At just 16, Greta Thunberg led the largest climate protest in history—and became a target for right-wing conspiracy theories. Scholar Emily Ryalls dissects how Greta was recast as a hysterical pawn of globalist billionaires and why the “Greta Effect” continues to provoke such powerful backlash. Then, TikTok misinformation researcher Abbie Richards clears up why the climate space is so littered with disinfo and media distractions, from anti-Greta memes to the Great Reset conspiracy to private jets at climate change conferences.

Chapters:

(00:00) Greta Thunberg, Time Traveler?

(00:41) Greta's Overnight Global Celebrity

(01:26) The Conspiracy Chart and Greta's Place

(02:36) Harmless Conspiracies vs. Dangerous Ones

(03:02) Media's Role in Amplifying Conspiracies

(05:17) Greta as a Target of Misinformation

(06:26) Conservative Backlash Against Greta

(10:57) Greta's Social Media Savvy

(13:14) The Greta Effect

(17:16) Broader Climate Misinformation Landscape

(29:32) 15-Minute Cities and Climate Conspiracies

(33:42) Concluding Thoughts on Greta and Conspiracies

. . .

For podcast deep dives on climate justice, listen to: Drilled, The Climate Question, A Matter of Degrees, The Anti-Dread Climate Podcast and Outrage + Optimism.

Episode 8 sources and transcript.

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Conspiracy, She Wrote is an Unladylike Media production, created, hosted and written by Cristen Conger. It's produced by Lushik Lotus-Lee and engineered by Marcus Hahm.

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