What Is a Conspiracy Theory?

Get ready for those 'fun' holiday dinner conversations with friends and family. You know the ones...

In the spirit of the holidays, I thought we'd revisit Season 1, Episode 2. This is an episode about the battle for truth. As disinformation, misinformation, malinformation, and conspiracy theories seem to be hitting epidemic levels, how can we help each other determine what is real and what is fake? How can we help people who are falling down conspiracy rabbit holes? And what roles do technology companies, governments, and ordinary citizens play?

Perry Carpenter speaks with acclaimed cybersecurity expert, Bruce Schneier, disinformation experts, Samantha North and Allie Wong, and conspiracy theory researcher, Mick West. In this episode, we also hear from Peter Leyden from Reinvent and Eli Periser, author of The Filter Bubble.

Learn more about our guests here:

• Bruce Schneier - Internationally renowned security technologist, author, and speaker. You can find Bruce's website here.
• Allie Wong - VP of Mis/dis/mal-information, Response and Resiliency, Limbik; Consultant, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research. (LinkedIn)
• Samantha North - Disinformation researcher and consultant. (LinkedIn) Co-Founder: North Cyber Research (website)
• Mick West - Skeptical investigator and retired video game programmer. Creator of the websites Contrail Science (website) and Metabunk (website). Author of Escaping the Rabbit Hole: How to Debunk Conspiracy Theories Using Facts, Logic, and Respect (link). Personal website (link).

Special thanks to Reinvent for allowing use of audio.

References:

• http://reinvent.net/events/event/how-we-can-pop-the-filter-bubble-with-eli-pariser/
• https://reboot-foundation.org/study-social-media-poor-judgment/
• https://reboot-foundation.org/is-there-a-fake-news-generation/

Recommended Books:

• Escaping the Rabbit Hole: How to Debunk Conspiracy Theories Using Facts, Logic, and Respect by Mick West.
• Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-connected World by Bruce Schneier.
• The Filter Bubble: How the New Personalized Web Is Changing What We Read and How We Think by Eli Pariser.
• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.
• Why Are We Yelling?: The Art of Productive Disagreement by Buster Benson.
• The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt.

Perry's Books

• Transformational Security Awareness: What Neuroscientists, Storytellers, and Marketers Can Teach Us About Driving Secure Behaviors, by Perry Carpenter
• The Security Culture Playbook: An Executive Guide To Reducing Risk and Developing Your Human Defense Layer by Perry Carpenter & Kai Roer

Production Credits:

Music and Sound Effects by Blue Dot Sessions, Envato Elements, & Storyblocks.

Artwork by Chris Machowski @ https://www.RansomWear.net/ and Mia Rune @ https://www.MiaRune.com.

8th Layer Insights theme music composed and performed by Marcos Moscat @ https://www.GameMusicTown.com/

Want to get in touch with Perry? Here's how:

• LinkedIn
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• Email: perry [at] 8thLayerMedia [dot] com

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