Conspiracy Theories

American New Age culture isn’t all crystals and Tarot cards. A New World Order? The Aryan race? Alien-human hybrids? Throughout history, New Age belief systems have so often been blended with wild, and sometimes dangerous, conspiracy theories that academics have coined the term “conspirituality.” This week, we journey into murky waters of Love Has Won, a New Age spiritual group whose leader passed away in 2021. By the time authorities found her body that April, she had been dead for weeks. Her followers had camped with her body, slept with it in tents, and crossed state lines to fashion a shine out of her mummified corpse. We’re joined by journalist and author Leah Sottile. Leah’s book Blazing Eye Sees All investigates American New Age culture and examines how self-proclaimed prophetesses, like Love Has Won’s Amy Carlson, have managed to create kingdoms for themselves. Keep up with us on Instagram @theconspiracypod! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alcatraz was designed to be inescapable. But in 1962, three men broke out. The FBI concluded the inmates died in the San Francisco Bay. But some family members are convinced they made it out alive – and lived secret lives for decades. Keep up with us on Instagram @theconspiracypod! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1953, an Air Force jet took off from Michigan’s Kinross Air Force Base in pursuit of an unknown aircraft, or bogey. As the jet approached the mystery aircraft, the two dots representing them on a radarscope appeared to merge – just before the jet vanished.For years, ufologists have theorized that the bogey was of extraterrestrial origin.Today, we’re talking to two researchers from the Open Skies Project – Zach Garner and Kyle Kary – who’ve been digging into declassified files and other documents related to the Kinross Incident.See their research and follow along with their work on the Calumet Air Force Station at openskiesproject.org Keep up with us on Instagram @theconspiracypod! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A legend tells of a cache of Civil War-era gold buried somewhere in the hills of Elk County, Pennsylvania. Over the past few decades, treasure hunters have descended upon the community of Dents Run to seek their fortune – and to find out if the stories are true. Dennis Parada’s search began in 1974. He spent the majority of his lifetime researching the tale, put years into combing the woods, and told his son bedtime stories of Union soldiers on an ill-fated trip. Then, one day, he believed he finally found it. His research was so convincing that in 2018, the FBI agreed to excavate the site Dennis pinpointed. According to the FBI, they found nothing: no gold, and no evidence that gold had ever been there. But not everybody is convinced that the FBI is telling the full truth. Keep up with us on Instagram @theconspiracypod! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the early 1970s, when he was still an Archbishop, Albino Luciani caught wind of a shady banking scheme involving Italian banker Roberto Calvi and the Vatican. Years later – and just 33 days into his tenure as Pope John Paul I – he was found dead. Did stepping into the Vatican’s affairs cost him his life? Keep up with us on Instagram @theconspiracypod! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After Malcolm X was assassinated, three men were arrested. Despite holes in the investigation and the prosecution’s case, all three went to prison. In the years that followed, people close to Malcolm insisted there was more to the story. But then, decades later, after new information emerged in a 2020 docuseries Manhattan’s then-District Attorney decided to re-examine the case.Keep up with us on Instagram @theconspiracypod! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dive into the turbulent life of Malcolm X, whose radical views on racial justice garnered both fierce loyalty and dangerous enemies. Explore his traumatic childhood, marked by racial violence, that shaped his worldview. Discover the rise of a revolutionary leader within the Nation of Islam and the internal conflicts that emerged. The shadows of his assassination loom large, raising tantalizing questions about who truly orchestrated it and whether justice was served.

Brazil, 1966. Two men in suits were found dead on a hill, surrounded by odd notes, and wearing lead eye masks. With no sign of violence, police were baffled. Theorists linked the men to occult rituals, criminal conspiracy, and maybe even alien contact.Keep up with us on Instagram @theconspiracypod! Have a story to share? Email us at conspiracystories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1973, author and activist Oscar Zeta Acosta told his son he was getting on a boat, and would see him soon. But Acosta was never seen again. Theories range from a drug deal gone wrong, to a faked death, to an FBI assassination.Keep up with us on Instagram @theconspiracypod! Have a story to share? Email us at conspiracystories@spotify.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In May 2000, 32-year-old Australian astrophysicist Rodney Marks died suddenly on an Antarctica base after falling ill just 36 hours earlier. The National Science Foundation (NSF) released a statement saying he most likely died of natural causes. But when the toxicology report came back, it revealed he had actually been poisoned by methanol.How did the methanol get in his system? And why did New Zealand authorities feel like the NSF wanted to stonewall their investigation? We spoke with reporter Stephen Davis, whose own investigation into the death of Rodney Marks first began more than two decades agoStephen is also a professor and the host of the audio series The Secret History of Antarctica. It’s available on Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.Conspiracy Theories is on Instagram @theconspiracypod! Follow us to keep up with the show and get behind-the-scenes updates from Carter and the team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices