Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: This Matters
Episode: What you learn about conspiracy theories by starting one
Description: Guest: Satirical conspiracy theory leader Peter McIndoe It all started when Peter McIndoe, a self-described “obnoxious teenager,” went to a women’s march and scrawled the most random phrase he could think of on a sign: “Birds Aren’t Real.” When asked by people around him what he meant, he improvised a whole back story, someone posted a video of him online, and a fake movement was born. He spent a couple of years zigzagging across the U.S. in his van, playing the part of a conspiracy leader, doing interviews and leading crowds of his followers in chants. Ma...