Journalist and author Tom Risen is here to tell me about some of the real conspiracies that the CIA and the FBI were involved in from the 50s to the 70s and how, in 1975, one senator finally took these agencies to task, revealing shocking truths that would be used for decades to make the conspiracy theories we know today seem far more plausible. Tom writes a ... Show More
Today
FIREWORKS pt. 1 with Sarah Marshall
Love them or hate them, there are few things that feel as quintessentially American as fireworks, the favorite way to celebrate during every unhinged national birthday party. For part one of this two-part semiquincentennial series on their history in America, I demonstrate to Sar ... Show More
1h 42m
Jun 15
In Defense of Queer Villains with BJ Colangelo
Have you ever noticed that many of the most iconic evil-doers in movies seem, well, pretty gay? Think Scar from the Lion King, Jafar from Aladdin, Ursula from The Little Mermaid, Miss Trunchbull from Matilda, Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs. We have often regarded this ... Show More
1h 4m
Sep 2024
69: Truth, Lies, and Conspiracy Theories feat. Liz Franczak
<p>Abby, Patrick, and Dan welcome the incomparable Liz Franczak of TrueAnon! The topic is conspiracy theories, from real to imagined, documented to discredited, ludicrous to all-too-likely, and more. The first half of the episode is ground-clearing and working through some basic ... Show More
2h 5m
Mar 2025
JFK Revisited: FBI Finds 2,000 More Documents
In early 2025, the FBI announced that they had found more than 2,000 new records related to John F. Kennedy’s assassination. What do they include? Why did it take so long to find them? How many will be made public? The world waits to find out. In late 2023, we sat down with journ ... Show More
59m 11s
Jun 2024
Season 3, Episode 8: James & Tom Risen, The Last Honest Man: the CIA, the FBI, the Mafia, and the Kennedy's - and one Senator's Fight to Save Democracy
Send us Fan MailJoin Professor Jeffrey Sachs in his conversation with authors James and Tom Risen on their important, new book The Last Honest Man, a gripping biography of Idaho Senator, Frank Church. The Risens describe the remarkable events of 1975, when Senator Church almost s ... Show More
52m 20s
Dec 2024
CLASSIC: Contras, Cocaine and the CIA: The True Story of Barry Seal
Join Ben, Matt and Noel for a Classic conspiracy episode, which only grows more relevant as the years wend on: Across the course of his strange and checkered career, pilot and smuggler Barry Seal was called many things: An informant, a criminal, an asset for America's alphabet so ... Show More
58m 15s
Jul 2025
The (Faked?) Death of an Argentine Tycoon
“Power is having impunity.” In January 1997, a photojournalist is found murdered on the side of the road in General Madariaga, Argentina. The investigation into his death becomes a cultural flashpoint, exposing a sprawling conspiracy with ties to some of the most powerful forces ... Show More
43m 58s
Mar 2025
"There's A Bombshell In Here!" JFK Files Released
The long awaited JFK Files, or at least the remaining unredacted files, have finally been released on the orders of President Donald Trump. Many of the pages are still being digitised, but fascinating details are indeed emerging. Kennedy’s assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was apparentl ... Show More
41m 59s