The MIDSOMMAR video is my longest and most time-consuming video to date, given the nuanced subject matter and the need to rigorously fact-check my sources. Shout-out again to the people who helped me with fact-checking at different stages: a scholar who researches the far-right (pseudonym Ragnarok), a Swedish friend (Diana J), and two Polish translators (Bazukinier and Vic Cwintal).
If you want to learn more about any of the concepts that I explore during the MIDSOMMAR video, or to access the original articles from which I took screenshots, below you can find my sources in order of appearance (not alphabetical order!).
Disclaimer: Note that sources included here don’t imply my approval of their contents, as this list includes both sources I’ve used for research purposes, as well as sources I use in the video to illustrate my points.
It is best to read this list in conjunction with watching the video, in order to understand the context in which each source has been used. e.g. David Duke’s article in this list is not a trusted source, but an example of one of the points I make in the video!
Act I: Introduction
Ganz, Jami. “Ari Aster and ‘Midsommar’ Cast Sound Off on Hypnotic Horror’s Most Chilling Scenes.” New York Daily News, July 7, 2019. https://www.nydailynews.com/2019/07/07/ari-aster-and-midsommar-cast-sound-off-on-hypnotic-horrors-most-chilling-scenes.
Introduction to Dogwhistles
Galton, Francis. Inquiries into Human Faculty. New York: MacMillan and Co., 1883. (link)
Ganz, Jami. “’There Won’t Be Anyone to Harvest the Crops.’ Coronavirus Travel Bans Squeeze Migrant Labor.” Time, March 18, 2020. https://time.com/5805487/migrant-labor-food-production-coronavirus-covid19.
Act II: Dogwhistles in MIDSOMMAR
Nordic LARPing
Antonsen, Elmer H. Runes and Germanic Linguistics. Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs [TiLSM] Ser 140. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter, Inc, 2002.
Park, Young-Bae. “The Origin of Runes and Old English Runic Inscriptions.” October 12, 2008, 77–90.
Barnes, Michael. Runes: A Handbook. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2012.
Almqvist, Imelda. Portals, Patterns, and Pathways: A Handbook for Rune Magicians, Star Gazers, and Myth Makers. London: Moon Books, 2026.
Samfundet Forn Sed Sverige. “Forn sed i samhället.” Samfundet Forn Sed Sverige. https://www.samfundetfornsed.se/kontakt/fr%C3%A5gor-och-svar/forn-sed-i-samh%C3%A4llet-44377294.
Ásatrúarfélagið. “Um Ásatrúarfélagið.” Ásatrúarfélagið. https://asatru.is/um-asatruarfelagid.
Downham, Clare. “Vikings Were Never the Pure‑bred Master Race White Supremacists Like to Portray.” The Conversation, September 28, 2017. https://theconversation.com/vikings-were-never-the-pure-bred-master-race-white-supremacists-like-to-portray-84455.
Price, Neil. “Ship-Men and Slaughter-Wolves: Pirate Polities in the Viking Age.” In Persistent Piracy: Maritime Violence and State-Formation in Global Historical Perspective, edited by Stefan Eklöf Amirell and Leos Müller, 51–68. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137352866_3.
Murphy, Luke John, Heidi R. Fuller, Peter L. T. Willan, and Monte A. Gates. “An Anatomy of the Blood Eagle: The Practicalities of Viking Torture.” Speculum 97, no. 1 (January 2022): 1–39. https://doi.org/10.1086/717332.
VLT Debatt. “Debatt: En modern ättestupa.” Vestmanlands Läns Tidning, June 11, 2020. https://www.vlt.se/opinion/debatt/debatt-en-modern-attestupa.
Idevall Hagren, Karin, and Theres Bellander. “National Discourses in (de)Legitimations of the Swedish COVID-19 Strategy.” Text & Talk 44, no. 6 (November 2024): 715–37. https://doi.org/10.1515/text-2022-0100.
Dagens Nyheter. “Insändare. ”Äldre som blir sjuka i covid-19 får inte överges”.” Dagens Nyheter, April 24, 2020. https://www.dn.se/asikt/aldre-overgesi-en-modern-form-av-attestupa.
Johnson, Carolina. “Falling Off the Cliff: Mythical Sacrifice Mirrored in Sweden’s Covid-19 Response.” Somatosphere, July 23, 2021. https://somatosphere.com/2021/falling-off-the-cliff.html.
Teir, Philip. “Den svenska coronastrategin leder tankarna till skräckfilmen ”Midsommar”.” Dagens Nyheter, May 20, 2020. https://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/philip-teir-den-svenska-coronastrategin-leder-tankarna-till-skrackfilmen-midsommar.
Anonymous. Gautrek’s Saga. Online, English Translation. (archive link)
Verelius, Olof, and Gerhard, Johannes. Gothrici et Rolfi Westrogothiae regum historia lingua antiqua gothica conscripta; quam e M.s. vetustissimo edidit, et versione notisque illustravit Olaus Verelius Antiq. Patr. Prof. Accedunt V. Cl. Joannis Schefferi Argentoratensis notae politicae. Upsaliae: Henricus Curio, 1664. (link)
Mirabal, Marisa. “’Midsommar’ Production Designer Henrik Svensson Discusses The Influence, Symbolism And Lore Behind One Particularly Ominous Festival [Interview].” SlashFilm, July 5, 2019. https://www.slashfilm.com/567497/midsommar-production-designer-interview.
Yalcinkaya, Günseli. “The Artist Behind Midsommar’s Murals on the Meaning Behind the Madness.” Dazed, July 9, 2020. https://www.dazeddigital.com/film-tv/article/49769/1/the-artist-behind-midsommars-murals-on-the-meaning-behind-the-madness.
Winegust, Marc. “The Cult of Midsommar: An Interview with Martin Karlqvist & Patrik Andersson.” Layered Butter, March 19, year unclear. https://layeredbutter.com/editorial/cult-of-midsommar.
Han, Karen. “Is the Cult in Midsommar Real? A Look into How the Film Came Together.” Polygon, July 5, 2019. https://www.polygon.com/2019/7/5/20681187/midsommar-spoilers-cult-harga-ari-aster.
Treatment of People of Colour
Wendling, Mike. “RFK Jr Pledges to Find the Cause of Autism by September.” BBC, April 12, 2025. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj0z9nmzvdlo.
Insidious Whiteness
Statistics Sweden. “Number of Persons with Foreign or Swedish Background (Detailed Division) by Region, Age and Sex. Year 2025.” Statistics Sweden, March 24, 2026. (database link)
Dawsey, Josh. “Trump Derides Protections for Immigrants from ‘Shithole’ Countries.” The Washington Post, January 12, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-attacks-protections-for-immigrants-from-shithole-countries-in-oval-office-meeting/2018/01/11/bfc0725c-f711-11e7-91af-31ac729add94_story.html. (archive link)
Dale, Daniel. “Almost Eight Years Later, Trump Confirms He Used the Phrase ‘Shithole Countries’.” CNN, December 11, 2025. https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/10/politics/donald-trump-shithole-countries-phrase.
Kontext Press. “Arbetsklassommar: Så blir du bjuden till din vita kompis lanställe.” Instagram, June 22, 2020. https://www.instagram.com/kontextpress/p/CBvU43yJwY9.
Miller, Monica L. “Race, Melancholia, Midsommar.” Discourse 44, no. 3 (September 2022): 362–76. https://doi.org/10.1353/dis.2022.0024.
Miller, Monica L. “Figuring Blackness In A Place Without Race: Sweden, Recently.” English Literary History 84, no. 2 (2017): 377–97. https://doi.org/10.1353/elh.2017.0015.
SVT Nyheter. “Sverige får kritik för att inte använda ”ras” i diskrimineringslagen.” SVT Nyheter, November 30, 2017. https://www.svt.se/nyheter/granskning/ug/sverige-far-kritik-for-att-inte-anvanda-ras-i-diskrimineringslagen.
Manipulation
Burnett, Scott. “Right-Wing Psychedelia: Case Studies in Cultural Plasticity and Political Pluripotency.” Frontiers in Psychology 12 (December 2021): Art. 733185. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.733185.
Langlitz, Nicolas. “Rightist Psychedelia.” Society for Cultural Anthropology, July 21, 2020. https://www.culanth.org/fieldsights/rightist-psychedelia.
Gollner, Adam Leith. “The Secret History of Gavin McInnes.” Vanity Fair, June 29, 2021. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/06/the-secret-history-of-gavin-mcinnes. (archive link)
Pace, Brian. “Jake Angeli: The Psychedelic Guru Who Stormed The Capitol.” Psymposia, January 7, 2021. https://www.psymposia.com/magazine/jake-angeli-psychedelic-shaman-capitol-insurrection-trump.
McLaughlin, Timothy. “The Weird, Dark History of 8chan.” Wired, August 6, 2019. https://www.wired.com/story/the-weird-dark-history-8chan. (archive link)
Owen, Tess. “The FBI Just Arrested a ‘Psychedelic Nazi’ on LSD After Tapping His Wild Text Chats.” Vice, September 20, 2019. https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-fbi-just-arrested-a-psychedelic-nazi-on-lsd-after-tapping-his-wild-text-chats.
A Voice for Men. “When Did You Wake Up? With Erin Pizzey: The Secret Life of Paul Elam.” YouTube, December 20, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyztjwgrGJI.
Ohler, Norman. Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2017.
Kamieński, Łukasz. Shooting Up: A History of Drugs in Warfare. London: Hurst Publishers, 2017.
Provine, Doris Marie. “Race and Inequality in the War on Drugs.” Annual Review of Law and Social Science 7, no. 1 (December 2011): 41–60. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-102510-105445.
Labanieh, Aya. “Fantasies of White Genocide: Conspiracy Theory, Reproductive Anxiety, and Self-Help in the Online Manosphere.” Journal of Medical Humanities 47, no. 2 (June 2026): 361–82. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10912-025-09973-2.
Burnett, Scott. “The Battle for ‘NoFap’: Myths, Masculinity, and the Meaning of Masturbation Abstention.” Men and Masculinities 25, no. 3 (August 2022): 477–96. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X211018256.
McCann Ramirez, Nikki. “The Proud Boys Have Really Strict Rules About Jerking Off.” Rolling Stone, January 23, 2023. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/proud-boys-trial-rule-book-masturbation-ban-1234666317.
Duke, David. “Porn Addiction — A Devastating Jewish Globalist Media Influence and How to Defeat It!.” DavidDuke.com, December 5, 2016. http://davidduke.com/the-great-porn-experiment-one-more-devastating-jewish-globalist-influence. (archive link)
Crawford, Blyth. “Coronavirus and Conspiracies: How the Far Right is Exploiting the Pandemic.” The Conversation, September 15, 2020. https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-and-conspiracies-how-the-far-right-is-exploiting-the-pandemic-145968.
Harkinson, Josh. “Meet the Dapper White Nationalist Who Wins Even if Trump Loses.” Mother Jones, October 27, 2016. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/10/richard-spencer-trump-alt-right-white-nationalist. (archive link, reflecting original title)
Nasir, Noreen. “For Women Athletes of Color, Outsized Scrutiny Over Gender is Nothing New, Historians Say.” PBS, August 4, 2024. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/for-women-athletes-of-color-outsized-scrutiny-over-gender-is-nothing-new-historians-say.
Carayol, Tumaini. “‘I Am a Woman’: Imane Khelif Hits Back in Gender Row After Claiming Gold.” The Guardian, August 10, 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/10/i-am-a-woman-imane-khelif-hits-back-in-gender-row-after-claiming-gold.
Dawson, Alan. “How Serena Williams Responds to Accusations that She ‘Was Born a Guy’.” Business Insider, June 1, 2018. https://www.businessinsider.com/serena-williams-responds-to-accusations-she-was-born-a-man-2018-5.
Lee Adams, William. “Could This Women’s World Champ Be a Man?.” Time, August 21, 2009. https://time.com/archive/6947724/could-this-womens-world-champ-be-a-man.
Moore, Alison. “Following Hormone Controversy, Indian Sprinter Wins the Right to Run.” PBS, July 28, 2015. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/indian-sprinter-wins-right-run-international-officials-said-much-testosterone.
Act III: The Real World
Case Study: Poland
Cieśla, Łukasz. “Czy kibice Lecha śpiewali antyżydowskie piosenki? Pucek: to element animozji, Forecki: kompromitacja.” Głos Wielkopolski, October 3, 2013. https://gloswielkopolski.pl/czy-kibice-lecha-spiewali-antyzydowskie-piosenki-pucek-to-element-animozji-forecki-kompromitacja/ar/1006795.
LUCA. “Prokuratura: okrzyk “jazda z Żydami” na meczu Lecha to nie nawoływanie do nienawiści.” Głos Wielkopolski, January 9, 2014. https://gloswielkopolski.pl/prokuratura-okrzyk-jazda-z-zydami-na-meczu-lecha-to-nie-nawolywanie-do-nienawisci/ar/1083940.
The Unholy Marriage of Dogwhistles and Irony Poisoning
Cummings, William. “’I Am a Nationalist’: Trump’s Embrace of Controversial Label Sparks Uproar.” USA Today, October 24, 2018. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/10/24/trump-says-hes-nationalist-what-means-why-its-controversial/1748521002.
Alexander, Leigh. “’Gamers’ Don’t Have to Be Your Audience. ‘Gamers’ Are Over.” Game Developer, August 28, 2014. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/-gamers-don-t-have-to-be-your-audience-gamers-are-over-.
McSwiney, Jordan, Michael Vaughan, Annett Heft, and Matthias Hoffmann. “Sharing the Hate? Memes and Transnationality in the Far Right’s Digital Visual Culture.” Information, Communication & Society 24, no. 16 (December 2021): 2502–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2021.1961006.
Dickson, E.J. “Do Bronies Have a ‘Nazi Problem’? FedEx Shooting Shines Light on Faction of Subculture.” Rolling Stone, April 19, 2021. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/brony-fed-ex-shooting-fandom-nazis-1157758.
Crawford, Blyth, Florence Keen, and Guillermo Suarez de-Tangil. Memetic Irony and the Promotion of Violence within Chan Cultures. London: Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats, 2020.
Sharpe, Matthew. “Charlie Kirk Shooting Suspect Had Ties to Gaming Culture and the ‘Dark Internet’. Here’s How They Radicalise.” The Conversation, September 16, 2025. https://theconversation.com/charlie-kirk-shooting-suspect-had-ties-to-gaming-culture-and-the-dark-internet-heres-how-they-radicalise-265279.
Broderick, Ryan and Bumas, Adam. “Charlie Kirk Was Killed by a Meme.” Garbage Day, September 13, 2025. https://www.garbageday.email/p/charlie-kirk-was-killed-by-a-meme.
Romano, Aja. “How the Christchurch Shooter Used Memes to Spread Hate.” Vox, March 17, 2019. https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/3/16/18266930/christchurch-shooter-manifesto-memes-subscribe-to-pewdiepie.
Evans, Robert. “Shitposting, Inspirational Terrorism, and the Christchurch Mosque Massacre.” Bellingcat, March 15, 2019. https://www.bellingcat.com/news/rest-of-world/2019/03/15/shitposting-inspirational-terrorism-and-the-christchurch-mosque-massacre.
Closing Remarks
Kingdon, Ashton. The World White Web: Uncovering the Hidden Meanings of Online Far-Right Propaganda. Palgrave Hate Studies. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-75393-0.
Richards, Imogen. “Eco-fascism Unveiled: Ethnonationalist and Authoritarian Responses to Climate Change.” The Academic, March 1, 2024. https://theacademic.com/eco-fascism-unveiled-ethnonationalist-and-authoritarian-responses-to-climate-change.