Good morning Readers,
I apologize for my absence. Critical matters diverted my attention. Winter is a hard time for me. I get very depressed and it affects my work. I had to take some time off and retreat from the world.
I got paid! First money I've made as a science fiction writer. Feels good. I spent it on my bills.
At Thanksgiving my cousin introduced me to a fascinating podcast that is a gateway into a complex conspiracy mythos or lore that goes beyond the pale in terms of wild imagination. The podcast, Knowledge Fight, typically covers Alex Jones' radio show and analyzes his conspiracy allegations from a critical/skeptical perspective. They have a wacky wednesday though where they take a break from AJ and delve into the strange world of "Project Camelot," a conspiracy platform franchise hosted by a very strange lady named Kerry Cassidy who has a problematic relationship with a convicted murderer and sociopathic compulsive manipulator and liar named Mark Richards, AKA "The Pendragon of Marin." For those with an interest in this story, I highly recommend you start with an episode of a different podcast, The Dollop, which covers the Pendragon Plot. It's a bizarre true crime story. And for the Further Adventures of Mark Richards, AKA Pendragon, who alleges he is secretly a member of the crypto-organization "Space Command" who fights evil aliens with the aid of space raptors whose psychic princess has allied with Earth, check out the "Project Camelot Saga" episodes of Knowledge Fight.
There is a lot to be said about this bizarre conspiracy theory world, but a critical perspective shows at least one running theme: blood libel, anti-semitism and racism. Beneath the hippie-ish New Age and UFO stuff is a paranoid right wing narrative that is dangerous. As a secular Jew I often feel targeted by these kinds of conspiracy theories. But I will let the material speak for itself.
It makes me want to write a novel based on the mythos and characters, though. I love the idea of the princess of the space raptors having a psychic vision that her people must ally with humans against another reptilian empire. But I might nix the "reality" of this and just focus on the psychology of a master manipulator and the conspiracy theorists who platform him.
It just gets weirder from there. One of the striking things about Mark Richards, from a writer's perspective, is that he didn't only invent an elaborate conspiracy narrative, he created compelling characters. The Dutchman, Mark's adventurer father; the psychic raptor princess; the biological, conscious starship Minerva, and others take the center stage in this weird world of "non-fi sci-fi."
That being said, while many of the people featured in these episodes are con artists, a number of them are deeply traumatized or mentally ill. Some of their stories have disturbing red flags for child abuse. The views of the people platformed by the conspiracy community are often disturbing and can be triggering. But it's important to understand how the conspiracy theorist's mind works in order to defend against the sometimes subtle and sometimes overt anti-semitism and racism they endorse.