The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy

M chats with Melina Tsapos and Patrick Brooks, two newly minted PhD holders whose works are on or at least touch on the philosophy of conspiracy theory theory.

Josh and M are back together, so the sensible thing to do is destroy both of their brains by having M try once again to find the point to "State Secrets II" - local author Ben Vigden's book of local conspiracy theories - and communicate it to Josh. Things do not go well.

Circumstances conspire against M and Josh for another week, but rather than deplete The Can any further, Josh records a filler episode covering an infamously conspiratorial incident from the world of professional wrestling.

Stuff is happening that means Josh and M can't record this week. But they did record two unreleased episodes back in January, so here's one of them. Consider this a prequel to the "Tunnel Vision" series. Also, it mentions the other "From the Can" episode that hasn't been released for reasons that maybe will become clear one day...

M is back in China with a functioning larynx, so we record a "Back to the Conspiracy" episode, taking another look at a subject we last covered ten years ago: the Dreyfus Affair. Why is a French soldier convicted of treason like Amber Heard? Listen and find out.

M's having voice issues, so Josh records a short episode on the NZ mockumentary "Forgotten Silver" to keep you happy until we're ready to record normally. Learn how Peter Jackson and Costa Botes fooled a nation, even though it seems like they didn't really mean to.

M guides Josh through chapter one of Dunedinite Ben Vigden's book 'State Secrets II' in this special and incredibly confusing edition of 'What the Conspiracy!'

The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy tackles a story torn from today's headlines (about an issue that goes back to the late 90s), as we discuss the Horizon Post Office scandal. If you live in the UK, this may be a story you're familiar with, but for rest of us, it makes for a darkly fascinating affair. (Mentions of suicide, just in case that's problem for you.)

Josh and M review the third series of the podcast 'Bed of Lies', which deals with what the British were doing during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The answer is 'They were up to no good', but what kind of 'no good' was it?

This week we look into a 450-year-old compilation of 900-year-old prophecies about who's going to be the pope. Unless it's actually a 450-year-old fake about who we want to be the pope. In either case, it makes one thing clear: there are now Too Many Popes. (Which is like Too Many Cooks, but with fancier hats.)