The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy

M is back and so is their voice, so we can both talk about the only thing there is to talk about at the moment: the latest US election plot twists to come flying at the world. Which includes us, since we are in the world, no matter what you may have heard.

M is back, but unwell, so Josh delivers another bit of filler, this time indulging his love of language by talking about the origins of a bit of Internet slang that happens to have a conspiratorial tie-in. He chose to do this above talking about two different assassinations - one recent and unsuccessful; one historical and probably not an assassination at all - so sorry or you're welcome, depending on how much you like talking about assassinations.The diagram that got Josh started on this can be found here: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/poggers

With M off in London and/or Bucharest, Josh fills time by telling you all the secret history of New Zealand as contained in The Opal File (or possibly The Opal Files - no-one seems sure). What do Robert Muldoon, G. Gordon Liddy and the Shah of Iran have in common? They're all in The Opal File!

M talks with prior guests on the podcast Julia Duetz and Patrick Brooks about the CONSPIRACY FX Workshop they all attended at the University of Kent at the end of June 2024.

Josh and M discuss the assassination of left-wing "shock jock" Alan Berg, and the White Supremacists who were not convicted of his murder...

It's been three long episodes, but Josh and M are at the end of Neil Levy's book "Bad Beliefs" and also of Neil Levy's bad beliefs. But which of his beliefs did the find the baddest and which were barely bad at all? You'll have to listen to find out. You'll also have to listen if you want to know whether we mention the 1993 Drew Barrymore supernatural horror thriller Doppelganger again. OK, we'll give you that one - of course we do.

Josh discovers that it has been ten years since he and M started podcasting...

Josh and M look at the middle chapters of Neil Levy's book - is this the Empire Strikes Back of this series or is it the Die Hard 2? Or the Temple of Doom? Or the Two Towers? Or the 1993 Drew Barrymore supernatural horror thriller Doppelganger? Yes.Due to recording difficulties, the sound quality may dip from time to time.

Josh and M comment on the first two chapters (of six) of Neil Levy's book "Bad Beliefs." Does Neil have bad beliefs about bad beliefs, and do Josh and M have bad beliefs about Neil's supposed bad beliefs which are to be be found in the book "Bad Beliefs"? Listen and find out!

Has there ever been a good Operation? Based on the various Operations and Projects we look at in this episode, any time you see something gets called an Operation, it's a work of pure malice that produces nothing but hardship and heartache. Even Operation Dumbo Drop. ESPECIALLY Operation Dumbo Drop.

Josh and M review the final part (part 3) of Michael Shermer's 2022 book, "Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational." It's nota lot of sound and fury, and it signifies... Well, you will have to listen and find out!

In the sequel to last week's episode, we look at Part II of Michael Shermer's book "Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational". This part is all about determining which conspiracies are real - judging them, if you will. So the title works - it's not just a gratuitous pop culture reference! Not that there's anything wrong with a gratuitous pop culture reference.

Josh and M review part 1 (of 3) of Michael Shermer's 2022 book, "Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational."

We're back and in the same physical location for ONE WEEK ONLY, so the only sensible thing to do is talk about a spy book from the 1980s. What was "Spycatcher"? What secrets did it contain? How did it manage to leave Margaret Thatcher "shattered"? Was that a typo and she meant "sharted"? Sorry, we didn't get enough juvenile humour into the episode and it has to go somewhere.

Josh and M return to the internet airwaves for a little catch-up on news during the podcast's hiatus, as well as some updates on the podcast's near future...

Josh and M end 2023 like they ended previous years: with a year in review! — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79

Fact, damn it, facts! Give us cold hard facts! Beautiful, comforting numbers to make sense of the world we live in! Wouldn't you know it, the surveys in Joe Uscinski's “Have beliefs in conspiracy theories increased over time?” give us exactly that - let's rifle through them and see what conspiracy theories are believed the most, and which (if any) have seen belief in them rise in recent times. — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79

Josh and M re-revisit the suppressed technologies of Nicola Tesla. — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79

But enough grave dancing - here's a quick episode from Josh, as it turns out neither of us are in a state to be recording a full episode this week. Instead, let's see what Bulgarian mystic Baba Vanga has in store for us in 2024, despite having died in 1996.

A more considered opinion...

A momentary reflection and shaking of the booty over the death of infamous war criminal, Henry Kissinger.

Friend! Do you have a conspiracy-themed podcast that needs a new episode but you just can't even right now? Why not go find out what Alex Jones and David Icke are saying on their respective websites and then comment on it? It's like the content is already created for you! Plus you get to talk about gay furry hackers. — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79

Josh and M review Michael Barkun's 2016 “Conspiracy Theories as Stigmatized Knowledge” as published in Diogenes. — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79

We're looking back at the history of attempts to rewrite the history of Aotearoa, in this case by making claims that Maori are not its indigenous people (and then making conspiracy theories to explain why this isn't widely accepted). Along the way we discuss local birdlife - without making reference to John Oliver - and use the phrase "pubic thatching". — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79

Josh and M talk cartels, lightbulbs, and lightbulb cartels! — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79

Time for some psychological experimentation, as we look at Michael J. Wood's Some Dare Call It Conspiracy: Labeling Something a Conspiracy Theory Does Not Reduce Belief in It. In addition, Josh eats his dinner over the course of the entire recording and refuses to edit out any of his slurping and chewing sounds - you could see this as an intense lack of professionalism, but we prefer to think of it as some extra ASMR, free of charge. We're so good to you. — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79

After a brief hiatus, M and Josh join together once more, this time to talk about the New Zealand General Election of 2023. — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79

M is unwell, so Josh takes you through the story of the Pentagon Papers, the original "thing-starting-with-P Papers". As far as we know. — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79

After last week's episode - which totally exists and was awesome, you guys - we dial things down a notch with a look a recent paper of M's, where they survey some works, outline some methodologies, tabulate some results - are we sure this is a philosophy paper? Apparently it is. We also talk about robot lifeguards, obviously. — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79

The rumoured outbreak of Ebola at this year's Burning Man is all the excuse M and Josh need to take a look at our old episodes about Ebola conspiracy theories, and infectious disease conspiracy theories in general. Who remembers Zika? — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79

Josh and M look at “The Emergence of Conspirituality” by Charlotte Ward & Prof. David Voas, the prequel to a paper of Dean Ballinger's (RIP) that we looked at last year. — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79

Since M is en route to China (did we mention that M is going back to China?), Josh supplies a story of mass food poisoning in Spain with conflicting explanations. Listen as he tries to pronounce the word "epidemiological" repeatedly while his children do the dishes in the noisiest way possible in the background!

The funeral is for the death of that intro, which came well after it should have. M and Josh talk about politicians foreign and domestic, while wrestling with lapel mics - literally going by some of the noise.

Josh and M discuss not one, not two, not three but four of the F. Kennedy clan. — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79

Due to miscommunication the previous bonus episode we said would be free for all, never got released. Missing in the archives for over two weeks, we are proud to bring you this missing bonus episode of the Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy, completely unedited!

It's another free patron bonus episode (largely because we realised there was some Patreon admin/fallout we failed to mention in the main episode)!

Having sucked the philosophical literature dry (for now), M gets some anthropology into the mix, by having Josh read through the 2011 paper “Conspiracy theories and their truth trajectories” by Mathijs Pelkmans and Rhys Machold. It's a gripping read - so much so that even Siri can't resist butting in at one point. Or is it because M is a wizard? They do dress like one - the signs were all there! — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79

M interviews Patrick Brooks, author of the forthcoming paper "On the origins of conspiracy theories" (Philosophical Studies: https://philpapers.org/rec/BROOTO-6). — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79

Josh and M revisit episode 28 (and a few others) to (re)investigate cases where someone got it right about a conspiracy, only to then go on to have a career where they seem to always get it wrong... — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79

M chats with Will Mittendorf about his paper at the 2nd International Conference of the Philosophy of Conspiracy Theories, which concerns racist and anti-racist conspiracy theories. — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79

In which Josh, Georgia, and M talk about Threads. All of them!

Inspired by Steve Clarke's talk "When Conspiracy Theorists Win", M and Josh introduce an unsuspecting Georgia to the unpleasant tale of the Mountain Meadows Massacre - if she's lucky, she'll live to regret it. Alternate titles for this episode include "When Mormons Attack!", "Transmormons: Mormons in Disguise" and "That's Too Much Strychnine!"  — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79

Josh and M discuss M's interview with Brian L. Keeley, where Brian discusses conspiracy liars (who probably think M and Brian.. and Josh are the real conspiracy liars). — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79

M is back (actually back) and discusses what happened "on tour" in Italy and the Netherlands... — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79

M is back, for a given value of "back", so we have a full length episode this week, featuring both M and Josh - there's no denying it! M talks to Julia Deutz and Josh talks about DEATH. There's been a bit of it going around at the moment. — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79

More filler, this time ripped from the week's headlines! Josh is talking about the life and recent death of Robert Hanssen, FBI mole, Opus Dei member, doer of dodgy sex stuff. This episode contains all you could want to know about what he did (sell secrets to the Russians), why he did it (they gave him money), how he got caught (the FBI gave someone else money) and everything in between (dodgy sex stuff).

Malex updates you on the depraved world of conspiracy theory theory conferences… in Amsterdam!

Another episode that's all filler, no killer - UNLESS IT ISN'T. Was the loss of Tasmanian environmentalist Brenda Hean a tragic accident, or was there something more sinister to it? Evidence of sabotage, suspect investigations, a guy called "Electric Eric" - this episode has something for everyone. Everyone? Sure, let's go with that.

Malex Drones solos himself, arse out, at the Little Gargler Workshop…

M's jetting overseas once again, so Josh fills in by scarring your souls with a thoroughly depressing tale of murder and more murder. How depressing? At one point, Josh says "of the four, all but three died" - that was a mistake, which should have been "all but one died". Yeah.

Episode 404 - should we do an "error: podcast not found" gag? Probably not worth the effort - not when the actual episode is doing double duty as a Conspiracy Theatre Masterpiece Theater (sort of) and a Back to the Conspiracy (sort of). Yes, we're looking at Richard Hofstadter's essay "The Paranoid Style in American Politics" from 1965 - one of the works that kicked off the philosophical literature a few decades later. We start, as you'd imagine, with a sketch based on the 1995 horror film "The Mangler". — You can contact us at: podcastconspiracy@gmail.com Why not support The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy by donating to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastersguidetotheconspiracy or Podbean crowdfunding? http://www.podbean.com/patron/crowdfund/profile/id/muv5b-79