The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy

It's a new episode of Conspiracy Theory Masterpiece Theatre, a fact that both of us forget to mention at all. You'll catch on fairly quickly, though, since we spend the whole time talking about Kurtis Hagen's 2020 paper "Is Conspiracy Theorizing Really Epistemically Problematic?", itself a reaction to Keith Harris's 2019 paper "What’s Epistemically Wrong with Conspiracy Theorising?" Two philosophers, alike in initials, yet opposed in their views on conspiracy theories - who could have imagined such a thing?

It's been close to 40 years, and the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie remains the deadliest act of terrorism in the UK. It's an event with many conspiratorial angles, which were discussed in a recent series as part of the BBC's "Intrigue" podcast. We take a look at the series and the events it discusses, and barely mention Highlander 2 at all.Also! M made a game! You can download it for free here: https://horansome.itch.io/prestige

It's been 25 years since the 9/11 attacks, so obviously we're going to talk about AI. Does it pass the Turing Test? Is it conscious? Are there parasitic AI personas inducting their users into the secrets of the universe? What's the correct way to pronounce "ChatGPT"? This episode contains those answers and no others.You know, we never bother to include references in our episode descriptions, like all the cool podcasts do. Here's a few:"The Rise of Parasitic AI" by Adele Lopez"AI bots started a religion — humans immediately followed" by Hayden Field"No Diggity" by Blackstreet ft. Dr. Dre, Queen Pen

M's desire to discuss the who, what and why of the ascended masters sees us look into Theosophy and its founder, Mme. Blavatsky, whose magnum opus is, we think you'll agree, thematically identical to the straight-to-DVD sci-fi horror film Species 3. Or Alien: Romulus if you prefer. Stay to the end for some startling revelations around what is and isn't Cake!

The mysterious Project Anchor has been a topic of conversation on social media lately, so we thought now would be a good time to look into it. What are NASA up to with $89 billion? What are they preparing for and what don't they want you to know about it? When is this all kicking off? The answers may surprise you unless you've read about it already.

Gird your loins, steel your nerves and kiss your loved ones goodbye as we stride proudly into The Confoundanatorium! First, M will attempt to confound Josh with a mini "What the Conspiracy?" segment; then Josh will do his best to confound M with a smaller-than-usual "Does M Remember?" segment! Who will be the most confounded by whom and what will be left of either of them at the end of it all? Only one thing is certain: everybody is a monkey racist.

M has been off schmoozing with their peers, cavorting and carousing at one of those star-studded, high-rolling philosophy conferences you always hear about on the news. They're back in China now, ready to give us a breakdown of what they got up to. No good? Some good? TOO MUCH GOOD?! The only way to know is to listen.

M's off being a practicing philosopher or something, so here's a quick story of the dangers of building your own jetpack. The dangers include not just flying into the sky and exploding, but more crimes and conspiracies than you might expect.

Willie McRae, a Scottish lawyer, politician and activist, died on April 7 1985 - this much is agreed on. Conspiracy theories persist to this day around exactly how and why he died (although, to be fair those closest to him really wish they wouldn't). This episode, we take a look into the claims and counterclaims around his death, to see what people think really happened and who was behind it.

It's time for another Conspiracy Theory Masterpiece Theatre - OR IS IT?  “Philosophy and conspiracy theories” by Juha Räikkä and Juho Ritola (a chapter from The Routledge handbook of conspiracy theories) is about conspiracy theories alright, and its conclusion is quite the showstopper. But "masterpiece"? Listen in to hear our views on whether it's masterful and what it may or may not be a piece of.