Joe Uscinski and Hugo Drochon started looking at conspiracies before they became de rigueur in 2016 and asked whether there are any links to democratic outcomes. Joe is a professor of political science at the University of Miami, and who says that conspiracy theories are "often for losers" (but let him explain ….) Hugo is an associate professor of political theory at the University of Nottingham, and he once bought a ticket to a David Icke show in the name of research. Before Brexit, his Cambridge team was already polling Britain's appetite for conspiracy, and the results made uncomfortable reading.
We trace the Great Replacement theory from a French château to Charlottesville to Parliament Square, and ask why one idea fits so many countries. Who is supposedly being replaced, by whom, and why? Who believes it, and who has thought it through? We also ask whether anyone can be argued out of it, or whether these beliefs sit in "a little black box" that facts never reach. And we reveal what 23% of respondents on both sides of the pond firmly believe in.
And I get some podcast advice to up my numbers – apparently David Icke can teach me a thing or two.
Please do check out my latest book, A Dead Cat On Your Table – available online and in all good book shops.
@peteryork.bsky.social
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