Conspiracyland Podcast Recommendations

ICYMI + Never Post

How Kate Middleton’s Disappearance Redefined Monoculture

Rather than rehashing all of the tabloid and internet speculation about the Princess of Wales’ disappearance from the public eye, ICYMI and Never Post deftly mine the moment for its monocultural indicators. It’s less where was she and more where are we? As in, what does it take to penetrate our algorithmic silos and capture mass attention today?

My Momma Told Me

NBC to National Bill Cosby (with Bridget Todd)

MMTM is one of Cristen’s favorite conspiracy theory podcasts, and this episode has everything she loves about it: comedy, pop cultural detours, and surprising facts. Podcast royalty Bridget Todd joins comedian hosts Langston Kermit and David Gborie to unpack the conspiracy theory that Bill Cosby’s #MeToo downfall was an orchestrated takedown by white network TV suits.

QAA Podcast

Mothers for QAnon w/ Annie Kelly

Annie Kelly’s early reporting on women and QAnon helped convince Cristen to pursue her latest podcast, Conspiracy, She Wrote. This episode was published in 2020, and we’re still living through the ripple effects.

Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra

A Bad Angle

The first season of Rachel Maddow’s richly produced Ultra is worth a listen – and also resonates with the historical themes Conspiracy, She Wrote digs up.

Women are hardly the leads in Ultra, but our curator’s ears especially perked up when she learned how a U.S. senator’s widow worked overtime to launder her husband’s Nazi collusion and political legacy. It’s a classic example of how far-right women have long played into their gender roles as dutiful wives in service of propagating dangerous, conspiratorial politics.

Conspiracy, She Wrote

She Started It

Women’s history of spinning far-right conspiracy theories runs deep. In fact, if it weren’t for a horribly fascist lady conspiracy theorist named Nesta Webster, the concept of an Illuminati cabal secretly ruling the world probably wouldn’t exist today. Even more stunning is how much her unhinged writing imprinted on right-wing American politics, and eventually made its way into mainstream pop culture.

Rip Current

California, September 1975. Within a span of 17 days and less than 90 miles, two women, working separately, tried to assassinate the president of the United States, Gerald R. Ford.

These are the only two times we know of that a woman has tried to assassinate an American president. The first, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, was already infamous as a prominent follower of cult leader Charles Manson. The second, Sara Jane Moore, was a 45 year-old housewife who infiltrated San Francisco's violent radical underground working undercover for the FBI.