New Disinformation and Old Diseases feat. Anna Merlan (E328)

Listen to this episode from QAA Podcast on Spotify. Hundreds of people have been arrested in Los Angeles after days of protests, which are in response to aggressive immigration raids ordered by President Trump. When people took to social media to make sense of the events, they were confronted with fake, AI-generated videos of the protests and real photos that were labelled as out-of-context by AI. Thus breaking new ground in worthless, deceitful slop. Plus, we speak to Anna Merlan at Mother Jones about her recent reporting on the RFK Jr.-connected “MAHA Institute.” That organization’s head, Leland Lehrman, has pushed extremist ideas for decades, including endorsing the conspiracist fraudulent text "Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” RFK Jr. himself is evidently embracing a genuinely anti-vax agenda in his role as Health Secretary by firing and replacing the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP). We've seen the future. And the future is an AI chatbot telling you to treat your latest typhus infection with apple cider vinegar. We've seen the future. And the future is an AI chatbot telling you to treat your latest typhus infection with apple cider vinegar. Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: https://patreon.com/qaa /// Anna Merlan on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/annamerlan.bsky.social The Head of a New RFK-Backing Group Promoted 9/11 Conspiracy Theories and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/06/leland-lehrman-make-america-healthy-again-institute-antisemitism-september-11/ Flaming Hydra https://flaminghydra.com/ // Editing by Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe. Theme Vocals by THEY/LIVE (https://instagram.com/theyylivve / https://sptfy.com/QrDm). Cover Art by Pedro Correa: (https://pedrocorrea.com) https://qaapodcast.com QAA was known as the QAnon Anonymous podcast. REFERENCES Bricks from Malaysia and New Jersey misrepresented amid LA unrest https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.49XW2T2 FACT FOCUS: A Craigslist ad is not proof of paid protesters in LA. It was posted as a prank https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-los-angeles-paid-protesters-prank-48792aa47dcc2d8eeb9547d79d530037 Fake videos and conspiracies fuel falsehoods about Los Angeles protests https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fake-videos-conspiracies-falsehoods-los-angeles-protests/ Los Angeles protests: How AI and chatbots are feeding fake news https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/truth-or-fake/20250610-meet-bob-the-ai-generated-national-guard-soldier-sparking-misinformation AI Chatbots Are Making LA Protest Disinformation Worse https://www.wired.com/story/grok-chatgpt-ai-los-angeles-protest-disinformation/