DiscoverPlain English with Derek ThompsonThe Psychology of Conspiracy Theories
The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories

The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories

Update: 2024-09-061
Share

Description

Are conspiracy theories more popular than ever? Are Americans more conspiratorial than ever? Are conservatives more conspiratorial than liberals? Joseph Uscinski is a political scientist at the University of Miami and one of the nation's preeminent experts on the psychology of conspiratorial thinking and the history of conspiracy theories in America. He has some counterintuitive and surprising answers to these questions. Today, he and Derek discuss—and debate—the psychology and politics of modern conspiratorial thinking.


If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com.

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Joseph Uscinski

Producer: Devon Baroldi


Links

Uscinski's research page: https://people.miami.edu/profile/60b5fb062f4f266afb6739ec21657c74

"The psychological and political correlates of conspiracy theory beliefs" https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-25617-0

"Fake news on Twitter during the 2016 U.S. presidential election" https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30679368/

"Right and left, partisanship predicts (asymmetric) vulnerability to misinformation" https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/right-and-left-partisanship-predicts-asymmetric-vulnerability-to-misinformation/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Comments 
00:00
00:00
x

0.5x

0.8x

1.0x

1.25x

1.5x

2.0x

3.0x

Sleep Timer

Off

End of Episode

5 Minutes

10 Minutes

15 Minutes

30 Minutes

45 Minutes

60 Minutes

120 Minutes

The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories

The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories

The Ringer