Conspiracy Theories

In Carter's second Best of 2024 pick, we're returning to explore the remarkable life of legendary magician Harry Houdini and the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death. We’ll be back with new episodes of Conspiracy Theories next week! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Continuing our holiday break, we're bringing you some of Carter's favorite episodes from this year! His first Best of 2024 pick re-examines the question that's been debated by scientists and ufologists for decades: Are we alone in the universe? And if not... where are all the aliens? We’ll be back with new episodes of Conspiracy Theories on December 25! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is the second week of our four-week holiday break. Today we’re featuring another one of Carter’s favorite shows: Otherworld.  In this episode of Otherworld, host Jack Wagner interviews Annalise about an unusual camping trip she took with her boyfriend, at a spot that had been in her family for decades. The location was very isolated, off the grid, and required a six-mile hike through dense forest to reach. As they trekked through the wilderness, they couldn't shake the eerie feeling of being watched. Despite the unease, they pressed on, dismissing it as paranoia. Once at the campsite, they encountered other strange occurrences, and a mysterious sound that left them shaken to their core and grasping for answers. Otherworld is available on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes of Conspiracy Theories will resume December 25th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is the first week of our four-week holiday break. Today we’re featuring one of Carter’s favorite shows: Truthless. In this episode of Truthless, host Brian Phillips talks to The Kid Mero about the time he landed a job in the mail room at one of New York’s biggest investment banks, as a teenager. After deciding he was ready for a promotion, Mero talked his way into a new job in the IT department. The only problem? He knew nothing about computers. Truthless is out now on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes of Conspiracy Theories will resume December 25th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1984, Boris Weisfeiler went on a backpacking trip in Chile and never returned. Chilean investigators insist he drowned, but his family and the U.S. Embassy don’t buy it. It takes decades for the truth to emerge, one bit of evidence at a time. With each new piece of the puzzle, a more and more outlandish picture emerges. Conspiracy Theories is on Instagram @theconspiracypod and TikTok @conspiracy.pod! Follow us to keep up with the show and get behind-the-scenes updates Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Yonaguni Monument is a large underwater stone complex off the coast of a tiny Japanese island. After their discovery in 1987, divers and local academics thought the rock formations were human-constructed, indicating the presence of a yet-undiscovered ancient civilization. Could these structures unlock a new chapter of human history? Conspiracy Theories is on Instagram @theconspiracypod and TikTok @conspiracy.pod! Follow us to keep up with the show and get behind-the-scenes updates Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the early 20th century, a Turkish historian discovered a map made in 1513 by famed cartographer Piri Reis. The map was incredibly detailed and even featured a perfectly accurate depiction of Antarctica — a continent not discovered for another 300 years. Conspiracy Theories is on Instagram @theconspiracypod and TikTok @conspiracy.pod! Follow us to keep up with the show and get behind-the-scenes updates from Carter and the team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

War veterans, wolf-hunters, and the king’s own men hunted the bloodthirsty beast for three years before it was caught. Some called the beast a “werewolf”. Others, a “serial killer in disguise”. But an autopsy of the monster points to a royal conspiracy… Keep up with us this spooky season on Instagram @theconspiracypod and TikTok @conspiracy.pod! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the 18th century, an unidentifiable monster preyed on French villagers. The carnage was so bad, one bishop claimed the beast was a punishment from God. Monster or punishment, something or someone killed dozens of people… Keep up with us this spooky season on Instagram @theconspiracypod and TikTok @conspiracy.pod! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Long before they graced our screens as mindless, brain-eating monsters, zombies were rooted in Haitian folklore. Rumors of a zombie potion made their way to 1980s Boston, where an ethnobotanist hoping to uncover the concoction found himself enmeshed in a secret society and face-to-face with a real zombie. Keep up with us this spooky season on Instagram @theconspiracypod and TikTok @conspiracy.pod! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dubbed “The Last Vampire of New England,” Mercy Lena Brown allegedly feasted on her own family. But she wasn’t the first vampire, or the last. Stories like Lena’s evolved into modern day conspiracy theories, including a vaccine designed to turn you into a vampire, vampire hunting as a get-rich-quick scheme, and government agents who’ll steal your blood. Keep up with us this spooky season on Instagram @theconspiracypod and TikTok @conspiracy.pod! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before becoming the world’s most famous mummy, King Tut was a teen pharaoh. When he suddenly died at age 19, it changed Egyptian history. But it wasn’t until the 1920s that a new theory came into play: King Tut was murdered in a political coup. And he might not have been the only victim. Keep up with us this spooky season on Instagram @theconspiracypod and TikTok @conspiracy.pod! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the course of their decades-long investigation, the FBI interviewed thousands of potential D.B. Cooper suspects. All leads ran cold. But in 2011, citizen sleuth Tom Colbert started his own search—and he believes he may have finally found the real identity of the mysterious hijacker. Conspiracy Theories is now on Instagram @theconspiracypod and TikTok @conspiracy.pod! Follow us to keep up with the show and get behind-the-scenes updates from Carter and the team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1971, a man operating under the pseudonym "Dan Cooper" hijacked a plane, stole $200,000, strapped the money to his body, and then parachuted into the darkness below. Who was he? And what happened to the money? Conspiracy Theories is now on Instagram @theconspiracypod and TikTok @conspiracy.pod! Follow us to keep up with the show and get behind-the-scenes updates from Carter and the team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ted Kaczynski, the man better known to the world as the Unabomber, died in 2023. But his manifesto and the ideas he presented as justifications for his killings have become more mainstream. We sat down with Candice DeLong, one of the FBI agents who helped capture Kaczynski in 1996, as well as Gary Wright, who survived a bombing in 1987. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at serialkillerstories@spotify.com Conspiracy Theories is now on Instagram @theconspiracypod and TikTok @conspiracy.pod! Follow us to keep up with the show and get behind-the-scenes updates from Carter and the team. Check out Candice’s new podcast Natural Selection: Scott v. Wild Bill. All episodes out now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With little explanation as to the meaning of the content of the Voynich manuscript, questions of a hoax arose. Conspiracy Theories is now on Instagram @theconspiracypod and TikTok @conspiracy.pod! Follow us to keep up with the show and get behind-the-scenes updates from Carter and the team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Discovered by book dealer Wilfred Voynich in 1912, the centuries-old “Voynich Manuscript” is written in a strange text that no one has been able to decipher. Scholars, historians, and linguists have all tried to uncover the secret behind the mysterious tome. Conspiracy Theories is now on Instagram @theconspiracypod and TikTok @conspiracy.pod! Follow us to keep up with the show and get behind-the-scenes updates from Carter and the team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A “wild” boy in 18th-century Germany meets the King of England. 100 years later, a child is raised in isolation by a man whose name he never knew. And a young girl in the 1950s survives the Colombian jungle – a troop of monkeys her only companions. These so-called feral children are no strangers to doubt, controversy, and conspiracy theories. Conspiracy Theories is now on Instagram @theconspiracypod and TikTok @conspiracy.pod! Follow us to keep up with the show and get behind-the-scenes updates from Carter and the team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After 13 years as a Mafia hit man, he found himself in the crosshairs of the New Jersey Police. There was only one thing left to do: slaughter every last one of his friends before they got the chance to turn on him. Conspiracy Theories is now on Instagram @theconspiracypod and TikTok @conspiracy.pod! Follow us to keep up with the show and get behind-the-scenes updates from Carter and the team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He killed over a hundred people before the police had even heard his name. So when the Mafia needed a body to drop without getting their hands dirty, there was only one man to call. Richard Kuklinski was quick, vicious, and utterly invisible. Conspiracy Theories is now on Instagram @theconspiracypod and TikTok @conspiracy.pod! Follow us to keep up with the show and get behind-the-scenes updates from Carter and the team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices