REMINDER: FOUNDER’S DAY — A Master Class in Decoding Trolls and Countering Disinfolklore

Founder’s Day is Sunday, 3/10, 1:30 pm PT. We will be joined by cultural archeologist Stephen Douglas of Decoding Trolls, Disinfolklore and Power of Mana. Registration link for Founding Members inside

***Founding members will find the registration link below the paywall. To join us, please upgrade your membership here.***

As I work on a print recap featuring RadPod’s recent interview with Jason Stanley, while preparing for our interview with Stephen Douglas, I am counting my blessings. To have access to so many brilliant minds informing and elevating my work is something I never take for granted. I apply what I learn immediately, and it comes out in the various reports I write.

At the moment, I can’t stop laughing about a photo making the rounds of Steve Bannon and Viktor Orbán, because I don’t see two supervillain evildoers — I see two ravenous trolls about to be knocked off the bridge by some smart billy goats. Of course, that is due to the teachings of Stephen Douglas of Disinfolklore, Decoding Trolls, and Power of Mana.

Looking forward to seeing many of you Sunday, as we learn from Stephen and put his research into action.

Thank you to everyone upgrading their memberships to Founding Member. You are helping me immensely. Peace of mind as I do this work is a true gift.

Founding Members Ask — Working Harder

Those of you who already watched RadPod’s Ep87 Countering Disinfolklore got a preview of coming attractions.

Here are the details about our event:

• I am honored that cultural archeologist Stephen Douglas will be joining our Founder’s Day event this Sunday, at 1:30 pm PT. Please take note of the early start time — he’s in the UK, and we will begin after my RadPod co-host Jim Stewartson’s Mind-War meetup concludes.

I have been thinking so much about our interview with Stephen, who has put structure and framework to the narrative warfare we find ourselves in.

Like a mantra, all day I have been saying to myself, ‘What we are experiencing is not random chaos.’ No, the world has not gone mind, it’s being driven mad by oligarchs engaging in what Stephen’s has identified as disinfolklore.

As an international lawyer and diplomat, he found himself on a bridge in Ukraine, ensuring safe passage of civilians while listening to narratives coming from the Russian side that sounded folkloric to him.

He would then find the same narratives planted in Facebook and the media, and he began to dive into the origins of what he calls disinfolklore. He discovered that what we are experiencing is a power grab by oligarchs trying to destroy the post-World War II human rights gains through narrative warfare — they’re trying to get rid of constraints on their power. That it led him to a Pat Buchanan column from a decade ago on Putin’s Paleoconservative moment is nothing more than jaw-dropping. He manages to connect the dots in his work to show how it’s all about coercive control through story-telling, where the trolls like Putin and Trump — in their telling — never lose. As he described in my Byline Supplement Witch Switch article, they smuggle their bad policies in through made-up culture wars, which is cover for their incompetence.

Byline Supplement — ‘The Witch Switch’

I will have much more to say about our interview with Stephen in coming days, because I am still processing it, but just think about this: he said he was a witness to a stealth genocide in Ukraine and didn’t know it because of disinfolklore — he now is dedicating all his time to exposing the techniques so we can protect ourselves and and our world. I first learned of his work through the brilliant team at Byline Supplement:

Disinfolklore

Those who attend Founder’s Day will learn how to fine-tune trolling radar, engage in countering disinfolklore, and learn how to troll for the side of good.

You can learn more about Stephen’s work here:

• You can find him on Twitter/X at DecodingTrolls - also, Bluesky, Mastodon

• And follow his substacks at disinfolklore.net; powerofmana.net; decodingtrolls.net

Founding Members, donors, and long-time supporters will find the link to register for the event below. Thank you as always for your support of my work.

REGISTER HERE…