Ep. 2: Dracula’s Tale of Two Conspiracies

When it was first published in 1897, Bram Stoker’s Dracula immediately triggered a spate of strong emotional responses. These responses partly stemmed from its action-movie depiction of Christianity, but also partly from the xenophobic fears of European Jews that lurk beneath its titular monster. Dracula also introduced the idea of a holy conspiracy, whose members must conduct their sacred fight against evil in secret. In this episode, we talk about how a century of adaptations has preserved the notion of dueling conspiracies, and thereby provided the narrative that fuels QAnon, the Oath Keepers, and other modern Crusaders consumed with their own secret plot to take America back from the “globalist” monsters they fear and loathe.

Voice acting: Christian Young Valdovinos, Alfred Kwong, Lucas Kwong, Naomi Kwong

For Further Reading:

  • Stephen Arata, Fictions Of Loss
  • Barbara Belford,  Bram Stoker: A Biography Of The Author Of Dracula
  • Roger Luckhurst, ed. The Cambridge Companion To Dracula
  • Raymond McNally and Radu Florescu, In Search Of Dracula: The History Of Dracula And Vampires
  • David Skal, Something In The Blood: The Untold Story Of Bram Stoker, The Man Who Wrote Dracula 
  • Bram Stoker And Valdimar Asmundsson, Powers Of Darkness: The Lost Version Of Dracula.
  • Bram Stoker, Dracula.

Audio from various films used under fair/educational use laws.

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