Conspiracy theories can feel like a uniquely modern phenomenon.
QAnon. Pizzagate. The "Big Lie." The Epstein Files. False claims about vaccines, medicines, elections, and political opponents.
But what if conspiracy theories aren't a new disease infecting American politics?
What if they've been part of the American political tradition from the very beginning?
In his new book, Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency, political historian Stephen F. Knott argues that some of the most powerful people in American history have not merely responded to conspiracy theories—they have helped create, amplify, and weaponize them.
From the Founding era through the modern presidency, Knott examines presidents and political leaders who portrayed their opponents as members of secret plots, shadowy cabals, or existential threats to the nation.
And that raises some uncomfortable questions.
Why are presidents so susceptible to conspiratorial thinking?
When does legitimate political suspicion become conspiracy theory?
Why do conspiracy theories become so politically powerful?
And what happens to democracy when the person occupying the Oval Office becomes, as Knott puts it, "Conspirator in Chief"?
Today, Stephen Knott joins us to explore the long, strange, and sometimes disturbing history of conspiracy theories in the American presidency.
