Conspiracy Clearinghouse

EPISODE 168 | Eating the Onions: War of the Worlds & Other Scares
In an environment of experimental fiction, metanarratives, postmodern satire, disinformation, deep fakes, and fake news, a sizeable portion of the content gobbling audience takes things that are not true as being actually true. Online, this happens with alarming regularity with articles published by satirical news site The Onion; so often, in fact, that there’s a term for this phenomenon – it’s called Eating the Onion.
The subjects of intentional disinformation, deep fakes, and fake news are one thing, but what we’re looking at here at times when something that was never intended to be taken seriously (though it used real world tropes and structures for narrative effect), were accidentally thought to be base din reality. And people quite rather lost their shit. Like the 1938 Orson Welles broadcast of The War of the Worlds. But there are other instances as well.
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SECTIONS
Here Come the Martian Martians - War of the Worlds
Life on Mars? - Alternative 3, Special Bulletin, The War Game & The Day After
Happy Phantom - Ghostwatch, Without Warning
Two Little Men in a Flying Saucer - April Fool's gone awry
Part of Your World - Mermaids, dragons, megalodon
Music by Fanette Ronjat
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EPISODE 167 | American Trickster: The Cults of Carlos Castaneda
Guest: Ru Marshall, American writer and artist
Carlos Castaneda made a big splash with his books about the Yaqui shaman Don Juan, but there was a lot more happening than just those increasingly fantastical tales. A LOT more. Author and artist Ru Marshall spent more than 20 years looking into what was really going on with the man who was, at one time, the most famous anthropologist in the world. 
And yeah - it gets weird.
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Music by Fanette Ronjat
More Info:
American Trickster: The Hidden Lives of Carlos Castaneda by Ru Marshall on Amazon
American Trickster at OR Books
Ru Marshall website
Review on Publisher's Weekly
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EPISODE 166 | Sassy Squatches: Chupacabra, Bigfoot & Yeti
Some of the most famous cryptids are the bloodsucking Chupacabra (which is of fairly recent invention) and the always popular Bigfoot and their higher latitude cousins, the Abominable Snowman. Is there any truth at all to stories of these creatures, or is it all misunderstandings, misapprehensions, misidentifications, and tomfoolery?
There’s only one way to find out: listen to this episode.
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SECTIONS
Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) - Chupacabra, the Ozark Howler, the sigbin of the Philippines
The Amazing Bigfoot Diet - Sasquatch, Bigfoot, big hoaxes with Rant Mullens and Ray Wallace
Remember (Walking in the Sand) - The 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film, "Capturing Bigfoot"
Abominable Snowman in the Market - Yeti reports, smuggling, theories
Music by Fanette Ronjat
Further Listening:
EPISODE 156 | The Shape of Water: Loch Ness and Other Lake Monsters
Black Hills Weirdness section of EPISODE 49 | ’Merican Monuments (Travelogue 2)
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EPISODE 165 | MAHA Mia: The Misconceptions of RFK Jr
Guest: Evan Nadler, pediatric surgeon and researcher, pioneer in childhood obesity
The conspirasphere has been weaponized so much that actual conspiracy theorists now hold important and influential positions in the US government. Perhaps the most egregious example of this is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the Secretary of Health and Human Services. What does an actual doctor think about some of his nuttiness? Listen and find out. 
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Music by Fanette Ronjat
More Info:
Obesity Explained (Dr. Nadler's website)
Evan Nadler's YouTube Channel
EPISODE 02 | A Cavalcade of COVID-19 Crackpottery
EPISODE 26 | Come On Vaccine! Vaccine Hesitancy & You
EPISDOE 38 | The Dirty Dozen: Medical Misinformation Miscreants (RFK Jr section is the 2nd one)
EPISODE 60 | Under My Skin: Morgellons Disease
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Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt
DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a 2022 Gold Quill Award, the 2021 AVA Digital Award Gold, 2021 Silver Davey Award & 2020 Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists. 
PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER.

EPISODE 164 | Walk Like a Panther: The Palantir 22-Point Manifesto
A company many have heard mentioned but don’t know much about caused a stir in the interwebs when its CEO dropped a 22-point manifesto of sorts. Many felt the whole thing smacked of some sort of comic book supervillain’s shopping list, while others nodded their heads at the sage wisdom of the post of X (formerly Twitter).
Palantir is the company and the poster was Alex Karp. But just what is Palantir and who is this Karp guy?
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SECTIONS
Five Guys - Nathan Gettings, Stephen Cohen, Alex Karp, Jon Lonsdale, Peter Thiel (the 130th richest country in the world)
More Things in Heaven and Earth - Peter Thiel: a Randian Objectivist, a plutocratic reactionary, militarist techno-libertarian, or libertarian authoritarian; post-democracy, liquid democracy; Thiel's views and actions
Know Your Product - What Palantir does and what they're worth, Gotham, Foundry, AIP, TITAN, MetaConstellation and MOSAIC, Skykits, Metropolis, ELITE; who uses this stuff, JP Morgan spies on employees 
Manifesto - Alex Karp's 22-point summary of The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West
Music by Fanette Ronjat
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Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt
DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a Gold Quill Award, Gold MarCom Award, AVA Digital Award Gold, Silver Davey Award, and Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists. 
PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER
 
 

EPISODE 163 | Vanishing Point: Missing Scientists & the Erosion of Certainty
Someone recently wrote that, these days, a conspiracy theory is sort of a political position. It sure does seem that way sometimes, and new conspiracy theories continue to evolve in this disinfo-rich soil we’ve scattered about the internet like so much incontinence. Plus, those in power seem to have figure out that they way to many a voter’s heart is by encouraging conspiracy thinking, tapping into whatever it is that drives people to invest so much in them.  In an attention economy, there’s no such thing as good or bad attention. 
So, we look at a brand new conspiracy theory that showed up earlier this year, the Missing Scientists Conspiracy Theory, and then dabble in some of the ways conspiracy thinking has infected and infiltrated the highest levels of American government. Maybe this is a cautionary tale, but it also might be an alarm bell.
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SECTIONS
Feeling Gravity's Pull - Monica Jacinto Reza and Amy Eskridge 
Propulsion Overdrive - Michael Hicks, Frank Maiwald, Anthony Chavez, Melissa Casias, Steven Garcia, Jason Thomas, Nuno Loureiro, Carl Grillmair, William Neil McCasland, Joshua LeBlanc
Supersonic Rocket Ship - A new conspiracy theory is born, parallels are drawn, Chinese scientists, the White House gets involved - Trump, Kash Patel, James Comer, Eric Burlison; Tim Burchett loves David Wilcox
How Greene Was My Valley - Marjorie Taylor Greene
Foggy Mountain Breakdown - J.D. Vance
Music by Fanette Ronjat
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Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt
DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a Gold Quill Award, Gold MarCom Award, AVA Digital Award Gold, Silver Davey Award, and Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists. 
PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER

EPISODE 162 | In Pursuit of D.B. Cooper
One of the great unsolved cases in FBI history is the tale of D.B. Cooper, who hijacked a commercial jet and then jumped out the door with a parachute and a bag full of cash. The story has been written about, films have been made, numerous “Mysteries of…” shows have had episodes about it, and there even a few songs that reference the famous gentleman thief of the Pacific Northwest.
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SECTIONS
01:36 - Leaving on a Jet Plane - Dan Cooper hijacks a plane
10:38 - Jet Airliner - Notable hijackings, tracking Cooper (money, hair, fingerprints, sketches, DNA, Canadian comics and more)
25:19 - Come Fly with Me - Suspects: Duane Weber, Kenneth Christiansen, Paul Le Clair, Barbara Dayton, William Smith, Lyne Doyle Cooper, 
36:41 - Fly Away - More suspects: Ted Braden, Robert Rackstraw, Bryant Coffelt, Richard McCoy Jr, 
44:46 - Somewhere in the Sky - Ha Ha Ha, Cooper fans, "we know the middle", copycat Martin McNally, Raymond Sidney Russell, videos, cocktails and more
Music by Fanette Ronjat
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Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt
DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a Gold Quill Award, Gold MarCom Award, AVA Digital Award Gold, Silver Davey Award, and Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists. 
PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER

EPISODE 161 | Vroom Broom: Witches & Witch Hunts
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, or women were burned alive in Salem, MA, at the end of the 17th century. Their crime? Being witches. That’s what many of us think, anyway. But just how much truth is there in all that? And what, exactly, is a witch? Are there any still around today? 
This episode comes in time for this year’s Walpurgis Night, which happens in Central Europe on April 30. Bonfires are made, effigies of witches are burned or thrown into rivers, and there is much feasting and, well, a lot of drinking. 
So, let’s talk witches, separating fact from fiction.
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SECTIONS
01:40 - Salem Is a Spooky Massachusetts Witch City - The Salem Witch Trials
18:13 - Burn the Witch - A history of witch hunting, the Hammer of Witches, the Great Hunt, notable witch trials, swimming a witch 
27:27 - The Devils of Loudon
32:32 - The Spanish Inquisition
35:35 - Waking the Witch - Belief in witches, the witch-cult hypothesis, new Paganism and Wicca
43:47 - Miss Macbeth - Broomsticks, black cats, witches as marginalized people
Music by Fanette Ronjat
Related Episode
Mass Hysteria & Shared Delusions (The World Is Weird 2)
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Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt
DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a Gold Quill Award, Gold MarCom Award, AVA Digital Award Gold, Silver Davey Award, and Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists. 
PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER 

EPISODE 160 | A Real Collusion
Two political parties hardly seems sufficient for a nation of 342 million, and yet that's exactly the situation in the United States. How did that come to be, and why does it persist?
Author Stu Strumwasser explores those ideas with his new novel A Real Collusion as well as in this conversation. 
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Music by Fanette Ronjat
Links
A Real Collusion website
Stu Strumwasser website
 
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Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt
DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a Gold Quill Award, Gold MarCom Award, AVA Digital Award Gold, Silver Davey Award, and Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists. 
PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER 

EPISODE 159 | Maritime Mysteries
It’s time to shiver yer timbers and batten down the hatches as we dive into a bucketful of mysteries at sea that have been hard to fathom in the past - the Flannan Isles Lighthouse, the Mary Celeste, and the Flying Dutchman. 
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SECTIONS
01:20 - The Flannan Isles Lighthouse - Three men vanish and inspire lots of stories
06:31 - The Mary Celeste - The ship is found, speculations aplenty, Frederick Solly-Flood is a stubborn idiot, more theories, misinformation becomes legend, woo-woo enters the picture, 1968 disappearances, the ship is cursed, Gilman Parker hatches a scam, two recent theories
31:13 - The Flying Dutchman - The legend begins, the legend spreads, the Wandering Jew, Prince George of Wales sees it, Fata Morgana, looming, St. Elmo's Fire, other ghost ships
Music by Fannete Ronjat
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Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt
DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a Gold Quill Award, Gold MarCom Award, AVA Digital Award Gold, Silver Davey Award, and Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists. 
PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER