Starter Episode: “Moment of Silence”
In December 2020, Tiffany Dover, a nurse in Chattanooga, Tennessee, received her Covid-19 vaccine on live camera. At her subsequent press conference, Dover temporarily fainted, reappears to explain what happened—she has an underlying health condition that causes her to lose consciousness when in pain. Nothing stood out in her reaction — Fainting is a possible side effect of any vaccine, even in people without a predisposition. However, the clip quickly went viral in the anti-vaccine corner of the internet and quickly sparked conspiracy theories. Dover actually died after being vaccinated and was replaced by a doppelganger. This disturbing podcast, hosted by Brandy Zadrozny, her NBC News reporter who specializes in reporting misinformation, describes Dover as “an ordinary person whose life is a weapon in the global information war. “I am not alone.”
Starter Episode: “Needle Inn”
As this investigative series on BBC Radio 4 reveals, conspiracy theories around Covid-19 are as influential abroad as they are in the United States. Disinformation reporter Marianna Spring explores the onslaught of pandemic pseudoscience through the story of Gary Matthews, who has been described as a gentle and good-natured person, and his lifelong fascination with fringe politics is in all its forms. has snowballed into a devastating distrust of experts in He dismissed his Covid as a hoax, willfully flouted all pandemic restrictions, then contracted the virus and died at the age of 46. As Spring delves into the human suffering of scientific disinformation, his bite-sized 15-minute episodes facilitate the darkness of this story. to the stomach.
Starter Episode: “Magic Town”
Infowars broadcaster Alex Jones, who has been spreading brutal falsehoods about the Sandy Hook shooting for years, was recently ordered to pay over $1.4 billion to some of the families he defames. rice field. Since 2017, former stand-up comedians Dan Friesen and Jordan Holmes have been trying to understand how Jones spreads such falsehoods on his podcast “Knowledge Fight.” Its conceit is simple. Friesen listens to his Infowars broadcast and disassembles his Holmes interests not listening to it. In addition to debunking Jones’ lies, the pair explore what makes Jones’ points appealing to certain audiences. More recently, they’ve pivoted to documenting his comeback, and the Schadenfreude-tinged analysis lends itself to cathartic listening.
Starter Episode: “October 12, 2022”
Satanic Panic — a series of widespread conspiracy theories about satanic cults that practice ritual child abuse that began in the 1980s — is often thought of as a uniquely American phenomenon. That’s part of what makes this series from Tortoise Media so amazing. The Little-Known Satanic Panic It took place in a leafy and wealthy district of London. In 2014, two children told police that their father, along with more than 100 other parents, teachers and neighbors of hers in the area, ran a satanic pedophile organization. It was later revealed that the children were coerced into lying, but the ramifications of the false allegations changed the accused’s life forever.
Starter Episode: “Secrets and Lies”
