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Birds Aren't Real is one of the first audiobooks that I've listened to that is made for the audiobook format so it includes audiobook centric comments and additional background noises which I feel made the audio book a lot more immersive than other books I've listened to.

That aside if this book wasn’t under the “comedy” section of non-fiction you could easily mistake this book as encouraging conspiracy culture. From the outside it's not clear from the content that it's a nonsensical movement led by Peter McIndoe. I personally picked it up thinking it was a book about the "Birds Aren't Real" movement as a gateway conspiracy? You know the silly simple ones that get people hooked -- like wellness culture and white supremacy.

And here's the thing once you get past the books administrative preamble it's obvious it's satire, but when you put into context that there are also people who think that the New York City Police Department had discovered a paedophilia ring operating out of Comet Ping Pong... you can sort of see how this book could blur the line between fact and fiction for some people. The morals of satire behind us, one of the most compelling parts of this book (at least for me) is if you've ever wondered what it feels like to rapidly fall into a conspiracy rabbit hole, and have your mind swirling with thoughts that are rooted in reality but also make you question everything you know... this is the book that simulates that feeling.

I never thought I'd find myself looking up whether bird-less eggs were real (they are) but here we are!

Because each chapter is relatively short and fast paced it feels like watching your Republican Uncles playlist of QAnon videos but instead of explaining how there is a cabal of Satanic, cannibalistic child molesters in league with the deep state the cabal is responsible for killing all the birds to replace them with government surveillance birds and it's your job, dear patriot to help repopulate the decimated bird population.

Jon Vertullo is a compelling audiobook reader who has been given the challenging job of reading Jewish Space Lasers for your entertainment. While the book is an excellent exploration of the rise and mystique of the Rothschilds—unpacking how antisemitism has fed into anti-Rothschild sentiment (and vice versa)—it can, at times, feel repetitive, especially in the earlier chapters.

You can’t fault Mike Rothschild for being thorough in his explanation of Rothschild conspiracies; the early sections occasionally veer into familiar territory, recounting similar tropes, refrains, and recurring characters across various conspiracy milieus. That said, the repetition likely serves a purpose: emphasizing just how enduring, adaptable, and sticky these narratives are.

At times, it did feel like an abridged version should be offered.

Snippy comments about the length aside, I don’t think it’s an editing failure so much as a reflection of how persistent antisemitism itself can be. You quickly learn that for decades its the same hate-filled lies over and over again.

What makes this book especially good is that it moves beyond explaining the role of texts like The Protocols of the Elders of Zion to show how conspiracy theories about Jewish people, and the Rothschilds in particular, have mutated and multiplied over generations. It's one thing to know these texts exist and what events have influenced antisemetic movements, it’s another to see how those ideas were repeated, adapted, and reintroduced into mainstream and fringe belief systems alike—on both the far right and the far left.

Rothschild doesn’t just catalogue these conspiracies he explores how these narratives are kept alive, from media grifters to populist politicians. If you’ve ever wondered how people still believe this stuff, this is a book that can help that.

Jewish Space Lasers is as much an exploration of history as it is of media. It isn’t the lightest listening, but if you’re looking for the long view—how modern-day antisemitism is rooted in two centuries of financial paranoia, scapegoating, and conspiracy-laced storytelling—the audiobook is well worth your time.