Stuff They Don't Want You To Know

The great game for robots escalates; updates on Elon Musk. The Louvre heist is hilarious. Your grocery store conspires against you. All this and more in this week's strange news segment. They don't want you to read our book.: https://static.macmillan.com/static/fib/stuff-you-should-read/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In these divided times, how can communities unite? How can we, the average people, empower ourselves and our neighbors? Also -- what's the perfect day in Atlanta? In the second part of this historic, wide-ranging conversation, Ben and Matt return with the legendary MC, activist, and Atlanta community leader Killer Mike to discuss his new podcast Conversate, the importance of connection, and the fu...

Hunter's Point and Treasure Island. FDA transparency, the rise of a global right wing. Recalibration. All this and more in this week's listener mail segment. They don't want you to read our book.: https://static.macmillan.com/static/fib/stuff-you-should-read/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Was the 13th Amendment a grift? What was it like living through the Atlanta child murders? In the first part of an historic, wide-ranging conversation, Ben and Matt welcome the legendary MC, activist, and Atlanta community leader Killer Mike to discuss his new podcast Conversate, some of America's most dangerous conspiracies, the importance of local organizing, and the fragile nature of democracy....

Juarez, located just over the US-Mexico border, has an ongoing crisis that hasn't made the news: hundreds of women have gone missing, and many of the ones who disappear are later found dead, their wrists often bound, with strange symbols carved on their bodies. Journalists Monica Ortiz Uribe and Oz Woloshyn dive deep into this tragic mystery in their podcast Forgotten: Women of Juarez, searching f...

As the government shutdown continues, an estimated 42 million US residents may go hungry. Mushrooms may be the next memory chips. Ben, Matt and Noel continue to obsess over 3I/Atlas. Cameos by minks and monkeys. All this and more in our weekly strange news segment. They don't want you to read our book.: https://static.macmillan.com/static/fib/stuff-you-should-read/ See omnystudio.com/listener for...

In tonight's special Halloween episode, Ben, Matt, Noel and Super Producer Dylan lean on Ben's earlier experience with the paranormal. Tonight's question: Is it actually possible to sell your soul to infernal powers? Check this out: we learned how it works. They don't want you to read our book.: https://static.macmillan.com/static/fib/stuff-you-should-read/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

After exploring the Bermuda Triangle live on international waters, Ben, Matt and Noel open the floor to their fellow Conspiracy Realists. Tune in to hear the guys tackle everything from real-life cryptid encounters, to government secrets, the alleged secrets of DNA and more. They don't want you to read our book.: https://static.macmillan.com/static/fib/stuff-you-should-read/ See omnystudio.com/lis...

Ben, Matt, Noel and Super Producer Dylan present one of the strangest episodes in the history of Stuff They Don't Want You To Know: the long-awaited exploration of the Bermuda Triangle -- live, from the actual Bermuda Triangle. (Ben here: I have no idea how we got away with this one. We worked hard on it; we also solve the mystery. Make sure to tune in later this week for our live Q&A, and tha...

With a special shoutout to fellow Conspiracy Realist J, we present our Classic episode on some hidden history from Mississippi: Most people have heard of Three Mile Island — but what about the multiple other nuclear events on US soil? Join Ben and Matt as they explore the strange, largely untold story of the Tatum Salt Dome in this story from 2020. They don't want you to read our book.: http...

A team of crack scientists may save lives by helping humans breathe through their butts. Europe busts an international chair heist ring. The AI war against humanity escalates (also, no one's sure exactly how to define the comet 3I/ATLAS). The nation of Qatar makes headlines with a new training facility in Idaho -- a move suprising a lot of people, including the state's governor and Senators. All t...

You've probably heard of the Atlantis before, but have you heard the legends of another lost city, somewhere out in the endless sands of the Arabian Peninsula's Rub' al Khali (or "Empty Quarter")? Tales of this city, known as Ubar or Iram of the Pillars, surface in countries throughout the region. The city is even mentioned in the Quran. And, like Atlantis, over the centuries numerous people have...

Protests against systemic injustice and police brutality are sweeping the United States and the world at large. In the US, protesting isn't just a tactic -- it is a right, explicitly described in the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Protests can be powerful tools to push for change, but other forces, from corporations to militias, intelligence agencies and more also seek to use the power...

Typically, when you hear someone bring up the concept of chemtrails, it's either to dismiss the idea as a conspiracy theory or to claim there's something dangerous up there in the sky -- something the mainstream doesn't want you to know about. But a growing group of experts think something like chemtrails might just be the key to literally saving life on Earth. Tune in and learn more about stratos...

Most US residents are vaguely familiar with the nuclear disaster known as Three Mile Island -- but that's only one of several similar stories. Join the guys as they explore the strange events of July 1959, when the Santa Susana Field Laboratory partially melted down -- and the government conspired to cover it up. They don't want you to read our book.: https://static.macmillan.com/static/fib/stuff-...

Mere days after the horrific events of 9/11, someone began sending letters laced with anthrax spores to senators and the offices of major media outfits -- by the time the attacks ended, seventeen people were seriously injured, and five victims had died. Today the FBI maintains the case has been solved: scientist Bruce Edwards Ivins, acting alone, was responsible. Ivins died of an overdose in an ap...

The modern world is full of apps -- and we don't mean appetizers. Apps are tiny programs that can do countless neat, convenient things... often with a catch. As Ben, Matt and Noel discover in tonight's episode, some apps, even innocuous things for workouts and cycling, can lead to disastrous breaches of personal privacy and national security. This is the story of the Strava Leaks. They don't want...

A few years back, Julian Assange was a household name in the West. The founder and face of Wikileaks, one of the world's most well-known destinations for leaks of classified information, Assange was hailed as a hero by some and a villain by others. And, whether you think he's a soldier in the war for transparency or some sort of super-villain, there's no denying that many people in power wanted hi...

During the height of the Covid lockdown, prices for all sorts of things skyrocketed -- global supply chains broke, numerous companies (and, more importantly, families) struggled to survive. Economists, CEOs and politicians alike assured the public that after the pandemic passed, prices would return to 'normal.' Fast forward to 2025: it's post-lockdown... and, if anything, prices have continued to...

Wells Fargo is one of the most popular retail banks in the United States, and its gigantic customer base uses it for everything from savings accounts to loans and more. However, a few years bank the bank came under fire for perpetuating a conspiracy all its own -- more and more customers found they had multiple accounts and lines of credit opened without their consent, and further investigation fo...

The United States Treasury moves to print current President Trump's face on a new coin, prompting an exploration of why the US officially doesn't put living people on the money. Qatar and the US reach a new level in what Lady Gaga would call a "Bad Romance." (Ben here: we recorded this before the news of the Idaho military base hit; the gang and I are currently in international waters -- wish us l...

Let's imagine the worst scenario for civilization: humans, for one reason or another, go extinct. What will rise from the ashes of the Anthropocene to take their place? In the second part of this two-part series, Ben, Matt and Dylan explore the possible candidates, from various high-order mammals and avians, to life beneath the seas, to plants, fungi, artificial intelligence and more. (We're extre...

The Chef calls in with a fascinating theory on the Kaikōura lights. Nemesis shares an inside look at Big Tobacco, answering Ben's earlier question about smoking inside (and much more). In the wake of the infamous Snuff episode, multiple Conspiracy Realists reach out with jokes, puns, well-wishes, kind words and pet pics. All this and more in this week's listener mail segment. They don't want you t...

Humans! Seems like they're everywhere these days. They've also been great for our show, so thanks! Anyhow, the Age of the Anthropocene has fundamentally altered the natural world -- and, no matter what happens, the legacy of the human will remain long after the actual species is gone. What happens when the humans are no more? In the first part of this special two-part series, Ben, Matt and Dylan e...

HIV and AIDS, the syndrome the infection causes, have become the subject of numerous conspiracy theories. Over the decades people have proposed the infection was purposely designed to kill certain segments of the public, or that it was a lab experiment gone wrong, or that it didn't exist at all. For a time these theories enjoyed massive popularity in the US and abroad... but there was another cons...