"Such subject-specific areas as crank science, conspiracist politics, and occultism are not isolated from one another," but rather they are interconnected, according to Michael Barkun,  professor emeritus of political science. "The consequence of such mingling is that an individual who enters the communications system pursuing one interest soon becomes aware of stigmatized material on a broad range of subjects."

"There are two types of Democrats that we’ve seen emerge in the wake of Trump," says Danielle Thomsen, assistant professor of political science. "The bulk of those are coming from the liberal Democratic end, but there are pockets of more conservative leaning Democrats that have the potential to anchor the party at the center and shape the party’s ideological course in the years to come."