I Used to Beat Up Sex Offenders. Now I Question the Mob.
An ex-prisoner reflects on Jeffrey Epstein, the Epstein files, Prince Andrew, and the rise of online conspiracy theories.
Conspiracy Theories
20 articles
The Language of Independence
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s doctrine of self-reliance has been corrupted by social media, wellness culture, conspiracy theorists, and the “sovereign citizen” movement.
Another JFK Assassination Nothingburger
Jefferson Morley’s dogged pursuit of a CIA connection in Miami is all smoke and no fire.
A Very American Madness
America is not fallen; it is simply given to periodic bouts of insanity. The patient is tiresome; the patient is ridiculous; but the patient is stable.
Populism and Power
Why a right-wing populist has qualms about J.D. Vance and his postliberal ideology.
The Paranoid Style in Shakespeare Denialism
Against conspiracist trends, there is an obligation on defenders of a liberal society to uphold the integrity of its intellectual methods.
Aliens... Again!
This time, they always say, it could be different.
Military-Industrial Complexities
President Eisenhower’s warning deserves to be better understood.
The Rise of the Respectable Conspiracy Theory
COVID, Trump, Brexit—everybody’s had something to break their brains in recent years and some people may never recover.
Fantastical Beliefs in a Post-Christian Age
Without a faith, people must find new sources of meaning, new congregations to which they can belong.
At the Corner of Camp and Lafayette
New Orleans has a starring role in many JFK conspiracy theories—as I learned during an odd but memorable street tour.
Wired for Conspiracism
The fact that some conspiracy theories do sometimes turn out to be true helps explain why our minds are evolutionarily programmed to catastrophize.