#198 - Michael Shermer - Truth, Conspiracies & The Things We Can't Explain

Michael Shermer is the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, host of The Michael Shermer Show and author of Truth and Conspiracy. He joins Peter to ask whether we are really living in a post-truth world and how we can distinguish genuine conspiracies from stories that stretch a small element of truth far beyond the evidence.

Michael explains why real conspiracies such as MKUltra and COINTELPRO make institutional distrust harder to dismiss, how political beliefs become tribal packages and why technology may be making the search for truth both easier and more exhausting. They discuss media bias, AI fact-checking, Covid, immigration, climate change, free markets, religion and the point at which people begin acting on unsupported beliefs.

They also explore the stranger questions: simulation theory, DMT, UFOs, unexplained coincidences and the broken radio that suddenly began playing during Michael’s wedding. Michael argues that scepticism should not mean dismissing everything, it should mean demanding evidence while remaining humble enough to admit that some mysteries are still unresolved.

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TIMESTAMPS:

00:00:00 - Introduction

00:00:58 - Are We in a War on Truth?

00:05:37 - Truth Versus Political Preference

00:08:52 - Which Conspiracies Are Real?

00:13:06 - Did Technology Break the News?

00:16:24 - Can AI Help Us Find the Truth?

00:19:15 - Fact-Checking Politicians With AI

00:22:06 - Why Political Beliefs Come as a Package

00:28:23 - Why People Believe Weird Things

00:35:18 - Science, Religion and the Need for Meaning

00:42:03 - Are We Living in a Simulation?

00:49:18 - DMT, Lasers and Hidden Code

00:51:26 - The Radio Michael Cannot Explain

00:54:42 - Why UFO Belief Resembles Religion

00:59:02 - Should We Fear Artificial Intelligence?

01:02:01 - Britain, Immigration and Shared Truth

01:12:22 - Climate Change, Consensus and the Media

01:22:18 - The UAP Cases Shermer Cannot Explain

01:25:04 - What Will Future Generations Think of Us?

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CONTACT PETE

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CONNECT WITH MICHAEL SHERMER

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› The Michael Shermer Show – https://www.skeptic.com/michael-shermer-show/

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