Episode 241 - Wildfire Conspiracies with Gail de Vos

Squaring the Strange

This week Pascual is back, talking to Celestia about the Onion's purchase of Info Wars, shady testosterone offers, and a list of things we maybe should be worried about as Trump rounds out cabinet picks. Then Ben welcomes Gail de Vos, author of the just-released Watkins Book of Urban Legends, to talk about wildfire conspiracy theories in Canada. The politically charged stories that spring up in her home of Alberta, Canada resemble conspiracies that have followed wildfires everywhere -- Texas, California, Hawaii, and even ancient Rome! Why does fire often make people think something more sinister than nature is afoot? And how are these conspiracies tied to other conspiracy theories, like the "15-minute city" idea? Gail goes over the importance of education before such ideas set in, as once conspiratorial beliefs take hold they can be almost impossible to reason people out of.