8. I Was a Conspiracy Theorist... Get Me Out of Here!

Brent has disavowed the toxic conspiracy theories he helped create about the 7/7 London terror attacks. But what will happen when he meets a survivor?

After years down the rabbit hole, Brent has severed his ties with the conspiracy world which has dominated much of his adult life. He recalls helping to shape false claims that the 7/7 London terror attacks in July 2005 were “false flag” operations staged by sinister forces in the government. But now he is trying to make amends.

Paul was seriously injured in those attacks, and has also suffered as a result of the sort of conspiracy theories that Brent used to propagate. Marianna brings the two men together for a conversation.

In this BBC Radio 4 podcast series, Marianna Spring, the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent, investigates how survivors of terrorist attacks are targeted with online abuse and false claims that deny the reality of the traumatic events they have lived through.

Across this series - and in this episode - there are graphic descriptions of violence.

Presenter: Marianna Spring Producer: Ant Adeane Editor: Ed Main