Menu
Idea

conspiracy theories

287
Filter by:

Filter by published date

Donald Trump and the presidential seal in an empty theater.

The Hoax that Spawned an Age of American Conspiracism

Donald Trump and Elon Musk are just the latest populists to weaponise fears of a sinister “deep state”.
by Phil Tinline via New Statesman on April 2, 2025
Shots from various conspiracy films of the 20th century.

The Life and Death of Conspiracy Cinema

Why did Hollywood lose interest in making paranoid thrillers? Was it a change in the culture? Or a change in the marketplace?
by T. M. Brown via The Nation on March 31, 2025
Dark, distorted painting of the American Revolution.

Tracing America’s Obsession With Conspiracy Theories Back to Its Founding

The revolutionary roots of a corrosive national pastime.
by Andrew Lawler via Literary Hub on February 25, 2025
Eyes looking through the stripes on an American flag as if they were window blinds.

How Conspiracy Theory Made America

Americans are seized by conspiracy theories, and as a result, democracy is in peril—so conventional wisdom holds.
by Michael Cuenco via Compact on August 2, 2024

How America’s Rich Legacy of Fear and Hatred Fuels the Conspiracy Theories of Today

Panic about Catholics, Freemasons, and, later, Jews, is deeply woven into American history, and forms the basis of our fertile culture of conspiracy theorizing.
by Arthur Goldwag via Talking Points Memo on June 21, 2024
partner

Alt Text

A brief history of the textfile, and the production of conspiracy theories on the internet.
by Walter J. Scheirer via HNN on May 8, 2024
Alexander I
partner

Why Early American Conservatives Loved Russia

A conspiracy theory among New England Federalists led some to contemplate separating from the U.S. during the War of 1812.
by Nicholas Dipucchio via Made By History on March 27, 2024
Betty and Barney Hill holding "The Interrupted Journey" by John G. Fuller.

The UFO Story of Betty and Barney Hill: Why Their Fight To Be Believed Was An American Tragedy

Betty and Barney Hill lost three hours on a New Hampshire highway in 1961. They spent years trying to understand it.
by Colin Dickey via Slate on September 11, 2023
President Warren G. Harding against a background of news clippings related to his death.

Why President Warren G. Harding's Sudden Death Sparked Rumors of Murder and Suicide

The commander in chief's unexpected death in office 100 years ago fueled decades of conspiracy theories but was most likely the result of a heart attack.
by Greg Daugherty via Smithsonian on August 1, 2023
The John Rankin House, an original stop on the Underground Railroad.

The Underground Railroad Was the Ultimate Conspiracy to Southern Enslavers

And justified the most extreme responses.
by Colin Dickey via Atlas Obscura on July 11, 2023
Illustration, The Burning of the Convent in 1834.

The Banality of Conspiracy Theories

Moral panics repeat, again and again.
by Colin Dickey via The Atlantic on July 1, 2023
Drawing of a Black man in court pleading with a judge in 1741.

Was the Conspiracy That Gripped New York in 1741 Real?

Rumors that enslaved Black New Yorkers were planning a revolt spread across Manhattan even more quickly than the fires for which they were being blamed.
by Ashawnta Jackson, Andy Doolen, Richard E. Bond, Thomas J. Davis via JSTOR Daily on April 30, 2023
President Kennedy in the limousine in Dallas, Texas, on Main Street, minutes before the assassination

JFK’s Assassination and “Doing Your Own Research”

Revelations about secret government programs after Kennedy’s assassination increased the power of conspiracy theories.
by Livia Gershon, Kathryn Olmsted via JSTOR Daily on April 20, 2023
Cattle in Nevada, 1973 (and a UFO)

The 1970s Cow Mutilation Mystery

When ranchers began reporting incidents of mutilated cattle, the ensuring panic fed both conspiracy theories and a growing cynicism about the government.
by Livia Gershon, Michael J. Goleman via JSTOR Daily on March 17, 2023
Illustration of Q-Anon vigilantes climbing an electrified letter Q.

QAnon Is the Latest American Conspiracy Theory

The rise of the right-wing paranoid fantasy, egged on by Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene, reflects deep currents in American politics.
by Chris Lehmann via The Nation on February 6, 2023
Painting of Jedidiah Morse with the Illuminati pyramid symbol over one eye.

Why the Founding Generation Fell So Hard for the Illuminati Story

They looked at France and said: “Make it make sense.”
by Jordan E. Taylor via Slate on October 24, 2022
A GOP Elephant locked up in a padded cell.

It Didn’t Start with Trump: The Decades-Long Saga of How the GOP Went Crazy

The modern Republican Party has always exploited and encouraged extremism.
by David Corn via Mother Jones on September 9, 2022
An elderly Robert Welch sitting at a desk in a wood-paneled office.

We All Live in the John Birch Society’s World Now

In his lifetime, Robert Welch toiled in the mocked and marginal fringe. Today his ideas are the mainstream of the American right.
by Chris Lehmann via The New Republic on November 23, 2021
Clay Shaw and two aides, holding up the newspaper announcing his acquittal. Copyright AP 1969.

The Homophobic Backdrop to Garrison’s Persecution of Clay Shaw

A review of "Cruising for Conspirators: How a New Orleans DA Prosecuted the Kennedy Assassination as a Sex Crime."
by Martin J. Kelly via Washington Decoded on October 11, 2021
QAnon proponent and Trump supporters

Bad Information

Conspiracy theories like QAnon are ultimately a social problem rather than a cognitive one. We should blame politics, not the faulty reasoning of individuals.
by Nicolas Guilhot via Boston Review on August 23, 2021
Man holding poster at U.S. Capitol Riot

The Paranoid Style: Rereading Richard Hofstadter in the Aftermath of January 6

How a book of essays from 1964 explains what happened at the Capitol.
by Bennett Parten via Los Angeles Review of Books on July 13, 2021
Graphic of Earth surrounded by red and white squiggles

What Is the Most Damaging Conspiracy Theory in History?

"What makes this conspiracy theory so damaging is its adaptability."
by Christine Caldwell Ames, David G. Robertson, Daniel Kolitz, Jennifer Rice, Joseph Parent, Sara Lipton, Peter Knight via Gizmodo on July 12, 2021
An illustration featuring Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

The John Birch Society Never Left

Why it’s foolish to think the modern GOP will ever break with its lunatic fringe.
by Rick Perlstein, Edward H. Miller via The New Republic on March 8, 2021
Helen Keller, circa 1954.

Did Helen Keller Really “Do All That”?

A troubling TikTok conspiracy theory questions whether Keller was “real.”
by Rebecca Onion via Slate on February 26, 2021
Painting of “Polling Day” in Pennsylvania in the Colonies, date unknown.

“They Chase Specters”

The irrational, the political, and fear of elections in colonial Pennsylvania.
by J. L. Tomlin via Age of Revolutions on December 3, 2020
A graphic with web browsers open depicting lizard people, hooded satanists, Satan, Donald Trump, the jewish star, a bloody, blood being poured into a goblet, ritualistic candles, and an ominous well.

QAnon, Blood Libel, and the Satanic Panic

How the ancient, antisemitic nocturnal ritual fantasy expresses itself through the ages—and explains the right’s fascination with fringe conspiracy theories.
by Talia Lavin via The New Republic on September 29, 2020

Pandemics Go Hand in Hand with Conspiracy Theories

From the Illuminati to “COVID-19 is a lie,” how pandemics have produced contagions of fear.
by Frederick Kaufman via The New Yorker on May 13, 2020
QAnon sign in a crowd of Trump supporters at a DeSantis rally.
partner

Why Americans Turn to Conspiracy Theories

Conspiracy theories have been a central feature in American politics since before the Revolution.
by Rachel Hope Cleves via Made By History on October 21, 2019
Buzz Aldrin on the lunar surface with flag during Apollo 11.

How Stanley Kubrick Staged the Moon Landing

To understand America, you can start with Apollo 11 and all that is counterfactual that’s grown around it.
by Rich Cohen via The Paris Review on July 18, 2019
Political cartoon of Jackson slaying a many-headed hydra of politicians.

When American Politicos First Weaponized Conspiracy Theories

Outlandish rumors helped elect Presidents Jackson and Van Buren and have been with us ever since.
by Mark R. Cheathem via What It Means to Be American on March 28, 2019
View More
30 of
287

Filter Results:

Suggested Filters:

Idea

Person

brought to you by
© Bunk History