The Life, Death and Sci Fi of Conspiracy Theories

It seems like conspiracy theories are even more wide spread and fiercely believed in then ever.

How are they born, why do they thrive right now, do they ever die... and what surprising role does Sci Fi play throughout this life cycle?

Show Notes:

* The QAnon mega-conspiracy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QAnon

* Conspiracy theories as examples of fictional archetypes: https://theconversation.com/what-conspiracy-theories-have-in-common-with-fiction-and-why-it-makes-them-compelling-stories-128046

* As of 2019, 6% of Americans believe the moon landing was staged, but the amount doubles with each generation, up to 11% for Millenials: https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/news/documents/2019-07/c-span-space-exploration-07-10-2019_for_release.pdf#page=20

Credits:

* "The Illuminatus! Trilogy" (1975) by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, popularized many common conspiracy tropes such as the Illuminati: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Illuminatus!_Trilogy

* The Necronomicon, originally mentioned in H.P. Lovecraft's "The Hound" (1924), jumped from pure fiction to conspiracy fodder.

* The X-Files (1993-2002) brought Area 51 and government cover-ups of alien abduction conspiracies into the prime-time and mainstream: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_X-Files

* The Da Vinci Code (2003) by Dan Brown brought Templar, Holy Grail and various Christian conspiracy theories to a mainstream audience.

Theme Song - Keep Your Stupid Dreams Alive By The Prehab Messia, under the CCbyNCSA licence, Source: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Prefab_Messiahs/Keep_Your_Stupid_Dreams_Alive