done by mainstream news services. Some writers, he found, have even engaged in acts of plagiarism, copying lines from mainstream outlets nearly verbatim.Follow Robert Silverman: @BobSaiettaThe Daily Beast: Tim Pool’s News Site Plagiarized the Mainstream Media He Claims to HateCheck out the newsletter and episode archive at postingthroughit.comSupport the showSubscribe to the Posting Through It newsletter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postthroughit.substack.com

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 activist base.Follow Trapezoid of Discovery: @get_innocuousThe NPR article mentioned in this episode: Election deniers have taken their fraud theories on tour — to nearly every state Read the newsletter: postingthroughit.comSupport the showSubscribe to the Posting Through It newsletter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postthroughit.substack.com