Four years, thousands of rioters lead an insurrection on the Capitol building in Washington, seeking to overturn the result of the 2020 election and keep Donald Trump in the White House. 

Most were there because they’d been called to action by Donald Trump himself - but some also cited the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory - the movement built around the idea that a secret informant was posting to message boards from within the corridors of power, using the alias Q, blowing the whistle on a satanic cabal of child abusers who were working against President Trump. Despite being successfully discredited, the movement grew into a cult, a religion, a way of life. It’s devotees held protests, ran for office, harassed innocent people and climaxed with an insurrection of the Capitol building on Jan 6th 2021.

Now, Donald Trump stands on those steps of the Capitol building once again. So… did the QAnon movement… win?

On my Times Radio show recently, I asked Jessyln Cook - author of The Quiet Damage, QAnon and the Destruction of the American Family.

Times Radio: Did QAnon Win? Interview with Jessyln Cook - The Quiet Damage

In the aftermath of Donald Trump's second victory, I was wondering what becomes of those people and organisations that float around in his orbit.

Like Proud Boys - a far-right militant organisation that have been supportive of Donald Trump, had participated in the January 6th attack on the Capitol. 

In a 2020 presidential debate, when pressed to condemn white supremacist groups and their role in violence Trump said Proud Boys should "stand back and stand by..."

There were fears of more political violence from the group - until, of course, Donald Trump actually won.

So - what becomes of them now? Does a Trump win take the wind out of their sails, or embolden them further?

I asked Andy Campbell, a senior editor and reporter at HuffPost - and the author of "We Are Proud Boys: How a Right-Wing Street Gang Ushered in a New Era of American Extremism"

Times Radio: What becomes of Proud Boys now Trump has won? Interview with Andy Campbell

Pamela Hemphill believed the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump. She believed it so much, that on the 6th January 2021, she joined thousands of others and entered the Capitol building in Washington in an attempt to take it back. 

Pamela was convicted for her role in the insurrection - and served two months in prison. Since then, she has changed her mind. She says she doesn't believe Donald Trump lost that election, and that she was 'brainwashed' by a 'cult'. 

This week, she started working with her lawyer to find a way to reject Donald Trump's offer of a pardon.

This is Pam's story...

Meet the Jan 6th rioter who refuses Trump's pardon

The 'Constitutional Sheriffs' are a strange group of vigilante police officers, who believe they have a supreme authority, and are the highest law in the land. They are a conspiracy-fuelled movement with links to violent militias, spreading radical ideas in their local communities. They answer only to the people, God... and Donald Trump.

They are one of those groups who exist in Donald Trump's orbit. They are a piece in the puzzle of modern America - alongside the likes of QAnon and Proud Boys. At their most extreme - they are part of the story of the poisoning of America's mind, and the characters who are doing the poisoning.

Journalist Marnie Duke has been researching and speaking to them for an episode of her superb podcast The Hole Truth.

The Constitutional Sheriffs: America’s vigilante police

Have you heard of the shocking story of a father in Colorado who had an affair with his step-son, before the whole thing ended in a grizzly murder? 

A YouTube video about the case on a true crime channel has had millions of views, and people have been asking the local paper why they haven't covered the case.

They hadn't covered the case because... it isn't true. The story - and the video - was produced by AI and posted to a thriving YouTube channel of not-true True Crime. It's been getting huge audiences, making decent money for their makers and making it hard for audiences to know what to believe.

So... fair game or a harmful new phenomena? I spoke to journalist Henry Larson, who has been piecing this strange new industry together, and AI Ethicist Olivia Gambelin.


AI Generated 'True' Crime: harmful or harmless?

Meet Cameron Mofid, one of the youngest people ever to visit all 195 countries... even North Korea.

Cameron Mofid: visiting every country in the world

You know that awful, gut-wrenching feeling in the pit of your stomach when you when you realise something has gone terribly wrong? The bosses of M&S know that feeling well. A few weeks ago, a cyber-attack crippled their business. We don't know much about what the hackers have demanded, but we do know they sent emails to the companies executives gloating that they had infiltrated their business, and we know that negotiations have begun to try and get whatever data and systems they have taken hostage back. 

This isn't uncommon. Thousands of attacks like this happen every day, most of which you will never hear about. It's common a problem for businesses, and in some cases individuals, that it's given birth to an industry of cyber-attack negotiators - people whose job it is to negotiate with the hackers and try to end their cyber-hijacking.

Kurtis Minder - CEO of the cyber-security company GroupSense - is the man people call in a panic when their systems have been compromised. He takes over, begins communication with the hackers, and tries to negotiate you out of their cyber-head-lock. 

Last week on Times Radio, I spoke to Kurtis to ask him... how DO you negotiate with cyber-criminals?

How to negotiate with hackers

With raging conflicts, authoritarian slides, and the re-emergence of once eradicated diseases, it's easy to feel we're living in a bad period of history. But are we, really? 

Historian Gemma Hollman tells us the story of the 'worst year in history' - when natural disasters, unusual weather, failing crops, plague, terror and unrest almost lead to the breakdown of civilisation. 

Are these terrible times? Historian Gemma Hollman on the 'worst year' in history.

Super Stimulated: How your biology is being hacked to create bad habits - Nicklas Brendborg

Broadcaster / Documentary-maker / Northerner / Catch me on Times Radio, Saturday and Sunday, 10pm-1am

How to negotiate with hackers

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