In the spirit of the season, Dr. Ben Gross and I channel Ebenezer Scrooge and detail our favorite conspiracies past and present. We also predict future conspiracies. How far into dystopia did we go? Listen to find out.

Also, Ben and I embraced the season and shared some favorite holiday movies as well as the best gifts we've ever gotten and what we resolve for the new year.

Fun was had by all. Why would you miss this?

Welcome back to Dr. Ben Gross in our ongoing series of talks about conspiracy theories. This week we talk about voting, election and political conspiracy theories. Why do people believe these conspiracies? What are some of the common conspiracies? How do we handle them? What do we think?

We reference the following in our discussion:

Pew Research Survey

Conspiracy mentality and political orientation across 26 countries

Making an impression: the effects of sharing conspiracy theories

The Big Lie: Expressive responding and conspiratorial beliefs in the U.S.

Welcome back to Dr. Ben Gross in our ongoing series of talks about conspiracy theories. This week we talk about alien conspiracy theories. How and where did they originate? How long have people believed in aliens? Is it a problem that what was once a conspiracy now has some truth to it - or may have some truth to it? We discuss why people may believe in aliens from distrust of government to narcissism, to a need to belong, to a need for answers and certainty. We also have a message for aliens....if they are listening.

Shout out to @BillMaher @DavidDuchovny for a theory we are calling Duchovian.

We reference the following in our discussion:

UFO Sightings in the U.S. GIS Map

Mental Floss: https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/ufo-facts-history-sightings

NPR Article: https://www.npr.org/2021/06/04/1003262749/how-ufo-sightings-went-from-conspiracy-theory-to-a-serious-government-inquiry

The Hill Article: https://thehill.com/opinion/3610916-congress-implies-ufos-have-non-human-origins/

Vice Article: https://www.vice.com/en/article/3adadb/congress-admits-ufos-not-man-made-says-threats-increasing-exponentially

NBC News Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA-h3dIeD_A&ab_channel=NBCNews

60 Minutes Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBtMbBPzqHY&ab_channel=60Minutes

Media Logic & Social Interaction (David Altheide): https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/si.1987.10.1.129

Self-Perception Theory (Wiki): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-perception_theory

Echo Chamber Media Effect (Wiki): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echo_chamber_(media)#:~:text=The%20echo%20chamber%20effect%20occurs,declining%20exposure%20to%20other's%20opinions.

Boomerang Effect (Wiki): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boomerang_effect_(psychology)

Spiral of Silence (Wiki): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_of_silence

Confirmation Bias (Wiki): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias