Conspiracy Theories

The Disappearance of Glenn Miller (with Dennis Spragg)

07 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How does the Taylor Swift of the swing era just... disappear? That’s the question Carter tries to answer in this episode alongside Dennis Spragg, on...

The Rendlesham UFO Incident Pt. 2

31 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Carter examines alternative explanations for the famous alien sighting, including a government experiment gone wrong, a cold war conspiracy, and time ...

The Rendlesham UFO Incident Pt. 1

24 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nicknamed “The British Roswell,” it’s one of the most controversial UFO sightings. Carter presents the accounts of US Air Force Officers from De...

The Silk Road Pt. 2

17 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

By 2012, undercover DEA agents had cracked holes in an underground criminal conspiracy. It was the “Amazon.com of Drugs” – the Silk Road. But to...

The Silk Road Pt. 1

10 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Secret societies have long been the subject of conspiracy theories. But this one was very real, just a few keystrokes away – if you knew where to cl...

Extremely Online with Taylor Lorenz (and a post-interview chat with Carter!)

03 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week on Conspiracy Theories: Book Club, we are joined by tech journalist and author Taylor Lorenz to discuss the creator economy, social media, a...

Easy Money with Jacob Silverman

27 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The state of crypto seems to change every day. Millions of people have made, and lost, money in what some consider a scam and others a golden investme...

JFK Facts with Jefferson Morley

20 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Plenty of conspiracies surround John F. Kennedy’s assassination. In this episode we sit down with Jefferson Morley, investigative journalist, author...

Presenting Conspiracy Theories: Book Club!

18 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For the next three weeks, we’ll be putting out a special series we’re calling Conspiracy Theories: Book Club. Every week for the past five years y...

The Pizza Bomber Pt. 1: The Mastermind

11 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After the fallout at the PNC Bank, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and Bill Rothstein scrambled to cover their tracks. But the FBI was already closing in, wo...

The Pizza Bomber Pt. 2: The Murder

04 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In order to deactivate the bomb, Brian’s co-conspirators set up an elaborate scavenger hunt around Erie, Pennsylvania. But as police started to foll...

The Pizza Bomber Pt. 3: The Robbery

27 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In August 2003, pizza delivery man Brian Wells strapped a collar bomb to his neck and chest and entered a PNC Bank demanding $250,000 in cash. He thou...

Napoleon Bonaparte

22 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Officially, the exiled French emperor died of stomach cancer in 1821. But for hundreds of years, controversy courted that narrative, and new possibili...

The Real Life James Bond Pt. 2

15 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sidney Reilly returns to his unfinished business in Russia, only to be dealt a final deadly hand. Conspiracy Theories is now on Instagram @theconspira...

The Real Life James Bond Pt. 1

08 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

He's a legend in the world of spycraft, the “Ace of Spies”, and the inspiration behind Ian Fleming’s James Bond. Sidney Reilly traveled the worl...

The Wine Con (with Justin Sayles)

01 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this special episode, Carter sits down with Justin to discuss his new podcast, The Wedding Scammer (00:46). Then, we get into the story of infamous...

The Curse of Dudleytown

25 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Carter examines a cursed Connecticut neighborhood, its rumored royal origins, and the town’s ghostly connection to The Conjuring movie franchise.  ...

The Osage Murders Pt. 2

16 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The true story behind Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon: Members of Osage Nation are being targeted for their high-priced oil headrights. There’...

The Osage Murders Pt. 1

09 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The true story behind Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon: In the early twentieth century, Oklahoma’s Osage Reservation was rich in oil and spread...

Exeter Incident

04 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After dozens of UFO sightings plagued Exeter, New Hampshire in 1965, a skeptical investigative journalist named John G. Fuller came to town. The hours...

Sun Tzu & The Art of War

27 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It’s cited in war rooms and boardrooms, but perhaps the most important lessons from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War are about the art of espionage. This ...

The Dominici Affair Pt. 2

20 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Detective Sébeille begins to uncover the secrets of the Dominici family, but has his single-minded focus led him down the wrong path? What secrets ar...

The Dominici Affair Pt. 1

13 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A dogged detective travels to rural France in 1952 to investigate the murders of three British tourists. At first no one will talk to the big city cop...

Shark Vomits Arm?

06 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A disembodied arm, a man-eating shark, and multiple rumored mob hits. It’s one of Australia’s most famous and bizarre murder mysteries, but the pa...

What’s Hiding in the Wizard of Oz?

30 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 2018, a study ranked it as “the most influential film of all time.” Rotten Tomatoes certifies it as 98% fresh. And yet, theories abound that th...

The Isdal Woman

23 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The only question bigger than “Who is the Isdal Woman?” is “Who’s keeping her identity secret?” Found in 1970, her body was burned beyond re...

The Princes Who Disappeared

16 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 1483, the rightful king of England and his heir apparent vanished. Popular opinion says they were murdered by their uncle, but could he have been f...

The Assassination of Pancho Villa

09 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

To some, he was a hero of the Mexican Revolution. To others, a “bloody soul, born from evil.” In 1923, when he was gunned down in the streets of P...

The Crimes of Aaron Burr

02 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How does King Burr sound? While he’s most infamous for shooting a Founding Father in a duel, Aaron Burr’s crimes extend even further: The former V...

The UAP Hearing

31 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

July 26th was quite a day in Congress. The House subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs met to discuss...UFOs Learn more a...

Secrets of Chernobyl

26 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In April 1988, a top Soviet scientist, Valery Legasov, died by suicide. Before his death, he recorded a series of chilling deathbed confessions concer...

The Disappearance of Ettore Majorana

19 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In March 1938, a brilliant physicist boarded a ship from Palermo to Naples, Italy. When the ship docked, he wasn’t on it. What happened to Ettore Ma...

The Manhattan Project

12 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A top-secret military program changed the world in August 1945. Today we’re examining the Manhattan Project’s official story: its key figures, its...

Bohemian Grove’s Atomic Secrets

05 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Three years before the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a group of men including J. R. Oppenheimer and Ernest Lawrence held a secr...

Nuclear Fallout

05 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Before Oppenheimer hits theaters this summer, explore the real-life events that inspired the film. We’ll be back in August with new episodes of Cons...

Bone Fraud: The Piltdown Man

28 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A prehistoric species discovered in England was once hailed as the “missing link” between humans and apes. Until it was exposed as a fake. The onl...

Hollywood Conspiracies: Military Propaganda

21 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

From doctoring scripts and censoring movies, to influencing programming for game shows, just how deep is the partnership between Hollywood and the mil...

Hollywood Conspiracies: Police Propaganda

14 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Are crime dramas just good PR for cops? From Dragnet to Law & Order, American crime shows have been helping craft the public’s perception of police ...

Jurassic Park: The Resurrection

09 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Jurassic Park film franchise brought dinosaurs to life using CGI and special effects. But, with advancing gene engineering technology, could dinos...

Jurassic Park: The Myth

07 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It's been thirty years since the first Jurassic Park film dazzled global audiences. Since then, the movie franchise has reshaped our understanding of ...

Jurassic Park: The Movie

05 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

To celebrate its 30th anniversary, we're digging deeper into a film that preyed on the world's fascination with dinosaurs and changed cinema as we kno...

Aliens and the Oval Office Pt. 2

31 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Because of the government's classified files on UFOs, it's hard to know which US presidents knew about aliens. Some believe President Eisenhower helpe...

Aliens and the Oval Office Pt. 1

29 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When a flying saucer crashed in Roswell, New Mexico, President Harry Truman tried to downplay the incident to keep the public from panicking. But he w...

STENDEC

24 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A small commercial airplane, the Star Dust, disappeared over the Andes Mountains in 1947. Some think the flight was bombed as part of corporate sabota...

The Missing Angola Boeing 727

22 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A Boeing 727 took off from Angola and vanished from the skies above Southern Africa in 2003. Many suspected the jet was hijacked by terrorists. Some g...

Sinking of the MS Estonia Pt. 2

17 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After the shipwreck, many rumors swirled about how the MS Estonia came to sink in the Baltic Sea. Some believe one of the captains, assumed dead, is s...

Sinking of the MS Estonia Pt. 1

15 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In September of 1994, the MS Estonia was en route from Tallinn, Estonia to Stockholm, Sweden when it hit rough seas and sank, claiming 852 lives. An o...

Missing Mogul: Robert Maxwell Pt. 2

10 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After the body of media mogul Robert Maxwell was pulled from the water, rumors began to swirl about the cause of death. It's entirely possible that it...

Missing Mogul: Robert Maxwell Pt. 1

08 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

He was a controversial media mogul in Britain accused of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from his employees. Then in November 1991, Robert Ma...

Death of a Whistleblower: Karen Silkwood Pt. 2

19 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In November 1974, Karen Silkwood died in a one-car crash while driving to meet a New York Times reporter about falsified reports at her nuclear power ...

Death of a Whistleblower: Karen Silkwood Pt. 1

17 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Worker safety was paramount to Karen Silkwood. That's why she was proud to be part of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union bargaining committee ...

The Man Who Knew Too Much Pt. 2

12 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A week after he was unwittingly dosed with LSD by MK-Ultra’s mastermind, Sidney Gottlieb, Frank Olson dropped 13 stories from a hotel window. After ...

The Man Who Knew Too Much Pt. 1

10 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

He was a military scientist for the CIA and worked on clandestine operations including MK-Ultra. As part of his job, Frank Olson witnessed some of the...

Rumors and Misinformation

05 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

While a massive manhunt was conducted by police, citizen "digilantes" scoured through thousands of photos from the event, proposing their own suspects...

Panic On Patriot’s Day

03 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After two homemade bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon in April 2013, the region was on high alert. Over 2000 police descended ...

Nazi Gold in Austria’s Lake Toplitz

29 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

During World War II, the Nazis had a base in an isolated, wooded area of the Austrian Alps called Lake Toplitz. It is believed that they used the lake...

Lennon's Biggest Fan

27 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

On December 8, 1980, 25-year-old Mark David Chapman shot John Lennon outside the Dakota in New York City. Chapman then calmly pulled out a copy of The...

The Break Up

22 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

More than half a century ago, the Beatles officially broke up. It upset many fans, who directed their anger, not at the band, but at a band member's w...

Paul Is Dead

20 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, the Beatles were launched into worldwide stardom. Then, in late 1966, the band disappeared for m...

The Count of Saint Germain Pt. 2

15 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There are numerous tall tales about the Count of Saint Germain, and it isn't easy to separate fact from fiction. Some say he was secretly descended fr...

The Count of Saint Germain Pt. 1

13 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Likely born around 1710, this self-styled alchemist traveled the world and rubbed elbows with society's elite. It's believed he spoke numerous languag...

Hillsborough Disaster Pt. 2

08 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After almost 100 spectators were killed at a football match in Sheffield, England, people were looking for accountability. Some feel the tragedy was c...

Hillsborough Disaster Pt. 1

06 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Saturday, April 15th, 1989, was set to be a highly-anticipated semi-final football match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. It wound up being on...

Forced to Buy: The Dark Side of Advertising

01 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When it comes to modern-day marketing methods, brands have a knack for knowing exactly what products you want. Is it because they've collected enough ...

Made to Break: Planned Obsolescence

27 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the winter of 1924, the Phoebus Cartel concluded that the best way to sell more light bulbs was to make ones that burned out faster. A century late...

The Disappearance of Rudolf Diesel Pt. 2

22 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

On September 29th, 1913, German inventor and engineer Rudolf Diesel boarded the England-bound S.S. Dresden in Antwerp, Belgium, but was never seen aga...

The Disappearance of Rudolf Diesel Pt. 1

20 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Fueled by a desire to change the world, Rudolf Diesel spent his early adulthood refining an idea for an internal combustible engine that used pressuri...

The Pitchfork Murder of Charles Walton Pt. 2

15 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After English farmhand Charles Walton was brutally killed on Valentine's Day, 1945, three distinct theories emerged from three perspectives to explain...

The Pitchfork Murder of Charles Walton Pt. 1

13 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 1945, residents were left wondering who was responsible for the gruesome murder of 74-year-old farmhand Charles Walton. The small village in Warwic...

Deflategate: NFL Cheating Scandal Pt. 2

08 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In January 2015, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots became the center of another cheating scandal. It was alleged that the footballs used in the A...

Spygate: NFL Cheating Scandal Pt. 1

06 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

They had won three Super Bowls in four seasons. Their hunky quarterback and their no-nonsense coach seemed to have the league all figured out. But som...

Havana Syndrome Pt. 2

01 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Over 100 instances of "Havana Syndrome" have been documented worldwide. Many people have dismissed it as simply Mass Psychogenic Illness. Others belie...

Havana Syndrome Pt. 1

30 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A mysterious ailment emerged in 2016 that affected American diplomats stationed in Havana, Cuba. Victims reported vertigo, headaches, vision problems,...

Who Was Joan of Arc? Pt. 2

25 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

She was told to find the future King Charles VII, get him crowned, and liberate France from the English. Or so we've been told. But many think Joan of...

Who Was Joan of Arc? Pt. 1

23 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As a teenager, she had divine visions. She was thrust into the spotlight when she became a military leader and French national icon. But are all the t...

Operation Midnight Climax

18 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After World War II, the U.S. government hoped to use LSD as a “truth serum” against its enemies. The CIA called it Operation Midnight Climax. But ...

The Overthrow of Hawaii | 100 Year Anniversary

16 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A century ago, a secret society conspired to strip the power from Hawaii’s queen, and force the independent kingdom to become a U.S. territory. Toda...

Vatican Spy Rings

11 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Have popes throughout centuries signed off on secret intelligence programs designed to spy on revolutionaries, curb the influence of Modernism, and he...

The Death of Pope John Paul I

09 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the early 1970s, when he was still an Archbishop, Albino Luciani caught wind of a shady banking scheme involving Italian banker Roberto Calvi and t...

The Lost Colony of Roanoke Pt. 2

04 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The fate of the lost colonists has been debated for hundreds of years. Did they abandon their settlement of their own free will, or did they fall vict...

The Lost Colony of Roanoke Pt. 1

02 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a mystery that’s endured for centuries: When the English first began colonizing America, they established a small settlement off the coast of...

Best of 2022: COINTELPRO Pt. 2

28 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

After a dozen major campaigns and thousands of planted bugs and wiretaps, COINTELPRO was finally exposed to the public. But the job of untangling its ...

Best of 2022: COINTELPRO Pt. 1

26 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A secret intelligence project led by the FBI used illegal methods to spy on organizations and people from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s. It claimed...

The Johnstown Flood Pt. 2

14 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Wrath, rivalry, or coverup? Despite over 2200 people dying in the Johnstown flood, no one has ever been held legally responsible for the neglected dam...

The Johnstown Flood Pt. 1

12 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

After years of neglect, the decaying South Fork dam gave way in May 1889 — flooding a town of steelworkers, and killing thousands. In the aftermath,...

FIFA World Cup Scandal Pt. 2

07 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

An IRS agent uncovers a trail of embezzlement in an American soccer official’s transactions, the FBI investigates bribery allegations surrounding th...

FIFA World Cup Scandal Pt. 1

05 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

When Qatar won the bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, it made sports history — becoming the first Middle Eastern nation to ever host the competiti...

Secrets of NASA Pt. 2

30 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If NASA could hide an alliance with a government espionage office, what else could it be hiding? Today we examine the alleged evidence of a secret spa...

Secrets of NASA Pt. 1

28 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

High-risk missions. International competition. And the keys to the cosmos. When you think of clandestine organizations, NASA might not top the list —...

Future Tech: The Metaverse

16 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a buzzy word meant to invoke a sense of immersion within a virtual world — where boundaries are obliterated, and possibilities are limitless....

Future Tech: Artificiality

14 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

They’re modern marvels, all around us — artificial products we can eat (lab-grown meat), transplant (bioprinted organs), and even inject into our ...

Future Tech: Automation

09 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Automation promises to make our lives radically more efficient, with the power to change everything from how countries develop weapons of warfare, to ...

Future Tech: Transhumanism

07 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

From brain implants and bionic limbs to gene editing and immortality — today’s technology has the potential to lead us down a path we couldn’t c...

Cattle Mutilation Pt. 2

02 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the 1960s and ‘70s, farmers across America were waking up to find that their cows had been slaughtered. Because the cattle were found missing eye...

Cattle Mutilation Pt. 1

31 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

For decades across America’s heartland, cattle ranchers have found healthy livestock dead, with their body parts removed, sexual organs missing, and...

The Mummy's Curse: Curse of the Pharaohs Pt. 2

19 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the years following the unveiling of King Tut’s burial chamber, tragedy seemed to follow those involved with the excavation. Many believe these i...

The Mummy's Curse: Curse of the Pharaohs Pt. 1

17 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

When Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon set out for Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, they hoped to uncover secret tombs, lost in the sand. In 1922, their ...

The Death of a Rolling Stone

12 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

From an early age, Brian Jones showed a creative edge and an interest in self-destruction. His rebellious spirit derailed him out of school and into t...

The Tylenol Murders Pt. 3: A Nightmare on Halloween

10 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

By 2011, the FBI was ready to reexamine the evidence. A theory emerged: What if the Mad Poisoner was actually the Unabomber? Ted Kaczynski had proven ...

The Tylenol Murders Pt. 2: A Walking Crime Wave

05 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If Roger Arnold wasn’t behind the murders, who was? Police turn their focus to a new suspect: a disgruntled accountant named James Lewis. But the mo...