Memes have long been dismissed as inside jokes with no political importance. Nothing could be further from the truth. While the media and most politicians struggle to harness the organizing power of the internet, the “redpill right” weaponizes memes, pushing conspiracy theories and disinformation into the mainstream to drag people down the rabbit hole.

Media expert Joan Donovan’s “Meme Wars: The Untold Story of the Online Battles Upending Democracy in America” is the first major account of how “Stop the Steal” went from online to real life, from the wires to the weeds. Join in as she and Own Your Data Foundation’s Brittany Kaiser pull back the curtain on the digital war rooms in which a vast collection of antiesablishmentarians use memes and social media to seek out new recruits, spread ideologies, and remake America according to their desires. Book signings to follow.