Summary
How did a US-based conspiracy about Donald Trump gain followers in Scotland and the UK? BBC Trending editor Mike Wendling and Hope Not Hate researcher Dr. Joe Mulhall join Lucy and Phil to discuss how QAnon exploded online. Why is it starting to make appearances across the UK and Europe, from online groups to anti-mask protests outside of Holyrood? The team talk about the origins of QAnon, it's appeal to certain people, what we can learn from the USA, and the potentially dangerous consequences of letting the conspiracy grow this side of the Atlantic.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, political listeners. I'm Mark Stephen, presenter of the Scotland Outdoors podcast. |
| 0:09.2 | Now, I know this is completely different to politics, but if you love nature and the outdoors, then we have some fascinating stuff for you. |
| 0:16.0 | We've been doing this for a couple of years now, and we've got everything from walking the West Highland way to the eerie and rather beautiful sound of seals singing under Arctic ice and we get to |
| 0:26.1 | talk to some lovely lovely people we do two podcasts every week one on a Saturday and one |
| 0:30.4 | on a Wednesday and if you'd like to get them a try then please subscribe to them via |
| 0:34.4 | BBC Sounds now back to Podlitical. |
| 0:44.6 | You're listening to BBC Scotland. |
| 0:58.6 | Hi, you're listening to Podlitical, BBC Scotland's podcast. That usually brings you an inside look at the big stories coming out of Hollywoods Westminster, but for the purposes of this bonus episode, something slightly different today. It is seven minutes past one on Wednesday, the 9th of December. I'm Lucy White. |
| 1:04.8 | I'm a journalist based in the Glasgow Newsroom, and Phil Sim is also coming to us from |
| 1:09.6 | Hollywood today. He is. Hello. |
| 1:11.7 | Hello there. And we're also joined by two special guests today. |
| 1:15.5 | We're joined by the editor of BBC trending Mike Wendling. Hi there, Mike. |
| 1:19.9 | Hello. How are you doing? |
| 1:21.2 | Very well, thank you. And by Dr. Joe Mulhall from the Political Action Group Hope Not Hate. |
| 1:28.1 | Hello there, Joe. Hello, how's things? Yeah, very group Hope Not Hate. Hello there Joe. |
| 1:32.4 | Hello. How's things? Yeah, very well. Thank you. Thank you both for joining us today. |
| 1:39.6 | So we thought we should have a chat about QAnon. So for anyone who doesn't know what this is, |
| 1:51.3 | although I think they've probably even heard of it, if they don't know the details, It's an unfounded conspiracy theory which started in the US, but now it's starting to be seen in some forms in the UK and in Europe. |
| 1:57.4 | And you can even see it popping up on placards at protests outside Hollywood, where Phil is right now. |
| 1:59.8 | Although there isn't a protest going on right now, Phil, is there? Not that I have noticed. No. It is an increasingly thing that you see these little hashtags and things popping up. |
| 2:04.9 | But no matter what the protest is, you tend to see these little cues and things popping up now. |
| 2:09.0 | And that's so interesting because I think previously you might have thought something that was totally just a US thing. |
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