In The News How the culture wars spread to Ireland
Mar 9, 2026
Mike Sheridan, filmmaker and former critic who made Amplified, explores how US culture-war rhetoric spread to Ireland. He traces historical roots, media amplification and social media’s role. The conversation examines how imported misinformation and high-profile commentators intensified unrest and how events in Dublin echo broader transnational divides.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Evangelical Networks Converted Moral Issues Into Political Power
- Evangelical organising turned moral issues like abortion into sustained political campaigns by funding, media and institutional support.
- Sheridan points to Frank Schaefer and Jerry Falwell's networks linking evangelical messaging to Republican politics and Supreme Court outcomes.
Pandemic Accelerated Online Radicalisation Through Isolation
- The pandemic intensified mistrust and drove many people online where confirmation bias and tribalism deepened conspiratorial beliefs.
- Sheridan says people "broke their brains" during lockdowns and formed lasting online tribes that fed contrarian worldviews.
Conspiracy Narratives Evolve By Reusing Real Scandals
- QAnon framed an elite cabal narrative that migrated from absurdity (Pizzagate) to partial resonance after real scandals like Epstein.
- Sheridan notes some far-right actors reinterpret true elite wrongdoing to validate broader conspiracies.