Molly Olmstead @mollyolmstead.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Thanks so much Mike! Really appreciate that coming from you 010
Reposted by Molly OlmsteadBeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 22/09/2026a great exploration of one of the pervasive scams of the Trump era, and also of how online culture turns the quirky into the exploitative and vicious slate.com/news-and-pol...slate.comIt’s the Cruelest Conspiracy on the Internet. Donald Trump Has Taken It Up. After a Dark Year, I Found the Truth.An internet conspiracy theory was killing people even before the president posted about it. I found the man who started it. He’s nothing like you’d expect. 410019
Molly Olmstead @mollyolmstead.bsky.social · 22/09/2026And I found reporting it really illuminating. I don’t know how Trump came across this conspiracy theory specifically—this isn’t a story about him—but I now have a better understanding of how one odd idea from one guy can spread until it reaches millions of people and the president of the US. 3527
Molly Olmstead @mollyolmstead.bsky.social · 22/09/2026It’s a long read, but I'd really appreciate it if you checked out my medbed story for Slate: slate.com/news-and-pol... It was a wild ride.slate.comTrump Posted About Magic Beds That Cure Cancer. Millions of Americans Believe They’re Real. I Found the Guy Who Started It All.An internet conspiracy theory was killing people even before the president posted about it. I found the man who started it. He’s nothing like you’d expect. 1022074
Molly Olmstead @mollyolmstead.bsky.social · 22/09/2026I also found the man who first put it out on the internet. I expected he would be some seedy scammer or troll or something, but when I met him out in Sedona, I found a very different kind of guy. And, tbh, he seemed sorta like a victim, too. He hates medbed scammers and he hates QAnon, it turns out. 1364
Molly Olmstead @mollyolmstead.bsky.social · 22/09/2026I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I spent the last year going all-in on medbeds. At first, I found what I expected: Qanon (or the mess of loosely connected conspiracy theories that QAnon has become). But then I traced it back in time, and I found a much stranger subculture behind it. 1373
Molly Olmstead @mollyolmstead.bsky.social · 22/09/2026People genuinely believe this! There are people who won’t take their medications because they think it’s easier to wait for the medbeds. One person told me her aunt was so convinced they were coming in the next few days, she didn’t go to a doctor for a broken arm. 1385
Molly Olmstead @mollyolmstead.bsky.social · 22/09/2026If you’ve never heard of medbeds, the basic idea is there are extremely advanced bed devices that can cure the body of literally anything. Severed limbs, cancer, aging, etc. They’re being kept secret, but soon Trump will release them for everyone. 1367
Molly Olmstead @mollyolmstead.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Almost exactly a year ago, Trump posted an AI-generated video of what I then considered to be one of the absolute weirdest and cruelest conspiracy theories out there: Medbeds. (Apologies for the thread, but this one was a real journey for me.) 26823
Molly Olmstead @mollyolmstead.bsky.social · 04/05/2026This piece started out as an attempt to get to the bottom of a clash over free speech and Southern manners and ended up a kind ode to feisty Southern grandmothers slate.com/news-and-pol...slate.comA Southern Grandma Wore a Shocking Outfit to a No Kings Protest—and Was Violently Arrested for It. I Went to Her Trial. It Was Even Worse Than I Expected.Never has a “Dick Tator” pun caused so much trouble. 14212
Molly Olmstead @mollyolmstead.bsky.social · 06/04/2026The Waffle House teleportation story from last was obviously...odd, but imo a lot of people are missing just how *conventional* the FEMA guy's type of supernatural thinking has become in American evangelicalism slate.com/life/2026/04...slate.comThere’s a Reason MAGA Figures Can’t Seem to Stop Talking About Aliens. It’s Much Darker Than It Appears.The scary part is where these beliefs are coming from. 2175
Reposted by Molly OlmsteadChloe Hadavas @hadavas.bsky.social · 17/03/2026Very excited to share that we're launching a monthly newsletter @foreignpolicy.com to showcase our growing Books coverage, including criticism, excerpts, curated reading lists, and an international fiction column. Sign up for FP Bookshelf here:foreignpolicy.comBookshelf Politics, Relations & Current Affairs – Foreign Policy 097
Reposted by Molly OlmsteadJosh Levin @joshuablevin.bsky.social · 20/02/2026Scott Hanson just said on Gold Zone that Hunter Hess (the free skier Trump called a loser) is 6-foot-9, "one of the tallest Olympians." U.S. Ski & Snowboard told me+@mollyolmstead.bsky.social that Hess is actually 6-foot flat. 6-foot-9 is a typo in his Team USA bio!!! slate.com/culture/2026...slate.comWhy a Floppy-Haired 27-Year-Old Olympic Skier Is Making Conservatives So Very, Very Angry“It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now, I think,” he said, fatefully. 121
Molly Olmstead @mollyolmstead.bsky.social · 13/01/2026Amazing, I can't wait to read this! No better writer for this! 110
Molly Olmstead @mollyolmstead.bsky.social · 09/12/2025Even if you don't buy into reports of Nick Fuentes' influence, it's clear that his kind of white nationalist edgelord internet politics are taking over classrooms. The good news, experts say, is there are ways to help kids snap out of it—if you catch it early enough slate.com/news-and-pol...slate.comYou Love Him. He Just Fell for the Most Insidious Movement in America. Now What?Too many young men are turning to Nick Fuentes’ neo-Nazi movement. Their loved ones are fighting to bring them back. 022
Reposted by Molly OlmsteadLaura Helmuth @laurahelmuth.bsky.social · 12/11/2025Tucker Carlson just keeps getting worse. Now he's bought into the chemtrails conspiracy, which is (among every other problem with it) a climate-denial ploy slate.com/news-and-pol... by @mollyolmstead.bsky.social on @slate.comslate.comTucker Carlson’s Latest Conspiracy Theory Takes Things to a Whole New LevelThe former Fox News host’s chemtrails era is upon us. 74612
Molly Olmstead @mollyolmstead.bsky.social · 30/04/2025Before the U.S. started shipping immigrants off to the terrifying Salvadoran mega-prison CECOT, YouTubers were touring it, trying on shackles and marveling at the security. Millions of people were introduced to CECOT this way—as a cool innovation in crime-fighting. slate.com/life/2025/04...slate.comThe Prison Where Trump Thinks He Can Send Anyone He Wants Became Famous for a Bizarre ReasonFor people who make videos about extreme places, the CECOT pitch was irresistible. 073
Reposted by Molly OlmsteadJack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 21/04/2025Religion aside: If Hegseth is pushed out, it'll be a blow to the growing power of conservative Calvinist "theobros." Hegseth attends a church in the small denomination co-founded by Doug Wilson, arguably the spiritual leader of theobros. religionnews.com/2024/05/31/t...religionnews.comThe second coming of Doug Wilson(RNS) — Conservatives are elevating long-controversial Idaho pastor Doug Wilson, framing him as a champion of a relatively moderate form of Christian nationalism — but critics say his ideas remain ext... 43013
Molly Olmstead @mollyolmstead.bsky.social · 21/04/2025When writing this obit, I kept asking which parts of Pope Francis' legacy could be undone. Experts all said that policies could be rolled back but that Francis had changed things more fundamentally—the Latin American pope was the first to make the church truly global. slate.com/life/2025/04...slate.comPope Francis Changed a Lot About the Church. One Thing Cannot Be Reversed.The Vatican will never be the same. 040
Reposted by Molly OlmsteadWill Sommer @willsommer.bsky.social · 09/01/2025A bloody end for Pizzagate gunman Edgar Maddison Welch, who shot up Comet Ping Pong in 2016. Police say they shot him at a traffic stop over the weekend after he pulled a gun. www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/c...charlotteobserver.com‘Pizzagate’ gunman fatally shot by police outside Charlotte in traffic stopKannapolis police said Edgar Maddison Welch pointed a gun at officers on Saturday, two of whom then fired at him. 75441115
Reposted by Molly OlmsteadAlex Kaplan @alkapdc.bsky.social · 08/01/2025Some in the far-right internet are cheering Meta rolling back its fact-checking program & its content moderation, claiming Mark Zuckerberg "kissed the ring & bowed to Donald Trump" & was "bending the knee in our direction," along with being amazed it was "this easy" to get these changes announced. 33810
Reposted by Molly OlmsteadAlex Kaplan @alkapdc.bsky.social · 08/01/2025In a Twitter/X Space last week, Brian Gamble — a board member of Michael Flynn's organization America's Future & a former CIO of Flynn & Patrick Byrne's organization The America Project — said that "it is going to take blood in the streets" in order to stop the supposed "Islamification" of the UK. 14215
Reposted by Molly OlmsteadMike Baker @mikebaker.bsky.social · 05/12/2024Let’s talk about a different aspect of Pete Hegseth: His views on religion and the military, and how the two intertwine. We have been reviewing his extensive writings and connections. Here is a closer look at some of what we’ve found. 1/11 www.nytimes.com/2024/12/05/u...nytimes.comPete Hegseth and His ‘Battle Cry’ for a New Christian CrusadeThe veteran picked to lead the Defense Department has praised the brutal religious military campaigns of the past and has called for a Christian approach to governing. 1419483
Reposted by Molly OlmsteadBob Smietana @bmietana.bsky.social · 04/12/2024Looking to talk to some folks about religion and seed oils for a story. 022
Reposted by Molly OlmsteadRobert Downen @robertdownen.bsky.social · 04/12/2024I hate to crosspost, but masks are coming off and Fundamentalist Twitter is realizing that some folks who think America should be run as a Christian nation also have other thoughts that may or may not be almost verbatim Hitler quotes. 481095212
Reposted by Molly OlmsteadDr. Jon Sawyer @jonsawyer.org · 27/11/2024People for the American Way has drawn connections between Trump's AG pick and the dominionist New Apostolic Reformation. Also note that Lance Wallnau, prominent NAR leader, boasted in October about his interview with Linda McMahon (education secretary pick). www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwat... 184
Reposted by Molly OlmsteadEviane Leidig @evianeleidig.com · 27/11/2024The conservative women’s magazine Evie has released their new cover featuring Ballerina Farm. Evie has peddled health conspiracy theories & disinfo, patriarchal relationships, and anti-LGBTQ views under an aesthetic guise. It’s time to stop saying that tradwives aren’t political. 1111030
Molly Olmstead @mollyolmstead.bsky.social · 25/11/2024As I wrote this, people kept asking if Bannon is actually still relevant, since the Trump fallout. I really think so—he has sway over the MAGA types in Congress, and his allies (the kind of people he says "I love you" to on the show) are staffing up the next administration slate.com/news-and-pol...slate.comI Just Listened to Steve Bannon’s Show for a Week. What’s Coming Is Clear.He's gloating. But he's also sounding a warning. 34821
