The Conspiracists feat. Noelle Cook (E355)
Added 2026-01-14 18:19:47 +0000 UTCThe 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 6th 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.
Thank you for being a patron of QAA.
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
The first five episodes of Annie Kelly’s new 6-part podcast miniseries “Truly Tradly Deeply” are available to Cursed Media subscribers, with new episodes released weekly.
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.
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)
Comments
Just finished the book. Well worth the read
Do Golems Dream of Ceramic Sheep
2026-02-16 02:39:23 +0000 UTCThe trade show metaphor also applies to functional medical disorders, AKA disorders without a clear structural cause that tend to have significant psychological underpinnings. POTS, fibromyalgia, type 3 ehlers danlos, PNES, gastroparesis to name a few. People with one tend to "pick up" more over time. People can't find satisfying answers in the medical system so they turn to online communities to find understanding and potential solutions.
whoislouis
2026-01-21 22:45:34 +0000 UTCI don't think it was fully explained, but the Cash for Kids scandal was a situation where 2 Pennsylvania judges were taking bribes from the operators of a private, for-profit juvenile detention centre to impose more detention verdicts on children accused of crimes in the state juvenile court system. https://www.pacourts.us/news-and-statistics/archived-resources/interbranch-commission-on-juvenile-justice
Ethan Hoddes
2026-01-21 19:25:16 +0000 UTCBrutal to hear Jake and Travis try to talk with a brick wall who is just monologuing and talking past you guys to say the most entry level takes as if you guys don't have way more knowledge on this topic than she does... Was hard to listen to but good job Jake and Travis for sticking it out, I know it's frustrating trying to have a conversation with someone who is just waiting for their turn to speak instead of listening.
James Hanson
2026-01-18 04:20:54 +0000 UTCAre the guests warned beforehand that Ghostbusters will come up in the convo or do they just experience it organically?
David
2026-01-17 19:44:41 +0000 UTC
