Conspiracy theories feel new because we encounter them in the moment. Dr. Lee Kuhnle says most of them are not new at all.

The COVID and 5G network conspiracy had a near-identical version with H1N1 and 4G, and before that SARS and 3G. Vaccine protest signs from 1880s Lester, England, documented in Heidi J. Larson’s book Stuck, carried the same arguments heard in 2020 and 2022: ulterior motives, rushed testing, government overreach. Dr. Lee Kuhnle says recognizing the recycled narrative is one of the most useful tools available for evaluating whether a new conspiracy has substance behind it.

The harder problem he identifies is that both extreme skepticism and total credulity leave people vulnerable to manipulation. Algorithms already know which end of that spectrum you sit on and feed you accordingly. His new book, Uncover Up: How to Think Clearly in the Age of Conspiracies, co-written with Nathan Radke, is built around practical tools for finding the ground in between.

Topics: conspiracy theories, vaccine hesitancy history, Uncover Up book, recycled narratives, critical thinking

GUEST: Dr. Lee Kuhnle | http://amazon.ca/Uncover-Up-Think-Clearly-Conspiracies/dp/1770418873/

Originally aired on2026-05-06