The Return of the Hidden Hero
The hero/king/god isn’t dead, he’s just sleeping, often under a mountain, waiting for the day his people really need him.
On the Origins of the Blood Libel
The ultimate conspiracy theory may be the charge of Jews killing Christian children.
QAnon as Neo-Noir
The popular conspiracy theory has intriguing parallels with classic noir by Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett.
The French Revolution as Illuminati Conspiracy
The Illuminati was a real secret society. But in the hands of British conservatives during the French Revolution, it became a massive conspiracy.
An Epidemic of Retractions
Nicolas Chevassus-au-Louis's new book, Fraud in the Lab, offers some tough love for the scientific community.
Pssst, Crop Circles Were a Hoax
In the late 1970s, mysterious circular patterns started showing up in farm fields.
The Mystery of the Mona Lisa
The mystery surrounding the 1911 theft and subsequent conspiracy theory catapulted the Mona Lisa into the popular imagination.
The Philosophy of Conspiracy Theories
Conspiracy theories boil down to a rejection of the absurdity, meaninglessness, and randomness of life and history.