Finding Q: My Journey into QAnon
The sectarian conspiracy movement QAnon has long ceased to be a collection of harmless crackpots. Millions of people in the US and Europe firmly believe in a satanic world conspiracy, an alleged enlightener named “Q” and in Donald Trump as the savior. How could it come to this? It all started in 2017 on the website 4chan, one of the darkest corners of the internet. The journalist Nicky Wolf now wants to find out who is hiding behind the abbreviation Q and understand how a cryptic conspiracy riddle could become a menacing sect.
In the eight episodes of his six-hour English-language podcast, Wolf impressively explains how QAnon emerged from the cynical nihilism of the Internet trolls, grew into a parallel world and radicalized itself. who Finding Q listen will understand why conspiracy narratives have the power to tear families apart and endanger democracies. Leo Kilz
Breitscheidplatz
To this day, more than five years after the terrorist attack on the Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin, not all questions have been answered. This is in large part due to the fact that police authorities and politicians cover up facts to conceal their inglorious role in this case. In the six episodes of their podcast, Birgit Tanner and Simone Schillinger show what journalists from the RBB have found out so far and what obstacles they are confronted with when researching – they had to enforce some information from the authorities in court.
The core question is why the known assassin was not withdrawn from circulation, i.e. how real was the chance of preventing this attack. The journalists encounter a lot of sloppiness and negligence – and a system failure. “We will save until it squeaks,” Klaus Wowereit had said years earlier as Governing Mayor of Berlin. The consequences of this are not least evident in this assassination attempt: there is simply a lack of personnel and equipment to even begin to be able to monitor the dangerous scene in the capital. Stephen Fisher
The Fake Producer
You had a big dream that seemed within reach: you wanted to record records and become an international star. 16 young musicians from Germany and other European countries were expecting their big break when they were contacted by a man claiming to have contacts with the biggest talents in the music business. He called himself Geo Slam – and he promised to make all their dreams come true, but for money. The Swedish music producer demanded several tens of thousands of euros from the families of the young singers. This is what journalists of the format report CTRL_F by Funk.
In the four-part podcast, they tell how they got on the trail of the “fake producer”. The former employee of the renowned producer Red One is accused of having deceived the musical talents with false promises, put them under pressure and financially excluded them. Geo Slam itself denies the allegations. For their research, Lisa Maria Hagen and Jonas Schreijäg spoke to many of those affected and their families. The recordings give an insight into her emotional world: from the great hope of finally having been discovered to deep disappointment – and seeing the producer again in court. Anna Ernest
just love
He has done everything out of love, wants nothing but to give enlightenment: Swami Vishwananda is worshiped as God by his religious community based in the Taunus – and is said to force young men to engage in sexual activity. The allegations stretch over years and are always the same. Miles, Matthieu and so many men, who remain unnamed, describe how Vishwananda became abusive during massages. The same is true of the oaths that they swore to him, the Guru, in the utmost obedience, that they were good devotees, that they were fulfilling their “Dharma”, their life’s work. Marlene Halser and Stefan Bücheler research the cases, talk to those affected, those who have dropped out, lawyers, experts and former lovers of the guru. In six episodes they tell about the business of searching for meaning, about breakdowns and abuse of power. And explain why sexual abuse occurs so often in religious communities – regardless of whether it is a sect or a universal church. Lisa Opperman
The Trojan Horse Affair
Something always gets stuck. That is the bitter lesson of the so-called in Great Britain Trojan Horse Affair. In the fall of 2013, a copy of a letter appeared in Birmingham that allegedly revealed how Islamists were planning to gain control of the city’s schools. The excitement was great – and it remained so even after the letter had been exposed as a forgery. Because the narrative of an imminent Islamization of Great Britain fitted right-wing social and political circles too well into their agenda: They were able to campaign against Muslims and multiculturalism with reference to the alleged infiltration of the education system. The affair has helped poison the mood in the country and fuel xenophobia, specifically Islamophobia. It has cost people their jobs and some students their educational opportunities.
All of this is described by Hamza Syed, who grew up as a Muslim in Birmingham. He experienced first-hand the whirlwind that the hate campaign unleashed. Syed is now a journalist and co-host of the investigative podcast with Brian Reed S townhe researches in this eight-part English-language co-production from Serial Productions and New York Times the background from scratch again. Because a lot is still unclear to this day. Including the central question of who wrote the malicious letter. Stephen Fisher