A pandemic—with fear, isolation, and lots of time on your hands—can be a prime time for conspiracy theories to take hold. Having a villain is more reassuring that not having someone to blame.

Click above to listen to part 4 of Skeptic Check: Covid Conspiracy, featuring Whitney Phillips, Professor of communication and rhetorical studies at Syracuse University, and author of three books, most recently You Are Here: A Field Guide for Navigating Polluted Information.

Skeptic Check: Covid Conspiracy:
Part 1: Joan Donovan – Pandemic Opportunists
Part 2: Joan Donovan – The 5G Conspiracy
Part 3: Whitney Phillips – The Gates Gambit
Part 4: Whitney Phillips – Conspiracies Abound!

Podcast also available on PocketCasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and RSS.

2026 Webby Award Nominee
for our three part series on the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

Big Picture Science is an immersive radio show and podcast that reveals the unexpected connections in science.

Our Skeptic Check episodes take a critical look at extraordinary science claims and pseudoscience.

Don’t settle for a science snapshot. Get the big picture. 

Hosted By

Molly Bentley Executive Producer and Co-Host, Big Picture Science  

Seth Shostak Producer and Co-Host, Big Picture Science
Senior Astronomer, SETI Institute

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