Ellen Cushing's recent piece in The Atlantic called “I was a teenage conspiracy theorist” tells her story as a young Illuminati-truther during the post-9/11 years. Her history with conspiracy theories isn't all that different from my own, so I asked Ellen to join me to talk about our experiences to try to explain what these stories were like back in the 2000s, and how they intersect with the stories we hear now. We’ll also ask the biggest question of all, how do we combat this alternate reality? As the subtitle on Ellen’s article reads, “Want to know why wild conspiracism can be so irresistible? Ask a 14-year-old girl.” Read Ellen's piece, I Was a Teenage Conspiracy Theorist Become a Patron for extra episodes, interviews, and videos monthly, including our brand new podcast Walk with Me This episode has sound by Clear Common Studios Produced by Miranda Zickler Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen, it really helps us out! Follow American Hysteria on social media: Twitter: @AmerHysteria Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast Find our merch at americanhysteria.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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