Are conspiracy theories becoming more popular? Are we living in a post-truth world? Join us to hear one of the nation’s leading public opinion researchers, Joseph Uscinski, discuss the role that social media, traditional media and politicians play in the public’s appetite for conspiracy theories.

Since 2016, many journalists have speculated that we are now living in a post-truth world: a world in which our information environments are polluted with conspiracy theories and other epistemically suspect ideas, and in which facts no longer matter. While this narrative helped make sense of our tumultuous politics, the evidence in its favor has been less than systematic. In this talk, Uscinski will showcase more than 60 years’ worth of survey data measuring the public’s beliefs in conspiracy theories and other questionable ideas. He will detail what has changed over time and what has not. 

Uscinski is a professor of political science at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, and is one of the foremost experts on conspiracy theories and the people who believe them.