
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


Just hours after financier Jeffrey Epstein’s apparent death by suicide, President Donald Trump retweeted a conspiracy theory alleging the Clinton family’s involvement in killing the accused sex trafficker. So what better time to bring you this in-depth conversation with writer Anna Merlan, whose book "Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power" has only become more and more relevant as the conspiracist in chief amplifies yet another sinister lie. Merlan has spent years diving deep into the world of conspiracy theories. The result is a meticulously researched firecracker of a book, documenting incidents as early as the burning of ancient Rome, and as recently as the many conspiracy theories that bedeviled the 2016 election. Our assistant news editor Becca Andrews talked to Merlan to understand the roots of this increasingly powerful phenomenon, and discuss how inequality and racism beget conspiracy—and why empathy is important when writing about true believers.
By Mother Jones4.5
10631,063 ratings
Just hours after financier Jeffrey Epstein’s apparent death by suicide, President Donald Trump retweeted a conspiracy theory alleging the Clinton family’s involvement in killing the accused sex trafficker. So what better time to bring you this in-depth conversation with writer Anna Merlan, whose book "Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power" has only become more and more relevant as the conspiracist in chief amplifies yet another sinister lie. Merlan has spent years diving deep into the world of conspiracy theories. The result is a meticulously researched firecracker of a book, documenting incidents as early as the burning of ancient Rome, and as recently as the many conspiracy theories that bedeviled the 2016 election. Our assistant news editor Becca Andrews talked to Merlan to understand the roots of this increasingly powerful phenomenon, and discuss how inequality and racism beget conspiracy—and why empathy is important when writing about true believers.

43,986 Listeners

38,579 Listeners

6,806 Listeners

9,231 Listeners

10,725 Listeners

8,485 Listeners

219 Listeners

87,438 Listeners

112,759 Listeners

2,340 Listeners

32,346 Listeners

2,139 Listeners

16,358 Listeners

16,145 Listeners

10,299 Listeners

778 Listeners