Conspiracy Theories

Conspiracy Theories Might Sound Crazy, But Here’s Why Experts Say We Can No Longer Ignore Them

By Melissa Chan

Trump Weaponized Conspiracy Theories. QAnon Shows We're in an Arms Race

By Ryan Teague Beckwith

The Internet Is Freaking Out About These Details in Taylor Swift's 'End Game' Video

By Ashley Hoffman

Why Smart People Still Believe Conspiracy Theories

By Jeffrey Kluger
More in Conspiracy Theories

Why So Many People Believe Conspiracy Theories

William of Occam would have hated conspiracy theories. A 14th-century philosopher and Franciscan friar, William is celebrated for developing the “law of parsimony,” better known today as “Occam’s razor.” According to the razor principle, the...

By Jeffrey Kluger

Online Shopping Makes Suckers Of Us All

These are today's best ideas

By The Aspen Institute

President Trump's Favorite Conspiracy Theorist Is Just 'Playing a Character,' His Lawyer Says

“He is a performance artist," Alex Jones' lawyer said

By Maya Rhodan

The 3 Best Conspiracy Theories About the Statue of Liberty Going Dark

Theories ranged from Russian hacking to a Women's Day protest

By Zamira Rahim

What to Know About Pizzagate, the Fake News Story With Real Consequences

A man who believed the conspiracy theory brought a gun to a Washington, D.C. restaurant

By Kate Samuelson

The Problem With the Old Conspiracy Theory in a New Movie

Even in the context of a movie, conversations about faux evidence give oxygen to the moon hoax nonsense—and that does history a disservice

By Jeffrey Kluger

Watch Neil deGrasse Tyson Diss B.o.B

The latest in a very implausible rap feud

By Nash Jenkins

Why 'Tolerating' Anti-Vaxxers Is a Losing Strategy

A society thrives on a robust mix of ideas—but not all of them are equally worthy

By Jeffrey Kluger

How a Vaccine Is Like a Banana — and Why That's Good

The antivax crowd is forever daring people to read the fine print on vaccine packages. O.K., let's do that

By Jeffrey Kluger

Here's Why People Believe In Conspiracy Theories

UFO sightings. Hoaxed moon landings. Reptiles who rule the world.What, in the name of our alleged lizard overlords, convinces a person to believe in conspiracy theories?According to a pair of new studies published in the...

By Mandy Oaklander

Disneyland: Latest Victim of Anti-Vaxxers

The happiest place on Earth catches a bad case of measles—and the usual suspects are to blame

By Jeffrey Kluger

Extraterrestrials on a Comet Are Faking Climate Change. Or Something

Conspiracy theories never die, but that doesn't mean we can't get smarter about dealing with them

By Jeffrey Kluger

Why JFK Conspiracy Theories Won't Go Away

We’ve known the truth for 50 years, but many continue to deny the facts

By Michael Shermer

Why Iran Believes ISIS Is an American Plot

Conspiracy theories are nothing new in the Middle East, but the latest to come from Tehran is a self-protecting mechanism that could ultimately backfire

By Aryn Baker / Tehran

Do You Think the CIA Infected African Americans With HIV? You're Not Alone

Half of all Americans believe in that, or one of five other medical conspiracy theories

By Michelle Arrouas

The Missing Malaysian Plane: 5 Conspiracy Theories

The tragic disappearance of flight MH370 has spawned an unlikely assortment of conspiracy theories -- from supernatural intervention to the influence of the illuminati.

By Sam Frizell
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