On this episode of The Open Mind, we're delighted to welcome author Anna Merlan to discuss the acceleration of lies in the public discourse and their historical and contemporary power.

While fear and paranoia have always animated American politics, there is an unprecedented rush of incentives to deceive the public through monetization, popularization and dissemination. So now we'll try to cover ample ground from the beginning history of the false flag to Hofstadter's critique and McCarthy-era politics to QAnon, birtherism, Pizza-Gate, Seth Rich, trutherism, and of course UFOs.

If you're concerned as I am about the outsize influence of conspiracy theorists, disinformation and willful gullibility in American life, you must read Anna's compelling new book “The Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power.”