Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power by Anna Merlan

Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power

by Anna Merlan

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Society & Culture

Some suspicion of government is earned, since COINTELPRO, the Tuskegee syphilis study and MKUltra were real. That said, Anna Merlan tracks conspiracy theories from the fringe to the center of American politics around Trump's election, and you see who profits and who gets hurt.

Core ideas
  • Wide fieldwork: UFO believers, false-flag theorists, anti-vaccine activists and sovereign citizens each get chapters, with reporting from a conspiracy-themed cruise and a white nationalist gathering.
  • Conspiracy entrepreneurs: Figures such as Alex Jones profit from false narratives, and the harm is concrete, from harassed Sandy Hook families to the theories built around Seth Rich's death.
  • Feeding hate: Conspiracy narratives feed white nationalist and antisemitic ideology about immigrants and Jewish people, and alongside the believers she interviews academics who study conspiracy belief.
Published2019
Pages288
ISBN9781250159052
ReadJul 2022

Connected to 6 other books

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