Point of Inquiry

Kelly Weill on Flat-Earthers and Why People Will Believe Anything


Listen Later

In this week's episode, we are diving into the flat-earth conspiracy theory and why people could believe such a thing with guest Kelly Weill and her new book, Off the Edge.

In 2019 Jim Underdown and the CFI Investigations Group produced a video where they designed a series of experiments to show that the earth is indeed not flat. CFIIG's conducted their experiment in front of over a dozen flat-earthers. Even in the face of conflicting evidence to their own beliefs, the flat-earthers held firm in their claims.

Underdown and Weill speak about her new book, the history of the flat-earth conspiracy dating back to the 1830s, and the desire to belong to a community, which Weill saw as a reason some flat-earthers join the movement. Also, the role media and emerging technologies play in helping conspiracists spread their messages. You can also read Weill's piece in the Atlantic on the book and flat-earthers.

Kelly Weill is a journalist at the Daily Beast, where she covers extremism, disinformation, and the internet. As a leading media voice on the role of online conspiracy theories in current affairs, she has discussed Flat Earth and other digital fringes on ABC's Nightline, CNN, Al Jazeera, and other national and international news outlets. You can find Kelly on Twitter @kellyweill

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Point of InquiryBy Center for Inquiry


More shows like Point of Inquiry

View all
The Atheist Experience by The Atheist Community of Austin

The Atheist Experience

2,367 Listeners

Cognitive Dissonance by Atheist and Skeptical News

Cognitive Dissonance

4,044 Listeners

Dogma Debate by Serious Circus, Inc

Dogma Debate

947 Listeners

Skeptoid by Brian Dunning

Skeptoid

2,665 Listeners

Inquiring Minds by Indre Viskontas

Inquiring Minds

826 Listeners

Skeptics with a K by Skeptic Media Limited

Skeptics with a K

431 Listeners

Big Picture Science by Big Picture Science

Big Picture Science

943 Listeners

Rationally Speaking Podcast by New York City Skeptics

Rationally Speaking Podcast

707 Listeners

Talk Nerdy with Cara Santa Maria by Cara Santa Maria

Talk Nerdy with Cara Santa Maria

970 Listeners

Friendly Atheist Podcast by Friendly Atheist Podcast

Friendly Atheist Podcast

1,434 Listeners

TheThinkingAtheist by The Thinking Atheist

TheThinkingAtheist

2,857 Listeners

The Bart Ehrman Blog Podcast by John Mueller, Bart Ehrman Early Christianity Historical Jesus

The Bart Ehrman Blog Podcast

190 Listeners

The Michael Shermer Show by Michael Shermer

The Michael Shermer Show

942 Listeners

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas by Sean Carroll

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas

4,173 Listeners

The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss by Lawrence M. Krauss

The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss

504 Listeners