These shows dig into the psychology behind conspiracy theories and demonstrate how dangerous a lie can be once it spreads.
In contrast to dire predictions, the midterm elections were largely a rebuke to far-right candidates who campaigned on conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. But that they were in contention at all speaks to how normalized baseless claims are now. Misinformation and disinformation have become more and more intractable in recent years, and the increased fragmentation of news in the digital era makes solutions hard to come by.
These six podcasts dig into the psychology behind conspiracy theories, online radicalization and moral panics, and lay bare just how dangerous a lie can be once it spreads.
‘Will Be Wild’
Nearly two years since the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, and after nine days of harrowing public hearings, it can still be difficult wrap one’s mind around the reality of what happened. This series from Wondery begins with the emotionally gripping story of one family before making its way into the broader saga. On Christmas Eve of 2020, a teenage boy in Texas, increasingly alarmed by his father’s far-right rhetoric, typed into Google the phrase “how to tip the FBI.” Jackson Reffitt, that 18-year-old, didn’t realize just how correct he was when he told the authorities his father, Guy Wesley Reffitt, might be dangerous — Reffitt ultimately became the first person to stand trial for the riot. With a title ripped from a tweet of former President Trump’s, “Will Be Wild” features harrowing audio from the riot and equally troubling interviews with election-denying attendees, many of which illustrate how conspiracy thinking spurred the mob.
This article was written by Emma Dibdin for the New York Times, read the full article here.
