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persistent_reader's review
4.0
Interesting and timely. The lectures include some good rules for evaluating the validity of claims.
flickflickcity's review
2.0
Easy listen as audiobook. Very Western with 9/11 and JFK focus and a bit outdated. Was looking for more theory - the statistics and connections between conspiracy theorists and their contexts was the most interesting part but not investigated rigorously. It was stuff I learnt in a first year uni subject and found myself wanting more nuance.
bootman's review
5.0
I say the same thing just about every time I read one of Michael Shermer’s books, and it’s that he writes some of the best books on skepticism out there. This is a brief audio course on Audible that covers everything about conspiracies and conspiracy theories. What I love about Shermer’s books is that even though I read so many of his books, there’s always something different in each one so it’s not repetitive. I really enjoyed this course because it starts with various cognitive biases that make us believe in conspiracies as well as how our belief system works. Then, he has an epic lecture called “The Conspiracy Detection Kit” with a quick and easy way to question whether or not something is a conspiracy theory. For the last few chapters, Shermer dives deep into the 9/11, Obama, and JFK conspiracies, and he also explains how there are real conspiracies that have occurred throughout history. By taking this short audio course, you’ll be able to look at what you read with more skepticism. I went through most of this course after watching a Netflix docuseries about the Sons of Sam conspiracy, so I was able to put the course to practical use