The Quiet Damage
QAnon and the Destruction of the American Family
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Narrated by:
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Jesselyn Cook
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By:
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Jesselyn Cook
About this listen
The “gripping” (The Atlantic) story of five families shattered by pernicious, pervasive conspiracy theories, and how we might set ourselves free from a crisis that could haunt American life for generations.
“Excellent . . . This is the intimate side of the cold civil war America has been stuck in for nearly a decade.”—Michelle Goldberg, The New York Times
“SHED MY DNA”: three excruciating words uttered by a QAnon-obsessed mother, once a highly respected lawyer, to her only son, once the closest person in her life. QAnon beliefs and adjacent conspiracy theories have had devastating political consequences as they’ve exploded in popularity. What’s often overlooked is the lasting havoc they wreak on our society at its most basic and intimate level—the family.
In The Quiet Damage, celebrated reporter Jesselyn Cook paints a harrowing portrait of the vulnerabilities that have left so many of us susceptible to outrageous falsehoods promising order, purpose, and control. Braided throughout are the stories of five American families: an elderly couple whose fifty-year romance takes a heartbreaking turn; millennial sisters of color who grew up in dire poverty—one to become a BLM activist, the other, a hardcore conspiracy theorist pulling her little boy down the rabbit hole with her; a Bay Area hippie-type and her business-executive fiancé, who must decide whether to stay with her as she turns into a stranger before his eyes; evangelical parents whose simple life in a sleepy suburb spirals into delusion-fueled chaos; and a rural mother-son duo who, after carrying each other through unspeakable tragedy, stop speaking at all as ludicrous untruths shatter a bond long thought unbreakable.
Charting the arc of each believer’s path from their first intersection with conspiracy theories to the depths of their cultish conviction, to—in some cases—their rejection of disinformation and the mending of fractured relationships, Cook offers a rare, intimate look into the psychology of how and why ordinary people come to believe the unbelievable. Profound, brilliantly researched, and beautifully written, The Quiet Damage lays bare how we have been taken hostage by grifters peddling lies built on false hope—and how we might release our loved ones, and ourselves, from their grasp.
©2024 Jesselyn Cook (P)2024 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“Where the book shines is in creating empathy for a group of people frequently dismissed or misunderstood, and for their grieving and divided families . . . By delving into the ways people become susceptible to QAnon, Cook uncovers a deeper truth: Many of us go through life with a gaping hole caused by trauma, isolation or shame, and we find healthy and unhealthy ways to fill it. For people like Doris and Kendra, QAnon’s message, however insane it sounds (and is), makes them feel valued and valuable.”—The New York Times
“Each is tragic and heartbreaking in its own way. All feel highly pertinent to the political realities of the moment, where great masses of people share beliefs that are demonstrably untrue.”—The Bulwark
“Cook illuminates vividly the experience of loving someone in crisis—a crisis you can’t fully understand and definitely didn’t anticipate—and the impossible question of how long to stand by them. . . . The stories are gripping not just because QAnon is so bewilderingly strange but also because the idea of a person you love disappearing before your eyes is so terrible—and perhaps for many readers, relatable. . . . [T]he book feels briefly hopeful. With patience and empathy, it seems to suggest, you can reach someone who once felt very, very far away.”—The Atlantic
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Over the next five years, millions of more Americans are expected to take Ozempic and other GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, which are rapidly being recognized as the miracle drugs of this century. If you’re not on them, you’ll probably know someone who is. What are the implications of the widespread use of these drugs, both on our bodies and our society? In this show, you’ll meet people across America who are either taking the jab or thinking about it, and the shocking intentional and unintentional results they are seeing.
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More balanced than expected and very comprehensive
- By Summer Rodriguez on 01-03-25
By: Scaachi Koul
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The Parole Room
- By: Ben Austen
- Narrated by: Ben Austen
- Length: 4 hrs and 25 mins
- Original Recording
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Will Johnnie Veal—convicted of the murder of two police officers in 1970—be granted parole after 50 years in prison? How can he convince the parole board he’s reformed when he insists he’s innocent? What is prison time even supposed to accomplish? These are the questions that propel The Parole Room forward as it builds toward Johnnie’s 20th parole hearing—after 19 rejections.
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Well done
- By Cynthia Duncan on 10-13-24
By: Ben Austen
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Disinformation is designed to evoke a strong emotional response to push us toward more extreme views, unable to find common ground with others. The false claims that led to the breathtaking attack on our Capitol in 2020 may have been only a dress rehearsal. Attack from Within shows us how to prevent it from happening again, thus preserving our country's hard-won democracy.
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One reporter takes an immersive dive into white supremacy's explosive online presence, exploring the undercurrents of propaganda, racism, misogyny, and history that led us to where we are now. Shocking, humorous, and merciless in equal measure, Culture Warlords explores some of the vilest subcultures on the web - and shows us how we can fight back.
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In 2018 Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene took to social media to share her suspicions that the California wildfires were started by 'space solar generators' which were funded by powerful, mysterious backers. Instantly, thousands of people rallied around her, blaming the fires on "Jewish space lasers" and, ultimately, the Rothschild family. For more than 200 years, the name "Rothschild" has been synonymous with two things: great wealth, and conspiracy theories about what they're "really doing" with it.
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In QAnon and On, Guardian columnist Van Badham delves headfirst into the QAnon conspiracy theory, unpicking the why, how and who behind this century’s most dangerous and far-fetched internet cult. From Gamergate to Pizzagate and beyond to QAnon, internet manipulation and disinformation campaigns have grown to a geopolitical scale and spilled into real life with devastating consequences, entangling everyone from politicians to Hollywood celebrities.
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On the night of January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler leaned out of a spotlit window of the Reich chancellery in Berlin, bursting with joy. The moment seemed unbelievable, even to Hitler. After an improbable political journey that came close to faltering on many occasions, his march to power had finally succeeded. While the path of Hitler's rise has been told in books covering larger portions of his life, no previous work has focused solely on his eight-year climb to rule: 1925-1933.
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From school boards to the Supreme Court, Christian theocracy is ascendant in America—and only through exploring its motivations and impacts can we understand the crisis we face. In Wild Faith, Lavin fearlessly confronts whether our democracy can survive an organized, fervent theocratic movement, one that seeks to impose its religious beliefs on American citizens.
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With the Soviet Union extinct, Saddam Hussein defeated, and U.S. power at its zenith, the early 1990s promised a “kinder, gentler America.” Instead, it was a period of rising anger and domestic turmoil, anticipating the polarization and resurgent extremism we know today. In When the Clock Broke, the acclaimed political writer John Ganz tells the story of America’s late-century discontents.
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For all the attempts to understand the state of American politics and the blue/red divide, we've ignored what economic and cultural loss can do to pride. What happens, Arlie Russell Hochschild asks, when a proud people in a hard-hit region suffer the deep loss of pride and are confronted with a powerful political appeal that makes it feel "stolen"? Hochschild's research drew her to Pikeville, Kentucky, in the heart of Appalachia, within the whitest and second-poorest congressional district in the nation.
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A deep dive into the culture and beliefs of people in Appalachia
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Death Row Welcomes You
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In 2018, after nearly a decade's hiatus, the state of Tennessee began executing death row inmates, bucking national trends that showed the death penalty in decline. In less than two years, the state put seven men to death. It was an execution spree unlike any seen in Tennessee since the 1940s, only brought to a halt by a global pandemic. Award-winning journalist Steven Hale was the leading reporter on these executions, covering them both locally for the Nashville Scene alt-weekly and nationally for The Appeal.
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Compelling and tragic.
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Guilty Creatures
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Mike and Denise Williams had a tight knit, seemingly unbreakable bond with childhood friends, Brian and Kathy Winchester. The two couples were devout, hardworking Baptists who lived perfect, quintessentially Southern lives. Their friendship seemed ironclad. That is, until December 16, 2000, when Denise’s husband Mike disappeared while duck hunting on Lake Seminole. After no body was found, everyone assumed that Mike had drowned in a tragic accident, his body eaten by alligators. But things took an unexpected turn when Brian Winchester divorced his wife and married Denise.
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Mostly Filler
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Baptistland
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- By: Christa Brown
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- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
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Overall
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Story
When Christa Brown first spoke out about the sexual abuse she endured in her Texas childhood church, she never imagined it would expose the ethical chasm at the core of the Southern Baptist Convention: male religious leaders so focused on institutional protection that they sacrifice the safety of children. A book about speaking out and speaking up, Baptistland weaves together Christa’s revealing story of hope amid Southern patriarchy and religious fundamentalism.
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It was very boring.
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What listeners say about The Quiet Damage
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- Cary McKay
- 08-05-24
Great storytelling
Really loved the stories presented. Reminded me of people I know who fell down the “rabbit hole.”
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- Linda
- 08-16-24
Honest look at the damage conspiracy theories wreck on society.
Really good listen and gave me a lot of insight in some things going on right now.
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- Amazon Customer
- 09-22-24
The Stories
Compassionate, nuanced stories of people’s lives gripped by disinformation. Useful insight. The author seems ethical and accountable in telling other people’s stories.
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- John O
- 09-26-24
Great book. All too relatable.
Some great work here. Essential reading for anyone who’s lost a family member to such nonsense.
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- Sammael Z
- 08-16-24
Gripping storytelling and tight pacing
An insight window into wtf happened to everyone these past few years, told through the perspectives of five different people.
No gimmicks or chintzy cliches, you’ll finish this book with a sense of awareness and compassion about your social circles, and how no one is immune to the allure of conspiracy theories.
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- Anonymous User
- 09-12-24
Eye opening
Changed my viewpoint of this group. Instead of feeling anger I feel more sad for the friends and families.
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- EC
- 08-04-24
one of the finest pieces of investigative journalism I've ever seen
Reeve lays down world-class, 'effortlessly' polished writing in service of a deeply complex story told with stunningly elegant simplicity. Yesterday I'd have cited Michael Lewis's work on "The Premonition" and "The Fifth Risk" as a gold-standard for this style of deep, character-driven reporting, but at this point he should be watching his back. S*** like this is what Pulitzers are made for.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Joshua M. Kuo
- 09-30-24
Engaging story telling
Not only is the content engaging and well written, the author’s narration captures the minute details and intricate emotions of the book. Well worth the audio experience.
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1 person found this helpful
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- B. Burgdorf
- 08-02-24
fascinating and sad
so disheartening and sad the amount of damage done to relationships because of QAnon.
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- Amazon Customer
- 09-19-24
Hit close to home
My brother and I agree there was no world where we wouldn’t grow up in a cult. With my mother at the helm the only question was which one.
Her decent into Qanon was as predictable as it was tragic, and the straw that broke the camel’s back. We are both estranged from her now. My estrangement is slightly softer than my brothers but it’s a terrible loss either way. Reading this gave me insight and simplified my view of her motivations. It made me sad, and helped lead me to a place of compassion. I don’t think we will ever have a story of restoration or reconciliation, but thankfully love does not require either to exist.
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