Question Everything

‘I Believed Sandy Hook Was a Hoax’


Listen Later

Kate grew up believing the Sandy Hook school shooting was an elaborate false flag operation. For years she thought the 20 elementary school children and six educators who were killed that day did not actually die, but were played by crisis actors. And then, one day – in a matter of minutes – suddenly Kate realized how wrong she was. 

Brian talks to Kate about what it’s like to realize you believed something so obviously wrong, so deeply damaging, for so long. And he argues that her story is a case study for reforming Section 230 – the 1996 law that gives tech companies massive immunity from getting sued over what people post. Without that law, platforms like YouTube, which amplified the lies about Sandy Hook that Kate once believed, could be taken to court by the Sandy Hook families. 

Check out our Substack, with more reporting on the war on truth, free speech, and tech companies’ role in it all. 

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

Guests:

  • Kate, a former conspiracy believer
  • Dr. Joan Donovan, disinformation scholar and Director of the Critical Internet Studies Institute at Boston University
  • ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    Question EverythingBy Brian Reed

    • 4.6
    • 4.6
    • 4.6
    • 4.6
    • 4.6

    4.6

    628 ratings


    More shows like Question Everything

    View all
    Serial by Serial Productions & The New York Times

    Serial

    75,189 Listeners

    This American Life by This American Life

    This American Life

    91,256 Listeners

    Reveal by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX

    Reveal

    8,468 Listeners

    Embedded by NPR

    Embedded

    11,894 Listeners

    In The Dark by The New Yorker

    In The Dark

    28,187 Listeners

    Heavyweight by Pushkin Industries

    Heavyweight

    17,525 Listeners

    The Cult Queen of Canada from Uncover by CBC

    The Cult Queen of Canada from Uncover

    10,329 Listeners

    Deep Cover by Pushkin Industries

    Deep Cover

    4,473 Listeners

    Chameleon by Audiochuck | Campside Media

    Chameleon

    8,033 Listeners

    Search Engine by PJ Vogt

    Search Engine

    4,568 Listeners

    Proxy with Yowei Shaw by Y3 Productions

    Proxy with Yowei Shaw

    573 Listeners

    Wisecrack by Tenderfoot TV and iHeartPodcasts

    Wisecrack

    1,262 Listeners

    A Whole Other Country by Marfa Public Radio

    A Whole Other Country

    183 Listeners