Nathan Radke

And I think in the end with this Leviathan story, there's actually, I think, two fantasies in this meme.

One, that there's a colossal monster off the eastern coast of the United States.

but two, that the government is competent and concerned enough to do something about it.

Yeah, but it's kind of reassuring.

That's the weird thing about monster stories is that they're almost reassuring in a way because if it's a monster, it's a thing that can be confronted.

It's a thing that can be battled.

Whereas so many of the things that we're afraid of right now, there doesn't seem to be any ways for us to even understand them, let alone fight back against them.

Oh, yeah, because stuff brews in water.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, it worked at a bunch of levels.

So every new term, I ask my college students, hey, what conspiracies are you guys interested in?

Not necessarily what they believe in, but just topics they'd be curious to look into.

And it lets me tap into the zeitgeist because, of course, my students are smarter and hipper and faster and cooler and more chronically online than I am.

And this year, it's not the Illuminati, it's not the aliens.

This year, there's a high percentage of mentions having to do with the ocean.

And exactly as you say, you got your sea monsters, you got your Bermuda Triangle.

You got your Atlanteans.

Can't forget the Atlanteans.

And your Lemurians.

Lemurians?