Mike Wendling

I recently spoke to some American college students. They are far, far safer in London than they will be at their home university in New York. Yet why do some of their relatives think the opposite is the case? thedayofreckoning.substack.com/p/whats-real...

And now @wendling.bsky.social is taking us beyond fact checking, talking about his experiences as a journalist covering and tackling conspiracy theories and more. #ESCLiverpool

Police, tipped off by a co-worker, appear to have thwarted a white supremacist neo-nazi mass shooting at a Hindu temple in Illinois. abc7chicago.com/amp/post/pal...

Curious media blackout on a case involving an Oxford professor and culture warrior thedayofreckoning.substack.com/p/oxford-pro...

i no longer believe that Peter Thiel and democracy are compatible

I guess sponsoring a conference of fact-checkers, think tankers, journalists and other assorted geeks is EUROPE CENSORS AMERICANS if you squint really really really hard substack.com/@shellenberg...

Pete Hegseth’s live execution announcement was made to Jack Posobiec, a Pizzagate conspiracy theorist who wrote a book called “Unhumans” which claims leftists are subhuman communists. The book was endorsed by VP JD Vance. Gosh I wonder where all this is going… www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The Trump administration wants to protect russian disinformation. disa.org/state-depart...

It’s odd to be an American speaker at #disinfo2026 after the US government has pressured its allies to drop support … while I’d conservatively say half of what I’ve heard on panels concerns *Russian* disinformation 🤔 www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

The US State Department has decided to showcase its love of free speech by bullying an independent research conference. #Disinfo2026 "For too long, governments have exploited the pretext of combatting misinformation and disinformation for politically motivated reasons" 🤡🤡🤡 So FrEe SpEeCh, amirite?

And there it is #disinfo2026

Exposing my disinformation campaign is censorship! I should be allowed to mislead people without anyone criticizing.

Two panels at the #Disinfo2026 conference seem to have particularly upset the MAGA people. It would be a shame if people weren’t aware of them.

Michael Shellenberger appears to be preparing another piece falsely claiming that a conference of researchers studying disinformation is tantamount to a shadowy cabal of censorship. Spoiler alert: conferences, in fact, are the definition of free speech. My response to his questions is below.

Shellenberger is seemingly preparing to smear a bunch of people attending a conference on disinformation this week. Ten bucks says he’s gonna claim the researchers there are cEnSoRiNg yOu!!!1 In reality they’re presenting their ideas. Talking. Debating. You know, using their speech rights.

An example of FIMI (Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference) in action at the @disinfo.eu conference? Apparently someone in the U.S. did not agree with the topic of a session named "USA as a FIMI threat: acknowledge, adapt, push back" and applied pressure on the sponsors...

I’m at this year’s EUvsDisinfo conference speaking on a panel about conspiracies, bad actors and the limits of fact-checking. The anti-anti-disinformation lobby isn’t happy. thedayofreckoning.substack.com/p/a-note-fro...

It’s not like those conspiracy theorists are setting off bombs or anything like … oh www.bbc.com/news/article... Upon arrest he thought he was getting nabbed for Facebook posts 🤔

A man was arrested for making terroristic threats and released shortly after. Not in the UK but in … Texas? www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

What a weird little conspiracy shindig. Trump has no need for the J6ers and the prospect of government cash appears remote. But still, they are out of prison and spreading crazy nonsense. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/28/u...

Why would you not want to stop foreign interference in elections? People have their reasons. thedayofreckoning.substack.com/p/russia-gat...

Starting my day making some art.

One of the reasons Russian disinformation operations have been so successful in dividing countries is because some very powerful people and interest groups in the West continue to deny they exist. thedayofreckoning.substack.com/p/russia-gat...

The average anti-immigrant group gives air to a whole host of conspiracy theories - chemtrails, “great replacement”, fake wars, anti-vax, Covid conspiracies and more. Something to keep in mind when their leaders say they are reasonable people with legitimate concerns.

London is not like you think it is. A conspiracy-obsessed political project and big tech have conspired to paint a distorted picture of one of the world’s greatest cities. thedayofreckoning.substack.com/p/why-do-so-...

London is not like you think it is. A conspiracy-obsessed political project and big tech have conspired to paint a distorted picture of one of the world’s greatest cities. thedayofreckoning.substack.com/p/why-do-so-...

According to these documents, which seem to be largely an interview with his father, Thomas Crook bears a resemblance to Luigi Mangione, and neither seem particularly part of a “crazy lib Dem” or “MAGA nut” camp nypost.com/2026/09/14/u...

So many people have a warped view of London and now there’s new research which spells it all out. Two groups in particular overestimate the danger of the capital: Reform supporters and TikTok users. And yet London is safer than ever. What’s going on? thedayofreckoning.substack.com/p/why-do-so-...

The slightly more serious and mainstream version of the alt-right - the alt-light, as it used to be called - has successfully rebranded as “New Right”. It’s the same old ideas though. open.substack.com/pub/noahpini...

Extreme views dressed up as unfunny “satire” … defence of paedophilia … schoolboy stupidity masquerading as conservative thought … has The Spectator found its next Rod Liddle? spectator.com/article/i-am...

As usually these days the “satire” spewed out by “provocateurs” is unfunny, outrageous, and tells you exactly how awful (no joking) they really are. archive.ph/xVhyf

When given the choice to stand up for a far-right masked thug or a lifeboat volunteer, this member of parliament knows which side he’s on

How do you trigger a neo-fascist? Call them “far right”. substack.com/@thedayofrec...

Why do extremists hate being called far right? And how do they use weird language about mottes and baileys to dishonestly hide their true beliefs? thedayofreckoning.substack.com/p/yes-those-...

Tucker Carlson, apparently attempting to further position himself as a slightly more scholarly version of Candace Owens, is releasing a series all about the “cover up” over the Oklahoma City bombing. tuckercarlson.com/theokcbombfi...

It appears that some people are upset about the description of yesterday’s balaclava-clad activists led by a Tommy Robinson ally as “far right”. They insist they are just ordinary mainstream people, even though they look like thugs, act like fascists, and are led by extremists.

A masked far-right proto-militia has blocked traffic at the port of Dover. Stopping legitimate commerce is I guess a protest against illegal immigration. This chubby bloke in a Yankees hat is filming the whole thing for propaganda purposes.

A bunch of right-wing influencers including one of the trollish new Pentagon-accredited reporters accepted free trips to Poland and hung out with a nationalist politician without disclosing the funding source. The story was broken by a conservative Substack: www.currentrevolt.com/p/texas-inde...

When a young athlete dies, the anti-vaxxers rise up, and blame the tragedy on vaccines. *Every single time.* It’s called ghouling and even though the pandemic has faded, the anti-vaccine activists are still out there, ready to pounce. thedayofreckoning.substack.com/p/ghoulish-a...

Murder rates at Oxford University in the late medieval period were enormous, roughly the same as present day Kingston or the most dangerous parts of Chicago immediately post Covid. www.cam.ac.uk/stories/medi...

I'm working on a starter pack... its focus is Information Warfare, Covert Ops and Propaganda... trying to fill gaps on existing lists of 'disinfo' experts and bring in a wider sweep of experts on covert ops & information warfare, broadly defined. go.bsky.app/7NTCqKZ

NEW: My Udemy course 'Propaganda & Disinformation for Beginners' has helped students in 26 countries worldwide strengthen their armour against disinformation since it launched 2 years ago. Techniques Cambridge Analytica used to secretly profile millions have become a vastly profitable industry.. /1

How it works: -MAGA influencer highlights tragic story of the death of a young athlete -around half of responses mention “vaccines” -people drawn in by MAGA or just the emotional content get exposed to anti-vax conspiracy theory. -Repeat -Repeat -Repeat Repeat Repeat Repeat x.com/collinrugg/s...

Another big W for the Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A self-described ‘race realist’ kicked off the media storm against Jason Arday. What’s a ‘race realist’, and does the theory – also known as ‘scientific racism’ – have any more merit than, say, the idea that the earth is flat? substack.com/home/post/p-...

What’s a ‘race realist’? Why do none of the news articles about the sad story of Jason Arday explain that term? Here’s how a dusty old idea from the alt-right reared its head and set off a tragic chain of events: thedayofreckoning.substack.com/p/what-is-ra...

What started as a wacky alt-right conspiracy theory is now being stated outright by some of the most influential people in the world. Fact checking - even by Musk’s own systems - can’t stop the lies from spreading.

We have some new speaker announcements this week. Firstly @jimalkhalili.bsky.social! Jim Al-Khalili is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Surrey and one of Britain’s leading science communicators.

Next up we have @wendling.bsky.social. Mike Wendling is a journalist who specialises in covering the US and international far-right, conspiracy theories and fringe movements and American politics.

The number of pigeons shot and killed on the London Underground in two years roughly the same as the number of humans shot and killed in New York City. And yet Elon Musk believes Britain is a scary, dangerous place. Maybe he’s living in a bubble? apple.news/AaekjMvuFRCW...