Triple-Barreled Questions

Given the state of… things (imagine us gesturing wildly as we say this) as they currently are, ...

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Given the state of… things (imagine us gesturing wildly as we say this) as they currently are, Jonah figured that this might be an apropos time to bring back a popular guest for his second showing:  Joseph Uscinski, a political scientist and professor at the University of Miami specializing in how conspiracy theories spread. Buckle up for the discussion of Jewish space lasers, QAnon, Frazzledrip, and much more. They also discuss why the conspiratorial tendency never seems to go away, thanks to its basis in personality type, as well as the fact that “politicians … use [them] as a cudgel to go around accusing their opponents of the worst things possible.” We’re sure you can imagine just what Joe is talking about with that one.

Show Notes:

–Joseph E Uscinski – University of Miami

–Our previous episode with Joseph

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  1. Avatar photo
    Bruce Mamont

    I was struck by JU's comment (which I may have misunderstood and so may not be correctly describing for this question) that everybody believes in at least one conspiracy theory.

    I spent almost all of my adult life in one very large institution (the U.S. Army) and one very large enterprise (a big aerospace company). Even in the Army, a fairly monolithic, disciplined, and successful institution, it's very hard to make things happen exactly as you want them to unfold. In Big Aerospace Company...hard doesn't begin to characterize the difficulties of execution.

    This experience makes me exceedingly skeptical that conspiracies can shape the course of nations. I'm not asserting that no one has ever conspired...just that they haven't been successful.

    Which brings me to my question: I can't think of a conspiracy to which I could attribute an outcome that affects my life (and don't tell me that really successful conspiracies are totally covert). What conspiracies does JU believe might have credibility among people like me?

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    Saied

    I grew up in the 50s in the Middle East. Child sex trafficking was a conspiracy that went around back in those days too. The English were behind everything bad that happened was another conspiracy. We did not have lizard people, at least no one that I knew tried to scare us kids with them.

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    Ben Connelly

    Great episode. I will have to go back and listen to the previous one. What happened to “Can you dig it?” in the intro? That was my favorite part. Also what is that from?

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    Dan Jett

    Thank you, Jonah, for asking some of the follow-up questions I suggested last Spring the last time Prof. Uscinski appeared on the podcast. So informative!

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  5. GusABQ

    I have one question. Since we have provable evidence of the fallibility of polls, like the last two presidential elections, why do we believe unprovable polls on anything?

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    Victor Clairmont

    This, plus the last podcast Mr. Uscinski was on, is such essential listening too.

    Every time a democrat accuses republicans of being conspiracy theorists, and vice versa, trot this man out.

    Like literally put him on a horse harness, dress him up pulling a carriage with data and facts inside, and trot him out.

    Every.

    Single.

    Time.

    Because the more each side (specifically democrats at the moment) accuse the other side of being conspiratorial nuts, they just end lame the public sphere.

    Great podcast.

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      Victor Clairmont

      *enrage stupid autocorrect

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  7. Julie

    Fantastic episode! Great questions.

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    Rick Henderson

    This was one of my favorite Remnants. Informative, counterintuitive, and fun.

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  9. Joe1776

    This is a great podcast and very interesting.

    1) on the theory of "conspiracy theories are for losers" I think that makes sense to some extent. But I would like a bit more. For example "the Kulaks" and intelligentsia in Poland suffering under the Soviet system. And of course all the conspiracy theories against Jews whether from Nazis to Islam to Christian etc. seem to buck that idea. We also had McCarthyism and I think we could think of many more. So I would wonder what he would say to some of these counter examples. The notion of scapegoating a minority group would seem fertile ground for conspiracy theories.
    I know he admitted he does not have fuller data to go into many of these issues. But at least my initial thought is that it may be less common for conspiracy theories to be pushed by those in power it is more concerning because the outcomes are worse since they have power.

    2) He says the idea has to be about a group doing something and rigging something. (I didn't memorize the definition.) So that would seem to exclude say AOC saying Cruz is trying to have her murdered. That claim would be slander but it not a conspiracy. On the other hand where she suggests that republicans helped plan the riot on the capitol or that there is a core group of racists in the party that would be conspiracy. But under that definition Clinton killing a baby and wearing its face as a mask (Is that the claim?) would also not seem to be a conspiracy theory. Rather that would just be a slanderous claim about individual criminal conduct.

    3) I agree about the loss of trust in the institutions leading to this. I play some chess and I find Russians believe many conspiracy theories and are also very conical about any institutions. But then again I don't blame them for not trusting their institutions. I think this shows how we need to be ever vigilant to make sure our institutions (media and government) are as transparent as possible and take any amount of corruption or bias very seriously. The more people lose trust in institutions the more likely we are to get follow unhinged ideas. Given the polls seeming to show increased distrust in the media I am surprised we don't see an increase in conspiracy theories. If you have him on again I wonder what his take is on that.

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    Nina

    I wonder if Prof Uszinski has ever looked into conspiracy theories that occur within subcommunities like online fan communities. We’re dealing with an utterly bizarre conspiracy theory in the Star Wars fandom right now which is being fed by high-subscription Youtube personalities. It’s so annoying lol.

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