QAA Podcast

Pokémon Go is more than a worldwide craze that inspired millions to hunt Zigzagoons through smartphone-enabled alternate reality. According to intelligence officials in several countries, it’s also an information security threat. Since the game’s release by game developer Niantic in 2016, people have pondered the potential uses of the data that’s collected by aspiring PokéMasters as they meander outside and scan virtual PokéStops. Travis, Jake, Julian, and Liv dive into why a children’s game about collecting fighting pets has inspired such paranoia. Including how Niantic’s startup ancestor Keyhole, Inc. was saved from bankruptcy by the CIA, how Niantic’s former parent company Google committed one of the worst data privacy violations in history through the “Wi-Spy” scandal, and Niantic’s recent announcement that Pokemon Go data is being used to produce an artificial intelligence system they call a Large Geospatial Model (LGM). Gotta Catch ‘Em All! And by “Em All” we mean “massive amounts of data from everyone’s smartphones for undisclosed purposes.” Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/qaa 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 Consumer Watchdog. Lost In The Cloud: Google And the US Government https://insidegoogle.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/GOOGGovfinal012411.pdf Gawker. Pokemon Go Is A Government Surveillance Psyop Conspiracy https://web.archive.org/web/20160712023458/http://blackbag.gawker.com/pokemon-go-is-a-government-surveillance-psyop-conspirac-1783461240 Pando. Oakland emails give another glimpse into the Google-Military-Surveillance Complex https://web.archive.org/web/20150819032041/https://pando.com/2014/03/07/the-google-military-surveillance-complex/ Financial Times. Lunch with the FT: Pokémon Go creator John Hanke https://www-ft-com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/content/596ec790-afe8-11e6-9c37-5787335499a0 Dalton, Craig M. "Sovereigns, spooks, and hackers: An early history of Google geo services and map mashups." Cartographica: The International Journal for Geographic Information and Geovisualization 48.4 (2013): 261-274. Kilday, Bill. Never lost again: The Google mapping revolution that sparked new industries and augmented our reality. Harper Business, 2018. Wes’s Blog. My Personal Journey On Google Earth https://westhierry.blogspot.com/2008/07/my-personal-journey-on-google-earth.html Intercept. Privacy Scandal Haunts Pokemon Go CEO https://theintercept.com/2016/08/09/privacy-scandal-haunts-pokemon-gos-ceo/ CJR. Poor coverage of Google’s Street View scandal settlement https://www.cjr.org/the_audit/misleading_coverage_of_street.php RFI. Pokemon Go to jail - Frenchman nabbed hunting Pokemon on Indonesian military base. https://www.rfi.fr/en/asia-pacific/20160719-pokemon-go-jail-frenchman-nabbed-hunting-pokemon-indonesian-military-base CIA Office of Security. Are you At An Agency Facility? Pokemon NO! https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/are%20you%20at%20an%20agency%20faci%5B15210727%5D.pdf Foreign Policy. The Great Pokemon Go Spy Panic. https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/11/29/pokemongo-cia-nsa-intelligence-spying/ Niantic Labs. Building a Large Geospatial Model to Achieve Spatial Intelligence https://nianticlabs.com/news/largegeospatialmodel

The election of Donald Trump means that the Christian right expects to have even more political influence than they did before. That might be bad news for those of us who don’t believe worldly events are merely the byproducts of a transcendent spiritual battle of good vs. evil. To better understand the philosophy and goals of American theocrats, Travis and Jake spoke to Talia Lavin, author of Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America. We explore her research into how rightwing evangelical Christians have worked to become a powerful constituency over past five decades, the modern-day prophets and apostles who drive the movement, the Christian Patriarchy movement which justifies the subjugation of women and the abuse of children, and why extremist Christians so easily became online conspiracy theorists. It’s challenging subject matter which is made more palatable by Talia’s deep knowledge and Jake making an overextended metaphor about eating moldy bagels. Talia Lavin on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/swordsjew.bsky.social Wild Faith: How The Christian Right Is Taking Over America by Talia Lavin https://bookshop.org/p/books/wild-faith-how-the-christian-right-is-taking-over-america-talia-lavin/21057649 Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: www.patreon.com/QAA Editing by Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe, Nick Sena, Jake Rockatansky. 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.

Being told to run for president by his dead dog. Cosplaying as a superhero called “General Ancap”. Beating up a piñata of Argentina’s central bank on television. Sleeping in a bed with his sister and their dogs. Javier Milei is Donald Trump’s “favorite president” of Argentina and has a lifestyle verging on parody. He’s also been screwing up the country in short order. Our guest writer is Caio Almendra, editor at The Intercept Brasil. Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/qaa Caio Almendra: https://x.com/CaioAlmendra / https://www.intercept.com.br Editing by Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Jake Rockatansky. 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.

Cursed McDonald’s humiliation rituals, secret messages sent through a filet-o-fish, Elon posting a QAnon News Network meme, UFO disclosure in congress, and Tucker Carlson being attacked by a demon in his sleep. Sit down and eat, children. Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/qaa Editing by Corey Klotz. Theme by Nick Sena. Additional music by Pontus Berghe, Nick Sena, Jake Rockatansky. 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.