Jewish Space Lasers

The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories

By: Mike Rothschild

Narrated by: Jon Vertullo

The strange tale of how one Jewish family—the Rothschilds—became a lightning rod for conspiracy theories over the course of the last two centuries . . .

In 2018 Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene took to social media to share her suspicions that the California wildfires were started by 'space solar generators' which were funded by powerful, mysterious backers. Instantly, thousands of people rallied around her, blaming the fires on "Jewish space lasers" and, ultimately, the Rothschild family.

For more than 200 years, the name "Rothschild" has been synonymous with two things: great wealth, and conspiracy theories about what they're "really doing" with it. Almost from the moment Mayer Amschel Rothschild and his sons emerged from the Jewish ghetto of Frankfurt to revolutionize the banking world, the Rothschild family has been the target of myths, hoaxes, bizarre accusations, and constant, virulent antisemitism. Over the years, they have been blamed for everything from the sinking of the Titanic, to causing the Great Depression, and even creating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jewish Space Lasers is a deeply researched dive into the history of the conspiracy industry around the Rothschild family.

©2023 Mike Rothschild (P)2023 Tantor

Critic reviews

"With solid research and engaging humor, this book takes apart the conspiracy theories surrounding the Rothschild family."—Kirkus Reviews

A delightful read that gives critical insight

Listening to this book's excellent analysis of how washed out political conspiracy performers like Alex Jones behaves in their assignment of blatant anti-semitism, and then immediately hearing the pundit himself trying to disparage this book by relying on the same misinformation the author describes is a treat. it is as if the author revealed a 200-year-old coloring book for generations of grifters, who then tried to poorly stay in the lines and declare themselves a visionary while blaming the quality of the crayons on their Jewish neighbors.

Any right wing policy wonk worth their salt would do well to stay clear of even recognizing this book's existence, for even a gullible follower that can read would fall prey to disillusionment. Such is the sheer weight of facts and logic presented in this book

Understanding the source of conspiracy theories

This is one of the most en;ightening books I have listened to recenty. It is so interesting to hear how conspiracy theories start, who started them and why, and how conspiracies have migrated to be mostly against Jewish people, to being against many others as well. I have had to listen and relisten to parts of the book again and again to understand these views and to understand how many people are taking in by conspiracy theories from unlearned citizens to presidents of countries. Of-course, one cannot trust everything one hears, but one must allow oneself to hear alternative views and to decide how this fits into one's understanding of the world.

Unfortunately relevant

An amazing book that does a rather thorough examination of a family as well as the impossible web of conspiracy that has grown up around them. I do agree with the thesis of the book more than I would like to admit: facts do not matter to the people who believe the outlandish because they want the outlandish to be true

Fantastic!

Extremely well researched and thoughtfully packaged. The craft of pulling different narrative threads through history in multiple veins really weaves a picture together that is an even greater sum than its parts.

ties all those conspiracy threads together. I highly recommend this

great narration. interesting topic. very informative. I cannot recommend this enough, especially given the current climate of antisemitism

Required Reading

I highly recommend this book. It’s a fascinating walk through history, to the current day. The world of conspiracy theories and antisemitism, is of course not new, but the speed by which it all now travels, is alarming. I listened to it in 2 days and found myself riveted by it. I learned so many things and will wait a week or two and listen to it again. There is still so much to learn. Jon Vertullo’s narration was powerful. Thank you.

Overall well done, but strays off course

Personally, I think the book would’ve been better if it focused on antisemitic stereotypes , tropes, and conspiracy theories in general. It would have been more powerful and pertinent.

Instead, it was an anthology of conspiracy theories about one rich Jewish family in particular, the Rothschilds. Technically this was noted in the subtitle, but I missed it when purchasing the audiobook.

I liked the story overall, however my 3-Star overall rating is because the author goes off the tracks at the end. He generally uses the final chapters of the book to attack Presidents Bush, Trump, the Tea Party, the Republican Party, and Conservatives in general. He failed to establish a convincing link between these groups and the Rothschilds, the supposed topic of the book, and instead engaged in one-sided political grandstanding. Of course, there are fringe minorities amongst political conservatives who harbor antisemitic views and conspiracy theories, but these are far from mainstream.

Interestingly, since the Hamas attack against Israel during Simchat Torah on 10/7/2023, most worldwide antisemitism has been concentrated of the LEFT side of the political aisle, with Conservatives generally the most supportive of Israel and Jews worldwide. Although this had not happened at the time of the book’s writing, it was a surprise to very few who follow the trajectory of politics.

Finally, he devotes an inordinate amount of time to telling the story of George Soros, and conspiracy theories about him. Last I checked, he is not a Rothschild, so why include this? Of course, again, liberal politics. If he was going that route, again the book should have been about antisemitism in general.

Besides these problems, the book’s beginning was sound, informative, and entertaining.

Cranks, troupes and anti semites, oh my!

As a fan of conspiracy theories, I would like to create a term, anti Jonesite. The term conspiracy theory has been weaponized
just as much as anti semite. Although I enjoy this authors story and topic, it is also written by someone who lived his whole
life with the last name Rothchild, while not being connected to the famed inner clan. I have listened to this book numerous times and written more than one review. Listen for yourself, its hard not to have an opinion on this book, good bad or ugly.

An Instant Relic

What terrible timing. This book was published the month before the October 7th atrocities, and the resulting wave of left-wing antisemitism. Sadly, the author ignored every instance of virulent antisemitism in academia and in the Democratic Party that laid the groundwork for the radical embrace of Hamas, its aims, and its methods.

A complete account of the rise of modern antisemitism could have been a worthy part of the education of all people of goodwill. But it’s clear that the author is not concerned with fighting antisemitism, but rather in using antisemitism to fight the real evil, the half of the US that doesn’t vote the way he wants it to.