The Social Chemist – Details, episodes & analysis

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In today's episode, I am joined by Dr. Jessica White, Acting Director of Terrorism and Conflict Studies at the Royal United Services Institute, to discuss her 2022 book "Gender Mainstreaming in Counter-Terrorism Policy: Building Transformative Strategies to Counter Violent Extremism" and her research on how extremists exploit the mechanics of online gaming to recruit and radicalize people to the far right.

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Jessica White's Website
Dr Jessica White | Royal United Services Institute (rusi.org)

Jessica White's Book
Gender Mainstreaming in Counter-Terrorism Policy: Building Transformat (routledge.com)

Recommended Readings
UK riots expose double standards on far-right and Islamist violence | The far right | The Guardian

Recommended Social Chemist Episodes

• The Black Pill Radicalization Process of the Incel Community w/ Robert Green (buzzsprout.com)
• The Evolution of Far-Right Terrorism in the 21st Century w/ Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware (buzzsprout.com)
• How the Far-Right hijacked the Wellness Movement w/ Dr. Stephanie Alice Baker (buzzsprout.com)
  
  

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On today's episode, former assistant secretary for counterterrorism and prevention at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Elizabeth Neumann, joins the podcast to discuss her book "Kingdom of Rage: The Rise of Christian Extremism and the Path Back to Peace." We dive into her experience pushing back against Trumpism within the Evangelical community, the history of Christian Extremism in America, and the future of the Republican Party.

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Elizabeth Neumann's Website/X (formally Twitter)
Navigating the Path Back to Peace – Breaking the Rage Cycle and Navigating the Path to Peace with Elizabeth Neumann

Elizabeth Neumann (@NeuSummits) / X

Elizabeth Neumann's Book
Kingdom of Rage: The Rise of Christian Extremism and the Path Back to Peace: Neumann, Elizabeth: 9781546002055: Amazon.com: Books

Recommended Social Chemist Episodes

• The Role of Social Workers in Prevention Violence Extremism w/ Patrick R. Riccards (buzzsprout.com)
• The Evolution of Far-Right Terrorism in the 21st Century w/ Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware (buzzsprout.com)
• The Global State of Antisemitism & an Examination of the Zionist Project w/ Kenneth Stern (buzzsprout.com)
• Undercover within the New Face of White Supremacy w/ Matson & Tawni Browning (buzzsprout.com)
• News Media Literacy: An Educators Tool Against Misinformation w/ DeMario Phipps Smith (buzzsprout.com)
• How the Far-Right hijacked the Wellness Movement w/ Dr. Stephanie Alice Baker (buzzsprout.com)

References

• UK Braces for More Far-Right Riots Fueled by Misinformation (yahoo.com)

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On today's episode, Matson and Tawni Browning join to discuss their 2023 book "The Hate Next Door: Undercover within the New Face of White Supremacy," which documents their experience going undercover as white political extremists infiltrating hate groups such as the National Alliance and Unit 88. They offer some reasons why people joined white supremacy groups and advice to help anyone falling down the rabbit hole of hate.

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Matson and Tawni Website
The Hate Next Door | Matt&Tawni Browning (mattandtawni.com)

Escaping Polygamy
Watch Escaping Polygamy Full Episodes, Video & More | Lifetime (mylifetime.com)

Other Social Chemist Episodes

• What Is A Conspiracy Theorist? w/ Aoife Gallagher (buzzsprout.com)
• A New Era in Disinformation: AI Generated Imagery w/ Todd C. Helmus (buzzsprout.com)
• Here Comes the Storm: The Origins of QAnon w/ Mike Rothschild (buzzsprout.com)
• QAnon: A Psychiatric Assessment of a Delusion Like Belief w/ Dr. Brian Holoyda (buzzsprout.com)

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On today's episode, DeMario Phipps-Smith, a Senior Manager of Community Learning at the News Literacy Project, joins me to discuss news media literacy. As AI technology evolves at a fast pace, scholars on misinformation wonder how this will change our understanding of false narratives. What role do educators have in this social problem, and what tools can be used? The discussion will help us better understand this complex issue and offer resources to help combat disinformation.

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Educator Resources
News Literacy Project

DeMario Phipps-Smith
DeMario Phipps-Smith | LinkedIn

Recommended Social Chemist Episode
A New Era in Disinformation: AI Generated Imagery w/ Todd C. Helmus (buzzsprout.com)

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On today's episode, Matthew Facciani a sociologist at the University of Notre Dame in the Computer Science and Engineering department joins me to discuss how negative vaccine attitudes don't necessarily tell us about public health behaviors. We touch upon whether government regulations of social media to mitigate misinformation are effective and other strategies in reducing conspiracy theory consumption. Lastly, we talk about his first book "Misguided: Where Misinformation starts, how it spreads, and what to do about it" and the central theme of his work.

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Matthew Facciani Profile/Literature Review 

• Matthew Facciani
• Matthew Facciani (@matthewfacciani) on Threads
• Political network composition predicts vaccination attitudes - ScienceDirect

Recommended Social Chemist Episodes

• Do Liberal Conspiracy Theories Exist in Contemporary Politics? w/ Ph.D. Benjamin Dow (buzzsprout.com)

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On today's episode, Todd C. Helmus, a senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation, joins me to talk about how AI-generated imagery will change how mis and disinformation is created and disseminated. We discussed how effective regulating this technology will be in mitigating propaganda and political extremism and whether it will alter how researchers in fake news understand this issue.   

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Todd C. Helmus Profiles

•  Todd C. Helmus - Profile | RAND 
•  Todd Helmus (@Helmus) / X (twitter.com) 

Todd C. Helmus Article

•  Artificial Intelligence, Deepfakes, and Disinformation: A Primer | RAND 

Recommend Social Chemist Episode 

•  How Susceptible are you to Misinformation? w/ Dr Rakoen Maertens (buzzsprout.com) 

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On today's episode, I am joined by conspiracy theory researcher and QAnon expert, Mike Rothschild. We explore the origins of QAnon, whether mental health practitioners have a role in addressing far-right conspiracy theories and assess the conspiratorial framework of the Q movement based on his 2021 book "The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became A Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything." We conclude our discussion by speaking about his third book, which will be released on September 19th, titled “Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories”. A book that explores how one Jewish family --the Rothschilds--became a lightning rod for conspiracy theories in the last two centuries.

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Mike Rothchild Website/Twitter

•  Select Media Appearances, 2020-2023 – Mike Rothschild (themikerothschild.com) 
•  Mike Rothschild (no relation) (@rothschildmd) / X (twitter.com) 

Mike Rothchild Books 

•  Amazon.com: The World's Worst Conspiracies: 9781789509328: Rothschild, Mike: Books 
•  Amazon.com: The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything: 9781612199290: Rothschild, Mike: Books 
•  Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories: Rothschild, Mike: 9781685890643: Amazon.com: Books 

Recommended Social Chemist Episodes

•  QAnon: A Psychiatric Assessment of a Delusion Like Belief w/ Dr. Brian Holoyda (buzzsprout.com) 
• How the Far-Right hijacked the Wellness Movement w/ Dr. Stephanie Alice Baker (buzzsprout.com)
• The Conspiratorial State Of The Republican Party w/ Sam Faldraga (buzzsprout.com)
•  Antisemitism: The Conspiracy Theory of the Enemy Above (buzzsprout.com) 

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On today's episode, I am joined by Dr. Stephanie Alice Baker, a Senior Lecturer in Sociology from the University of London. We explore the origins of the Wellness Movement in the U.S. and the people who helped develop its foundations. Then explore whether inaccessibility to healthcare puts more people at risk of medical misinformation or whether other factors are at play. Lastly, we look into the types of influencers that have profited off the spread of misinformation and offer some suggestions to differentiate between reliable information and misinformation, at a time when institutional trust is at an all-time low. 

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Dr. Stephanie Alice Baker Twitter

•  Dr Stephanie Alice Baker (@DrSABaker) / X (twitter.com) 

Dr. Stephanie Alice Baker book 

•  Wellness Culture: How the Wellness Movement has been used to Empower, Profit and Misinform (SocietyNow): Alice Baker, Stephanie: 9781802624687: Amazon.com: Books 

Dr. Stephanie Alice Baker Google Scholar

•  ‪Stephanie Alice Baker‬ - ‪Google Scholar‬ 

Recommended Social Chemist Episodes

•  Social Work's Relationship with Pseudoscience Practices w/ Bruce Thyer (buzzsprout.com) 

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On today's episode, I am joined by board-certified forensic psychiatrist Dr. Brian Holoyda, whose work involves paraphilic disorders and cult-like behaviors. In our conversation we discuss the concepts of Delusion Like Beliefs (DLBs) and whether QAnon fits the criteria of being a cult movement. We also cover the diagnostic and ethical dilemmas in pathologizing conspiracy theories as an addiction disorder.

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Dr. Brian Holoyda Literature Review

• QAnon: A Modern Conspiracy Theory and the Assessment of Its Believers | Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (jaapl.org)

Dr. Brian Holoyda website

• Brian Holoyda, MD, MPH, MBA | Forensic Psychiatry

Other Social Chemist Episodes

• What Is A Conspiracy Theorist? w/ Aoife Gallagher (buzzsprout.com)
• Do Liberal Conspiracy Theories Exist in Contemporary Politics? w/ Ph.D. Benjamin Dow (buzzsprout.com)

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On today's episode, renowned behavioral scientist Dr. Rakoen Maertens from Cambridge University joins me to discuss the development of the Misinformation Susceptibility Test (MIST) and the importance of creating metric tools that have high validity in measuring false narratives. We cover what the mainstream media needs to do to regain the trust of a society that has expressed skepticism about their reporting. I also attempt to pitch a game show about misinformation with Dr. Maertens to sell to Netflix. 

Misinformation Susceptibility Test
https://yourmist.streamlit.app/

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Dr. Rakoen Maertens Social Media/Literature Reviews

• Rakoen Maertens | Twitter
• Rakoen Maertens | Instagram
• The Misinformation Susceptibility Test (MIST): A psychometrically validated measure of news veracity discernment

Online References

• How well can Americans distinguish real news headlines from fake ones?
• Americans' Trust In Media Remains Near Record Low

Other Social Chemist Episodes

• Interventions for Conspiratorial Thinking and their Limitations w/ Cian O'Mahony
• Do Liberal Conspiracy Theories Exist in Contemporary Politics? w/ Ph.D. Benjamin Dow