Those Who Conspire

It's a Christmas miracle! We blew the dust off the podcast and are bringing you a brand new episode, just in time for the holidays. This year we interviewed producer, screenwriter, and author Kathleen Hale about her latest book, Slenderman: Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls. We highly recommend the book and can't wait for you to hear the interview.

For more information about author Kathleen Hale, please visit her website. 

https://kathleenhale.org

Zack and Kyle spend their holiday season with the man of the hour (checks notes)...wait, Satan? That's right; we look at the Satanic Panics of the 20th century in this first of two episodes focusing on old Hornhead and the changing America.

Zack and Kyle log into Facebook and poke each other about the social network's influence, its role in spreading misinformation, and get meta about the Metaverse. Plus, we answer a meme that goes south for Zack real fast. All this and more as soon as you check your notifications for...Those Who Conspire.

Dr. Kathleen Belew (University of Chicago) guests on the podcast to discuss conspiracy theories, the law, and her new edited collection A Field Guide to White Supremacy. Kyle and Zack listened, learned, and were proud to have Dr. Belew shed light on how the issues of the past are still impacting our future.

Zack and Kyle go looking for feral people in national parks. What they found was a weird and wooly history of hiking in the United States. We hope you're ready for a podcast that tackles no media and social media all in the same one because it's been a while and we missed you!

Zack and Kyle conclude Spooktober with some urban legends! We chronicle weird America with creepy stories that helped pave the way for the conspiracy theories of today. What happened to Dudleytown? Why shouldn't you go to the Hollywood sign? Why has Richard Linklater not returned our phone calls about the fourth Before movie, "After: Ghost Hawke?" Join us around the campfire - or your phone, whatevs - for the close of our haunted Halloween hootenanny!

Zack and Kyle disappear into the lost colony of Roanoke. What happened to the settlers? What does "Croatoa" mean? And are we going to talk about aliens again? (Spoiler: of course we will!)

Celebrate Spooktober with us all month long! We kick things off with the Mothman. Kyle and Zack invite their friend Ryan Normile from Stories Unroll'd to discuss West Virginia's favorite winged wonder! Check out the conspiracy theories that have everybody buzzing!

Listen y’all, we’ve covered some dark subjects on the show, but never anything like this. This story literally has sex, drugs, rock n’ roll, murder, mind control, human experimentation, radiation poisoning, and a pre-dune buggy Charles Manson. We had a great time! We dive deep into the CIA’s experiments to unlock the secret of mind control, Project MK Ultra. It’s probably my favorite episode. Which one of us is writing this? You’ll never knowbigfootisreal.