Iconoclashes
Conspiracy theories are rife with esoteric motifs. But what do those symbols actually represent?
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The Vichy Conspiracy
In 1940, did French elites roll out the welcome mat for Nazi Germany?
Help Jacobin Hire a Rising Star of Journalism
I have ten vital projects ready to go. I need your help to bring them to the world.
Is QAnon Destroying American Democracy?
Conspiracy theories are common and dangerous, but they probably can’t explain why Americans don’t trust the government.
The X-Files: The Truth Was Out There
The classic show The X-Files celebrated and satirized America’s love of conspiracy theories before they became an all-consuming obsession. When the show returned to the air after a long gap, it had to confront a culture of paranoia that made Fox Mulder’s imagination look tame.
Aliens Built the Pyramids
Some people suspect that humanity’s greatest achievements aren’t human achievements at all.Some people suspect that humanity’s greatest achievements aren’t human achievements at all.
Urban Legends, Urban Truths
The 1998 B-list slasher film Urban Legend unleashes on its protagonists a host of horrors from the American folk canon. Some have their roots in real life.
The Family That Slays Together Stays Together
The Manson Family left a trail of bodies in 1969. No one should have been surprised.
The QAnon Shaman Speaks!
And he sounds like . . . a hippie?
Havana Syndrome Can’t Be Cured
Even the CIA has debunked “Havana syndrome” — the belief that hypersonic weapons are making American diplomats sick — but diehards in the media and Congress won’t let it go.
Conspiracy Theory Is Dead
It’s now impossible to distinguish “conspiracy theories” from the day-to-day hysteria of our era of hyperpolitics.
How Lyndon LaRouche Said Goodbye to Marxism and Hello to Crazy
Lyndon LaRouche started off lecturing about dialectics and Rosa Luxemburg. By the 1980s, he was Glenn Beck with a private security force.