The hoax that spawned an age of American conspiracism
Donald Trump and Elon Musk are just the latest populists to weaponise fears of a sinister “deep state”.
ByConspiracy theories
Conspiracy Britain has found new enemies
Anti-lockdown activists will never trust the Establishment again.
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The Coming Storm returns ahead of the US election
The BBC Radio 4 podcast about conspiracy thinking is back, and things are even weirder.
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Why the internet blames BlackRock
In the wake of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, conspiracies have abounded.
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The alarming rise of BlueAnon
After the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, left-wing conspiracy theories have proliferated.
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Accused: The Hampstead Paedophile Hoax terrified me
Channel 4’s chilling account of a paedophile scare shows the very modern hell unleashed by online conspiracy theories.
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The journalist vs the trolls
In Marianna Spring’s series Why Do You Hate Me?, the BBC social media correspondent finds fellowship and reconciliation amid the…
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The grim return of Alex Jones
The notorious conspiracy theorist is back on social media. His reappearance is a warning for 2024.
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The Cloud of Unreason
The Israel-Hamas war is fuelling conspiracies, lies and misinformation.
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Is Vladimir Putin dead?
What the persistent rumours about the Russian president’s health do and do not tell us about the country’s future.
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Paranoia takes root in rural England
In one of the Peak District’s most beautiful valleys, a battle over who secretly runs the world rages.
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Putin’s darkest conspiracy theory yet
The Russian president’s latest claims about Zelensky’s Jewish roots are as revealing as they are grotesque.
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Naomi Klein’s mirror world
The writer and activist on being mistaken for a conspiracy theorist.
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The rise of the Unabomber right
How American conservatives fell in love with Ted Kaczynski.
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So is the US government hiding aliens or what?
And if so, isn’t that actually quite comforting?
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The right’s obsession with “the blob” shows it is losing
This conspiracy theory is the last resort of a populist movement desperate to avoid responsibility for its own failures.
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Is the BBC afraid of satire?
After a succession of programme cancellations, fear is spreading that the corporation doesn’t think it can afford to make fun…
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Arresting Donald Trump will only strengthen the conspiracists
Five years after QAnon was born, the idea of a corrupt deep state persecuting its enemies is in the mainstream…
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Britain will keep getting weirder
Covid-era conspiracy thinking has become a permanent feature of national life.
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We have lost Russell Brand
This once-sexy communist has become an American culture wars pundit.
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