THE CONSPIRASPHERE

QANON AS THREAT

’ve written in these pages, on more than one occasion, about the strange creep of conspiracy theory and conspiracist themes into the mainstream. When I first observed this phenomenon, it was largely a form of media entertainment involving ‘look-at-the-nutters’ articles on Flat Earth theory, the Moon Landing Hoax, and generally the more exotic reaches of the Conspirasphere. In some newspapers (a couple of UK tabloids come to mind), there was even a hint of breathless sympathy for views that would not normally make it as far