Pearl Harbor, the turning point in American history. Long before December 7, 1941, the collision between two Pacific powers had already begun. Manchuria had fallen to Imperial Japan in 1931, marking the start of Japan’s empire push across China. The United States, publicly neutral, watched war spread while trying to stay out of global conflict. But by 1941, diplomacy broke down. After Japan moved into French Indochina, the U.S. answered with crippling oil embargoes that threatened Japan’s military ambitions, leaving its leaders convinced war was the only path to secure resources like those in the Dutch East Indies.

On November 26, 1941, a strike fleet built around six carriers under Admiral Chuichi Nagumo slipped into the Pacific Ocean under radio silence, heading toward a target few considered possible: Hawaii. In Washington, leaders knew war was imminent through broken diplomatic codes, but nothing pinpointed the exact time or place. At Pearl Harbor, defenses were relaxed, planes parked tight at airfields, and anti-aircraft crews off rotation—ready for sabotage, not annihilation.

At 7:55 a.m., Commander Mitsuo Fuchida signaled the raid with “Tora! Tora! Tora!”, unleashing a two-hour nightmare. Torpedoes smashed hulls, bombs detonated steel, and Battleship Row burned. Pilots attacked at sunrise, one timing mistake putting the rising sun directly in American defenders’ view, and later claims even surfaced that the glare briefly impaired their approach. The result was devastating—and unifying. But decades later, the question remains a ghost story wrapped in cipher smoke: did the U.S. government know more than it said?

Tonight, around the digital campfire, we explore the lead-up, the attack, and the theories

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Turkey Day, this week the boys dive into the warm, buttery, gravy-covered fever dream known as Thanksgiving—a holiday many people think they understand… until the layers start peeling back. What begins as a friendly harvest feast quickly unravels into one of the strangest webs of mythmaking, political spin, and quiet conspiracies in American history.

In this episode, the boys trace Thanksgiving from the lone surviving 1621 eyewitness note all the way to modern turkey-industry lobbying. Along the path, they explore how a simple three-day gathering between starving Pilgrims and wary Wampanoag warriors somehow morphed into the sanitized, picture-book origin story taught in every American classroom. They break down the myths: the invented outfits, the overly friendly narrative, the idea of a peaceful partnership that history doesn’t fully support, and how Victorian artists accidentally created the entire “Pilgrim look.”

The journey then shifts into the political arena, as the boys examine the theory that Abraham Lincoln revived Thanksgiving during the Civil War not only for unity but as a psychological tool to stabilize a fractured nation. From there, they go straight into 1939’s “Franksgiving,” when FDR moved the holiday up a week—and half the country flat-out refused to follow. It’s economic manipulation, confusion, and chaos served with cranberry sauce.

And because no Thanksgiving deep-dive is complete without the modern oddities, the boys take on Big Turkey, the cranberry cartel, the pumpkin-pie agenda, and the long-running suspicion that Plymouth Rock is just a random stone chosen to sell souvenirs.

By the end, Thanksgiving looks less like a timeless tradition and more like a national myth rewritten again and again. Grab a plate—this one gets spicy.

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Is airplane mode actually doing anything… or is it just a digital superstition we’ve all agreed to follow? Sean, Jorge, and Eric crack open FAA reports, safety filings, and decades of airline policy to figure out whether your phone has ever truly posed a threat to a Boeing 737.

We break down how airplane mode started, why flight crews still insist on it, and what the data actually says about electronic interference in the cockpit. Were early studies flawed? Did airlines exaggerate the risks? Or is there real evidence that your phone’s radio signals can mess with navigation systems at 30,000 feet?

The boys compare old myths to modern aircraft technology, explore the behind-the-scenes testing the FAA has done, and reveal what airlines won’t tell you about Wi-Fi in the sky, 5G signals, and why some rules never die even when the science changes.

Funny, skeptical, and backed by legit documentation, this episode answers the question every traveler secretly wonders: Does airplane mode matter, or is it the biggest myth in aviation?

Originally recorded in 2024 for Patreons Only as Mini episode #5

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In Part One, we followed the money — from ancient temples to the secret meeting at Jekyll Island, where a handful of bankers drafted a plan that would change the world. Now, in Part Two, The Conspiracy Podcast dives into what happened after that plan became law — and how it gave birth to one of the most powerful and most misunderstood institutions in history: the Federal Reserve.

When the Federal Reserve Act passed in 1913, Americans had no idea how deeply it would shape their lives. A new hybrid system was born — part public, part private, run by twelve regional banks and a central board in Washington. It was designed to stop the boom-and-bust chaos that had plagued the country for decades. But to this day, people still ask the same question: Who really controls the Fed?

The boys break down how this quiet institution evolved from a crisis-fighting experiment into a global financial empire. From the Great Depression to World War II, from the gold standard to the postwar boom, the Fed’s fingerprints are everywhere — printing money, rescuing markets, and rewriting the rules of capitalism. They’ll unpack how the Fed gained near-godlike power to move markets with a single announcement, and why every decision behind closed doors ripples through every dollar in your pocket.

But this is The Conspiracy Podcast, and no story this big comes without shadows. Part Two dives into the darker theories — that the Fed is a private cartel of bankers pulling the strings behind the government; that the Rothschilds and Rockefellers still influence its policy; that the institution was designed not to stabilize America, but to enslave it in endless debt. From the myths of the Titanic murders to whispers about JFK’s silver-backed money, the conspiracies surrounding the Fed are as old as the Fed itself.

So, what’s the truth behind the “Creature from Jekyll Island”? Is the Federal Reserve a necessary guardian of modern finance… or a hidden hand controlling the world economy?

Sean, Jorge, and Eric crack open the vault and ask the question few dare to: who really runs the money machine?

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The Federal Reserve, the boys trace the story of banking from its ancient origins in Mesopotamian temples to the marble halls of Wall Street. It’s a tale of gold, greed, and government — and of how fear of financial collapse led a handful of powerful men to create something that would change the world forever.

We start at the beginning: when gold and silver were sacred, temples were banks, and the first loans were measured in grain. From there, Europe’s merchant families — the Medicis, the Rothschilds, the Rockefellers — built fortunes and influence that still spark rumors today. As money moved across oceans and kings borrowed to fund their wars, the idea of a central bank was born — an institution that could steady economies… or secretly control them.

When the young United States tried to follow suit, chaos followed. The First and Second Banks of the United States ignited political warfare, with President Andrew Jackson declaring he’d “kill the monster” before it strangled democracy. For nearly eighty years after Jackson’s victory, America ran without a central bank — and paid dearly for it. Booms turned to busts, and panic became a way of life.

Then came 1907. Markets crashed, depositors rioted, and the nation teetered on collapse until one man — J. P. Morgan — stepped in to save the economy with his own fortune. The panic convinced Congress that the country needed a new kind of bank… one that wouldn’t rely on a single financier.

That’s when a secret train left New York for a remote island off the coast of Georgia. Its passengers were politicians and bankers, traveling under false names, carrying shotguns for cover, claiming they were going on a “duck-hunting trip.” What they were really hunting was control — over money itself.

Next time, in Part Two: the birth of the Federal Reserve, the conspiracies that have haunted it ever since, and why some people still believe the “creature from Jekyll Island” runs the world today.

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Lizzie Borden, the young woman accused of butchering her father and stepmother with an axe in their quiet Fall River, Massachusetts home in 1892. What began as a shocking crime soon became a national obsession, filled with gruesome details, strange behavior, and an investigation that raised more questions than answers.

We explore the tense family dynamics inside the Borden household — from the bitter stepmother relationship to Lizzie’s growing resentment toward her wealthy yet controlling father. As the timeline of that fateful morning unfolds, we examine the evidence, the witness testimonies, and the inconsistencies that baffled detectives and stunned the public.

Then came the sensational trial that gripped the nation — a media frenzy mixing gossip, class privilege, and gender bias. Was Lizzie a clever killer who exploited her image as a proper lady, or an innocent woman caught in a storm of suspicion? Join Sean, Jorge, and Eric as they trace the legend from axe to acquittal, and explore why Lizzie Borden’s name still echoes more than a century later.

Dracula — the immortal vampire, cloaked in darkness, sleeping in coffins, and thirsting for blood. But what if behind the legend of Count Dracula lies a man even more terrifying than the myth?

In this episode, we travel back to 15th-century Eastern Europe to uncover the truth behind the name that inspired Bram Stoker’s iconic vampire. Meet Vlad III, also known as Vlad the Impaler and Dracula, a Wallachian prince born into a world of political betrayal, shifting alliances, and brutal warfare. Sent as a hostage to the Ottoman Empire as a child, Vlad would emerge with a hardened soul and a ruthless sense of justice. His rise to power was swift and merciless. He impaled thousands, enslaved the nobility, and even defied the Ottoman Sultan with horrific displays of cruelty meant to terrify entire armies.

We explore how this real-life figure, whose cruelty knew no bounds, became the inspiration for one of fiction’s most enduring villains. Centuries after Vlad’s death, his story was resurrected by Bram Stoker, who stumbled across the name “Dracula” and used it to create a character that would haunt books, films, and nightmares for generations. But just how much of the bloodsucking Count matches the real voivode who once ruled Wallachia?

You’ll learn about Vlad’s notorious acts — from forests of impaled enemies to his defiant night attacks against the Ottoman Empire — and discover how these historical accounts morphed into the chilling features of the fictional Dracula: the aristocratic bearing, the Transylvanian castle, and the eerie connection to blood and death. We’ll also trace how Dracula evolved on stage and screen, transforming from warlord to vampire king, horror icon, and pop culture legend.

So—was Dracula real, or merely a monster of fiction? This episode pulls back the cloak to reveal the twisted truth at the heart of a legend.

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In the conclusion to The Salem Witch Trials, the boys return to 1692 Massachusetts—where paranoia had taken full control, and reason was long gone. With the accused piling up and the courts overwhelmed, this episode dives deep into the dark heart of Salem’s hysteria: the confessions, the so-called “spectral evidence,” and the twisted power plays that turned neighbor against neighbor.

This part explores how the trials escalated into chaos. Judges abandoned logic, ministers fanned the flames, and ordinary citizens became executioners. The hosts unravel the stories of key figures—like Judge Hathorne, whose arrogance condemned dozens; Reverend Samuel Parris, whose fiery sermons fueled the fear; and the young accusers, whose tales of invisible spirits sent innocent people to the gallows.

But beyond the hysteria lies the bigger question: why did it happen? Was it truly about witchcraft—or something far more human? The boys dig into the underlying forces of greed, land disputes, and religious extremism that turned a small Puritan village into a nightmare. They also uncover the strange aftermath—how the colony later tried to erase its shame, how survivors lived with guilt, and how the witch trials became a lasting scar on American history.

With eerie atmosphere and modern insight, The Conspiracy Podcast takes you through the final days of the Salem madness—when superstition ruled, justice failed, and the line between faith and fear disappeared entirely.

Episode 127 exposes the horrifying end of one of the darkest chapters in early America… and reminds us how easily truth can burn when fear takes over.

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The year is 1692. In a small, snowbound Puritan settlement on the edge of the Massachusetts wilderness, two young girls begin convulsing, screaming, and claiming to see dark spirits. Within weeks, their strange afflictions ignite the most infamous witch hunt in American history. In this first chapter of The Salem Witch Trials, the boys unravel the eerie beginnings of the hysteria that consumed Salem Village.

It starts inside Reverend Samuel Parris’s home, where his daughter Betty and niece Abigail writhe and shriek as neighbors whisper that the Devil himself has entered the village. When a local folk remedy—a “witch cake” baked with the girls’ urine—is fed to a dog in secret, it backfires spectacularly, pointing suspicion toward Parris’s enslaved servant, Tituba. Dragged before magistrates, Tituba confesses under pressure and spins a vivid tale of the Devil’s book, spectral animals, and a coven hidden among them. Her confession doesn’t calm the town—it detonates it.

From there, the accusations multiply. Respectable churchgoers like Martha Corey and beloved grandmother Rebecca Nurse are suddenly named as witches. Even a four-year-old child is chained in irons. Villagers who once shared pews now turn on each other in panic. By spring, fear and superstition rule Salem.

The boys dive deep into the dark psychology of the era—how religious zeal, personal grudges, and brutal living conditions created the perfect storm for mass hysteria. They explore the bizarre early investigations, the use of “spectral evidence,” and the tragic logic that if a witch could look innocent, it was only because the Devil made her so.

This episode sets the stage for the horrifying trials to come—the hangings, the confessions, and the infamous pressing of Giles Corey. But before the gallows rise, Part One reveals how one cold New England winter and a few terrified children tore a community apart.

Part Two will take listeners to the courtroom and the gallows, exposing the gruesome outcomes—and the haunting question that still lingers: what truly possessed Salem in 1692?

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In 2018, a New York Times reporter toured a glitter factory in New Jersey and asked what seemed like a harmless question: “Who buys the most glitter?” The answer was anything but ordinary. The Glitterex manager refused to say. Not because they didn’t know — but because, in their words, “they don’t want anyone to know it’s glitter.” And with that, the internet lost its collective mind.

In this episode, the boys peel back the shimmering layers of what quickly became one of the strangest modern conspiracy theories: the hunt for the secret glitter buyer. Reddit exploded. TikTok sleuths drew diagrams. Theories ranged from toothpaste companies and luxury automakers to the U.S. military, currency printers, and even God himself. The clues were cryptic: you’d “see something,” but never recognize it as glitter. So… was it hiding in your dollar bill? Your kid’s vitamins? A classified aircraft?

We explore every angle of this real-world mystery — including the 2019 podcast (Endless Thread) that claimed to solve it, naming the marine paint industry as the main culprit. Boats, ships, and jet skis use enormous amounts of metallic pigment, and it turns out that glitter might be secretly keeping cruise liners shimmering in salty seas. But is that too obvious? Or just the answer they want us to believe?

We also break down the numbers: the global glitter industry is worth up to $1.49 billion, with biodegradable glitter surging past $500 million and expected to triple in the next decade. There are 20,000+ types of glitter, some so small they count as microplastics — which is exactly why the EU banned loose glitter in 2023. Meanwhile, edible glitter alone is a $551 million market, and glitter glue is closing in on half a billion itself.

This episode isn’t just about sparkle — it’s about secrecy, industry weirdness, and why we’re drawn to mysteries hiding in plain sight. So whether it’s a cover-up, a marketing ploy, or a perfectly polished coincidence, join us as we unravel the conspiracy… one shimmering clue at a time.

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