Secrets And Spies: a podcast about Espionage, Terrorism & GeoPolitics

Pandemic and Anti Vaccination Conspiracy Theories with Debra Winter

On today's “Secrets and Spies” podcast I am joined by Debra Winter.

Debra is a professor of Literature and Critical Thinking at New York University and she is the author of the up and coming book “Global Catastrophe and Literature: Writing the sublime”.

We discuss her excellent article that was published in The Guardian titled “Meet the white, middle-class Pinterest moms who believe “Plandemic”. Which looks at the rise in conspiratorial thinking towards vaccinations and the dangers that presents in todays world.

You can read the article here: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/06/coronavirus-conspiracy-theories-plandemic-moms

You can find out more about Debra and her work here: http://www.debrawinter.com/

In our discussion we refer to the following:

“If You Found That ‘Plandemic’ Video Convincing, Read This Too” by Beth Skwarecki
https://vitals.lifehacker.com/if-you-found-that-plandemic-video-convincing-read-th-1843339002

Ted Talk with Andrew Marantz who spent three years embedded in the world of internet trolls and social media propagandists: https://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_marantz_inside_the_bizarre_world_of_internet_trolls_and_propagandists?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

‘I was a Macedonian fake news writer’
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190528-i-was-a-macedonian-fake-news-writer?

How do fake websites make money:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/business-38919403

A good resource on misinformation online: https://www.stopfake.org/en/tag/internet-trolls/

I refer to the book “Voodoo Histories” by David Aaronovitch which really helped challenge the conspiratorial views I once held.
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/306318/voodoo-histories-by-david-aaronovitch/

Music on this podcast is provided by Andrew R. Bird (Andy Bird)
You can check out his work here: www.monsteromnibus.com/?fbclid=IwAR0…BdNQbuCvt9KWU

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