On Sunday, a man entered a Washington pizza shop to “self investigate” a false conspiracy theory that the restaurant was a front for a child abuse ring led by Hillary Clinton, as reported by the Washington Post.
From claims that election polls oversampled Democrats in order to favor Hillary Clinton to arguments that Standing Rock isn’t being covered because the oil industry controls the media, conspiracy theories abound in 2016, stoked, perhaps, by anti-establishment sentiment, over-exposure and the insulated bubbles of the world wide web.
AirTalk talks with Joseph Uscinski and Michael Shermer about the psychology behind conspiracy theories and why people buy them.
What do you think makes conspiracy theories attractive in the current political climate? Which theories have you heard?
Guests:
Joseph Uscinski, a professor in Political Science at the University of Miami, and co-author of the book, “American Conspiracy Theories” (Oxford University Press, 2014)
Michael Shermer, author of “The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies – How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths” (Henry Holt/Times Books/Macmillan); founding publisher of Skeptic magazine