Exploring Confusion and Identity in the Era of Conspiracy Theories

When Naomi Klein discovered that a woman who shared her first name, but had radically different, harmful views, was getting chronically mistaken for her, it seemed too ridiculous to take seriously.

Then suddenly it wasn't. She started to find herself grappling with a distorted sense of reality, becoming obsessed with reading the threats on social media, the endlessly scrolling insults from the followers of her doppelganger. Why had her shadowy other gone down such an extreme path? To find out, Klein decided to follow her double into a bizarre mirror world: one of conspiracy theories, anti-vaxxers and hucksters, where wellness influencers make common cause with fire-breathing far-right propagandists.

In this episode of the podcast, Naomi joins journalist Moya Lothian-McLean to explore why our politics has become so polarised, and ask what we can do to escape this collective vertigo and get back to fighting for what really matters.

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