Since Charlie Kirk’s assassination, podcaster and influencer Candace Owens has
floated a succession of conspiracy theories implicating everyone in the murder,
from the Israeli government to Kirk’s own organisation, Turning Point USA. This
week, her speculation reached its apogee when she suggested that Donald Trump
himself was involved. In a recent broadcast, Owens linked the commemorations of
Kirk’s death to a supposed plot, remarking that “when they give you a holiday and a boulevard … they definitely killed you.”

Owens’ wild theorising isn’t an anomaly; it’s part of something older and darker.
There’s a distinctly medieval quality to much of the conspiratorial right—a world
animated by unseen cabals, moral corruption, and divine punishment disguised as
politics.

Working in the media, one is quick to learn that some stories do much better than
others. This isn’t a secret, but it bears repeating: Any story that features a villain—or group of villains—doing something dastardly to innocent victims is much more likely to be read and shared than an article that debunks such narratives with statistics. Our mammalian brains are wired to perceive and anthropomorphise threats: When our ancestors saw thunderbolts crashing down from the sky, they didn’t think it was caused by a complex weather system, but by the wrath of vengeful gods.

Media entrepreneurs and executives—no matter how high-minded—quickly learn that if it bleeds, it leads. Readers want to be frightened by stories of plotters, vandals, criminals, and killers. Even in literature and film, thrillers and true crime command disproportionate attention compared with works of dispassionate analysis. For example, thrillers make up over 12 percent of adult fiction sales in the U.S. and true crime podcasts account for nearly a quarter of top-ranked shows. It’s no surprise that Netflix produces multiple documentaries about the world’s worst serial killers decades after their crimes were committed—without any new evidence coming to light. Our fascination with the lurid never seems to fade.