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Podcast: Plain English with Derek Thompson
Episode: America in the Age of Conspiracy: Q-Anon, JFK, Aliens, and More
Description: Americans are unusually conspiratorial as a nation. But in the last week, we have really outdone ourselves.The beating of Paul Pelosi—husband of the Speaker of the House—by a Q-Anon conspiracy theorist led to even more unhinged conspiracies about the media. Kanye West has been all over the news spreading nonsense theories about Jewish control of the world, and in basketball Kyrie Irving published a social media post about a book and movie that featured antisemitic tropes and questioned the Holocaust.What makes certain conspiracy theories so successful? Why do conspiracy theories thrive in 2...