To all fans of political conspiracy theories and those following the situation in the US, I highly recommend the English-language podcast series BBC The Coming Storm (link), which returns for its third season on September 11, 2024. In the first episode, Gabriel Gatehouse delves deeper into the world of American conspiracy culture. On the eve of the US presidential elections, Gatehouse explores how millions of Americans came to believe that their democracy has been taken over by a mysterious elite known as the Deep State.

“Some people at the highest levels need to be made an example of with an execution or two or three.” Alan Hostetter during a protest

In the inaugural episode, we hear the stories of participants in the January 6th riots, as well as narratives surrounding the attack on the Capitol, including the story of Alan Hostetter, a former police chief and yoga teacher who became a prominent pro-Trump activist after protesting lockdowns. Hostetter, known for conspiracy theories and radical rhetoric, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for his role in a conspiracy and for attempting to block the certification of the 2020 election results. His story reveals how someone with a spiritual background in yoga (!) and sound therapy could fall into the trap of extreme theories, referencing QAnon, false disinformation narratives, and the belief that the Capitol riots were an inside job. He was a leading figure in the protests, actively calling for violence.

The series is produced by Lucy Proctor, an experienced investigative journalist at the BBC, specializing in documentaries on political subcultures and conspiracy theories. I highly recommend this series.

For those interested, I also recommend visiting seditiontracker.com, which maintains a detailed database of individuals involved in the Capitol attack. The site tracks protest participants, and currently, around 1,029 people have been identified and thoroughly documented.

• The Coming Storm
• BBC
• Podcasts
• Conspiracy Theories
• USA
• Politics
• Deep State