Author: Carmen Celestini

Conspiracy Theories about the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Shooting

This week I have spoken to CBC News Morning Live and CBC Radio Kitchener about the rise of conspiracy theories associated with the attempted assassination of President Trump and the Administration leadership at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Many on the left of the political spectrum seemingly instantly distrusted what occurred and spread numerous conspiracies online.

Mainstreaming the Camp of Saints

Last week The National Post and the Washington Examiner had articles focused on the book, The Camp of Saints. The book is one of the most racist books written and was the catalyst to the Great Replacement Conspiracy theory. Both the Post and the Examiner positioned the book as a book to be read, after Amazon had banned the book for one day. The mainstreaming of this hate is problematic on numerous levels, especially in the current climate of hate filled rhetoric about immigrants, and promotion of remigration. I spoke with Scott Martin on his podcast about the book itself, and the potential implications of it being mainstreamed.

Parody New Site, The Onion takes ownership of Infowars

Last week I spoke to CBC News about Alex Jones losing ownership of his media empire under Infowars.com. This came about after Jones was sued by the parents of those children killed in a mass shooting, that Jones consistently reported as a false flag event, where no one was harmed. The parody site, The Onion, in an attempt to assist the parents to receive the monies owed to them by Jones, bought Infowars. Jones has developed a very strong following with his conspiracy theories, and that following has grown since President Trump publicly accused Jones, Tucker Carlson, and Candace Owens of being traitors.

Constructed Victimhood – Cover Reveal

While celebrating the release of my book God’s Angry Men: The Political Legacy of the John Birch Society I am so excited to reveal the cover of the second book I have written.

Constructed Victimhood: A Pathway to Mainstreaming Hate on Social Media is an analysis of white Christian men in Canada who post on social media, to create a populist movement to change their perceived position in society. Constructing a victim status for themselves to the “oppression” of feminists, “the woke,” LGBTQ2SA, immigrants, and non-Christians these men attempt to resolve their perceived injustice at the hands of progress, through hate, populism, and extremism. This is not simply a movement online, as we witness meta-political and militia movements converging, and populist leaders appealing to their Maple MAGA, hate rhetoric. The book is available for pre-order for a release on October 15, 2026.

God’s Angry Men has Arrived!

Today I received hard copies of my book God’s Angry Men: The Political Legacy of the John Birch Society. This has been a project that has been my “child” for many years. It stems from my dissertation on the JBS, where I initially wrote about the wealthy men who were behind the Society, and the political movement they wanted to create to elect a far-right, pro-free enterprise, conservative Messiah. Using fear, conspiracy theories, culture war issues, and religion, the JBS and its wealthy backers were able to mobilize a portion of Christian conservatives to nominate Barry Goldwater. While the JBS were never taken seriously, even in scholarship, they did go below the radar after 1964, but their leadership/backers did not. This book follows the wealthy individuals that took lessons from the JBS, to establish the Moral Majority, The Council on National Policy, and The Heritage Foundation. While we dismissed the JBS, the leaders of these new political movements based on the same tactics the JBS used, led us to the moment were Project 2025 is leading the Trump Administration and his base.

God’s Angry Men – Available April 30th

My first solo authored book God’s Angry Men will be published and available on April 30, 2026.

I am so excited to share all my work with the world. Also nervous AF. This book is based on my PhD dissertation with a gynormous pile of new material.

Wonder how we got the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025? Have you heard of the Council of National Policy? You should know about it because it helped to get American where it is today.

Both these incredibly powerful organizations that have positioned America in the hellscape it is currently living in, came from the John Birch Society.

Want to learn more? Visit your local bookstore, Amazon, Indigo, or Bloomsbury.

Manosphere’s Impact on Women and Gender Diverse Communities

Louis Theroux’s documentary on the manosphere has brought the topic into the public sphere, with news outlets, influencers, and social media posts discussing what we saw. Clips of the many controversial opinions and the responses of those influencers interviewed for the film are popping up on FYP’s across platforms. Last night I spoke to CBC Radio’s On the Coast show in Vancouver BC about the impact the manosphere can have on women, girls, and gender diverse communities. The topics of politics, social media, boy moms, and tradwives all intersected in this conversation.

The Canadian Christian group, Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA)

A few weeks ago I spoke to a journalist with Uncloseted Media about a Christian nationalist group in Canada lobbying for anti-LGBTQ2SA policies. Similar in ideology to other groups in Canada, the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA), uses religious language, the notion of shared Christian values and morals regardless of dogma or denomination, to mobilize Conservative Christians in Canada,

Franklin the Turtle and the Far Right

Pete Hegseth reposted an image of Canadian children’s character Franklin the Turtle armed and shooting boats out of the water, and soon the beloved character became a viral meme of hate, misogyny, and racism. The far right has manipulated the recognizable character to express their populism and “owning of the libs.” I spoke with the Toronto Star about this new expression of hate online.