The Social Chemist

Send us Fan Mail On today's episode, Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware counterterrorism experts from the Council on Foreign Relations stop by to discuss their new book "God, Guns, and Sedition: Far Right Terrorism in America." which tracks the history of white supremacy from the Reconstruction era all the way to the modern-day America.  They offer policy suggestions on how to combat the...

Send us Fan Mail On today's episode, Matson and Tawni Browning join to discuss their 2023 book "The Hate Next Door: Undercover within the New Face of White Supremacy," which documents their experience going undercover as white political extremists infiltrating hate groups such as the National Alliance and Unit 88. They offer some reasons why people joined white supremacy groups and...

Send us Fan Mail On today's episode, DeMario Phipps-Smith, a Senior Manager of Community Learning at the News Literacy Project, joins me to discuss news media literacy. As AI technology evolves at a fast pace, scholars on misinformation wonder how this will change our understanding of false narratives. What role do educators have in this social problem, and what tools can be used? The discuss...

Send us Fan Mail On today's episode, Matthew Facciani a sociologist at the University of Notre Dame in the Computer Science and Engineering department joins me to discuss how negative vaccine attitudes don't necessarily tell us about public health behaviors. We touch upon whether government regulations of social media to mitigate misinformation are effective and other strategies in reduc...

Send us Fan Mail On today's episode, Todd C. Helmus, a senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation, joins me to talk about how AI-generated imagery will change how mis and disinformation is created and disseminated. We discussed how effective regulating this technology will be in mitigating propaganda and political extremism and whether it will alter how researchers in fake news under...

Send us Fan Mail On today's episode, I am joined by conspiracy theory researcher and QAnon expert, Mike Rothschild. We explore the origins of QAnon, whether mental health practitioners have a role in addressing far-right conspiracy theories and assess the conspiratorial framework of the Q movement based on his 2021 book "The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became A Movement, Cult, and Conspi...

Send us Fan Mail On today's episode, I am joined by Dr. Stephanie Alice Baker, a Senior Lecturer in Sociology from the University of London. We explore the origins of the Wellness Movement in the U.S. and the people who helped develop its foundations. Then explore whether inaccessibility to healthcare puts more people at risk of medical misinformation or whether other factors are at play. Las...

Send us Fan Mail On today's episode, I am joined by board-certified forensic psychiatrist Dr. Brian Holoyda, whose work involves paraphilic disorders and cult-like behaviors. In our conversation we discuss the concepts of Delusion Like Beliefs (DLBs) and whether QAnon fits the criteria of being a cult movement. We also cover the diagnostic and ethical dilemmas in pathologizing conspiracy theo...

Send us Fan Mail On today's episode, renowned behavioral scientist Dr. Rakoen Maertens from Cambridge University joins me to discuss the development of the Misinformation Susceptibility Test (MIST) and the importance of creating metric tools that have high validity in measuring false narratives. We cover what the mainstream media needs to do to regain the trust of a society that has expressed...

Send us Fan Mail On today's episode, Cian O'Mahony, a Ph. D. candidate at the University College Cork, joins me to talk about the most effective interventions in reducing conspiratorial inclinations and how video games can help us develop the cognitive tools to prevent becoming victims of false narratives. We end our discussion by talking about Jeffrey Epstein and whether or not he truly...

Send us Fan Mail On today's episode, Daniel Berman, a postdoctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Historian of Education & Curriculum, joins me to discuss his research on 9/11 conspiracy theories and how they have influenced classroom discussions.  We tell our memories of September 11 and briefly talk about conspiracy theories about Pearl Harbor. Throughout the podcast...

Send us Fan Mail As the negative impact of COVID-19 dies down, many influencers in the conspiracy theory community are searching for the next existential threat to boost their popularity and financial gains. Recently, the trans community has become the new outgroup to attack with conspiracy theories. The trend was further exacerbated when on March 27, 2023, 28-year-old Audrey Hale, who identified...

Send us Fan Mail Today's episode covers the breaking news about Tucker Carlson's departure from FOX News. What events triggered Tucker's termination from FOX, and where does the most popular political pundit head next? Will Tucker Carlson join Newsmaxx, become the next Rush Limbaugh or become exclusive to the Daily Wire? Facebook The Social Chemist | Facebook Instagram The Social Ch...

Send us Fan Mail On today's episode, Bruce Thyer, a Distinguished Research Professor from Florida State University, joins the podcast to discuss the negative implications of pseudoscientific theories within MSW programs and practices. In this episode Bruce Thyer explains pseudoscience and the history behind such concepts. We discussed the obstacles in addressing pseudoscientific beliefs regar...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Stephan McCabe, a postdoctoral associate from George Washington University, joins me to discuss his research on misinformation campaigns regarding U.S. elections and their implication to voting behaviors. We also dive into what factors contribute to succumbing to disinformation and whether left-wing conspiracy theories from the early 2000s can still be considered...

Send us Fan Mail On today's episode, Nelson talks about his experience attending a TurningPointUSA event at Rutgers University. In this event, Nelson attempts to understand the conspiratorial mindset of Candace Owens (a right wing commentator and conspiracy theorist) by asking her opinion about the 1.6 billion dollar defamation lawsuit against FOX News by Dominion Voting System. For this epis...

Send us Fan Mail In recent weeks FOX News has been exposed for spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories about the 2020 Election. After text messages and emails revealed that FOX hosts like Sean Hannity, Lauren Ingraham, and Tucker Carlson disavowed these ideas yet still promoted them to their audience members, Tucker Carlson has gone on the offense to rewrite history and reignite the dange...

Send us Fan Mail On today's episode, Ph. D. candidate and librarian Bradley Wiles talks about how conspiracy theories have forced the librarian profession to rethink its code of ethics regarding political propaganda and disinformation. We also touch upon whether media information literacy effectively pulls people out of the rabbit hole. Facebook The Social Chemist | Facebook Instagram The Soc...

Send us Fan Mail One of the most prominent conspiracy theories in ancient and contemporary society is that of antisemitism (hatred of  Jews). In recent times influential political pundits such as Nick Fuentes and pop artist, Kanye West have promoted conspiracy theories targeting the Jewish community. Such rhetoric brings much concern among historians and researchers of conspiracy theories who warn...

Send us Fan Mail On today's episode, Dr. Benjamin Dow, an academic researcher in the field of conspiratorial ideologies and professor at Southern Methodist University (SMU), joins me to discuss conspiracy theories within politics and whether major left-wing conspiracy theories exist in the 2022 political arena.  More importantly, we examine whether conspiracy theories can lead to political ex...

Send us Fan Mail On today's episode, Aoife Gallagher from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) and author of Web of Lies: The Lures and Dangers of Conspiracy Theories joins me to discuss her expertise on misinformation and conspiratorial ideologies. In our discussion, we cover her background as a digital researcher, look at what constitutes a conspiracy theorist and theory, and assess w...

Send us Fan Mail Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was obligated to pay the family members of the Sandy Hook massacre 965 million dollars after the jury ruled that Jones had abused his influence and enabled radical conspiracists to harrassed and send death threats to people like Robbie Parker, Lenny Pozner, and others. Since that ruling, many in the conspiratorial community have changed th...

Send us Fan Mail Fascism is often used by the political left to refer to the political right and vice versa. But what is fascism? What are its characteristics? In this episode, we look at what makes a political ideology fascist and understand the challenges in defining such a term. We address this issue as Italy elects its first female Prime Minister, Giorgina Meloni. A politician regarded as far-...

Send us Fan Mail In the arena of political discourse, many can regard political commentator Bill Maher as an influential figure in mainstream television. Known for combining politics and comedy, Bill Maher has never shied away from controversy. However, in recent years, many on the political left have noticed a swift change in his rhetoric. Now filled with misinformation about medical science, a r...

Send us Fan Mail Are we alone? It is one of humanity's greatest mysteries and one that carries our imagination into the cosmos. But what if I told you that in 1994, in a remote African community, a group of children found the answer to this question? Would you believe me? In today’s episode,, we look into one of the most famous incidences of UFO interactions and ask, did this happen, or have...