♪ ("LAST WEEK TONIGHT"
THEME PLAYS) ♪
Moving on. Our main story
tonight concerns
conspiracy theories.
Voted "Definitely true,"
by Dip Shit Uncle Quarterly.
Now you're probably familiar
with at least
some conspiracy theories,
like the claim that
the moon landing was faked,
or the argument that
the earth is flat, and that
scientists are covering it up.
And that is a theory,
that led to
this absolutely
stunning YouTube video.
♪ (WOMAN SINGING TO THE TUNE
OF "HELLO" BY ADELE) ♪
Magnificent.
And putting aside
the factual inaccuracy,
slant rhymes,
shoe-horned lyrics,
and the bad Adele-- Or,
solid Bjork impression,
my favorite part of that
is the comment,
"Holy Crap, this is amazing.
I'm gonna share this
around the world."
Which is quite simply, perfect.
But as you've probably guessed,
the reason that we need
to talk about this, is that
the coronavirus has created
a perfect storm
for conspiracies theorists.
Because their theories are now
everywhere.
Over the last few weeks,
some people have been saying
online
that the virus is harmless,
or even that it doesn't exist.
Numerous sites,
and groups online,
have been falsely claiming
that this virus is the result
of some biological warfare,
some bioweapon,
or even created by
the pharmaceutical industry
to try to sell more vaccines.
NARRATOR: One particularly
 persistent falsehood:
 5G mobile networks transmit
 COVID-19.
WOMAN: You know
 when they turn this on
 it's gonna kill everyone
 and that's why--
NARRATOR: A woman in Britain
 called workers "killers"
 for laying 5G optic cables.
WOMAN: When they turn
 that switch on,
 bye-bye Mama.
Okay, there is so much
wrong there. But most of all,
the only time an English person
should be saying, "Bye-bye mama"
is when they're
physically leaving the womb.
"Bye-bye Mama, thank you for
an excellent delivery."
And after that it's "Yes Mom,"
"No Mom,"
and "Thank you kindly for
wiping off my shameful buttocks,
much obliged."
And those theories are just
the tip of the iceberg here.
You might have seen this video
of two doctors making
a now debunked claim
that COVID death rates were
exaggerated because,
it was all over Facebook
a couple of months ago.
Or maybe you came across
Plandemic,
a pseudo-documentary filled
with a hodge-podge
of conspiracy theories.
In just one week, it was viewed
over eight million times.
Which is a shockingly high
number because,
that means it's been seen
more times than this Tik Tok
of a cat matching
a piano's pitch.
♪ (PLAYING SCALE) ♪
(CAT MEOWS IN FINAL TONE
OF SCALE)
Good cat,
you deserve more views.
And the problem is,
some online theories
have already prompted some
worrying real-world actions.
Take the hashtag
film your hospital.
Which spread after some claims
that the severity
of the pandemic was being
exaggerated
and urged people to expose
the truth.
That unfortunately led to videos
like this one, where a man
 angrily demands hospital staff
 show him
 their coronavirus patients,
 and then shouts at them
 as he drives away.
MAN: Maybe you could call
 the governor and tell him
 about the hoax!
HOSPITAL STAFF: Take care, sir!
MAN: Yeah, it's a hoax!
Where's all the patients?
Where's the lines
of sick people?
Yeah, she's right.
And can you imagine how confused
that man is whenever he tries
to check into a hotel?
No vacancy? Where are all
the guests?
Where are the depressed salesmen
attempting
autoerotic asphyxiation
in your lobby?
Maybe you should call
the governor
of this Best Western
and tell him
"Your sign is a hoax!"
And the harms
of conspiracy theories
during a pandemic, go far beyond
confused hospital workers.
As one study pointed out,
"Given the transmissibility
of COVID-19,
these beliefs are dangerous...
even if only a fraction
of Americans succumbing to them
ignore best practices,
such as social distancing."
So tonight, let's talk about
conspiracy theories.
Particularly why they're
so appealing,
how to spot them,
and what you might be able
to do about it.
And let's start with the fact
that these theories
are a lot more popular
than you might think.
Polls over the years have shown
that
over half of American's
consistently endorse
at least one sort of
conspiratorial narrative.
And look, I'm not immune here!
Embarrassingly, there is
a part of me, that thinks
the Royal family
had Princess Diana killed.
I know that they didn't,
because there's
absolutely no evidence
that they did,
but the idea, still lingers.
Because it felt too big an event
to be accidental. There had to
be some intent there.
And experts will say that
that is actually a huge draw
of conspiracy theories.
They help explain
a chaotic, uncertain world
and appeal to the human impulse
to what's called,
"proportionality bias."
Which is the tendency to assume
that big events must have
big causes.
Take the JFK assassination.
That event shook the world.
And the very idea
that a lone gunman could cause
such chaos,
was inherently unsatisfying.
So people,
perhaps understandably, reached
for a much bigger answer.
Although it is revealing that
conversely,
less impactful events have
attracted
significantly less speculation.
ROB BROTHERTON:
 The attempted assassination
 of Ronald Regan
 was a similar event
 in all regards except that
 the president survived.
 It was a smaller event
 in terms of its outcome,
 and therefore we're satisfied
 with smaller explanations.
And so there have been almost
no conspiracy theories
about the attempted
assassination of Ronald Regan
either at the time,
or subsequently.
Exactly. And that kind of
makes sense, doesn't it?
One man suddenly changing
the world is inconceivable.
One man failing miserably,
isn't remotely surprising.
Something which is also
incidentally,
the tagline for feminism.
And the appeal
of conspiracy theories
is such that people can
even embrace ones
that contradict one another.
One study found,
"the more participants believed
that Princess Diana faked
her own death, the more they
believed she was murdered."
Which sounds crazy, although,
if there was one expert
on something being demonstrably
dead, yet technically alive
at the same time,
it was probably the woman
stuck in a loveless marriage
with Prince Charles
for 15 years. The point is,
these theories have always
been appealing, and have
actually been
particularly seductive during
global health crises.
In the 14th century, conspiracy
theorists claimed that
Jewish people were responsible
for the Bubonic Plague.
In 1890, a newspaper claims that
the electric light
was responsible for a global
influenza outbreak.
And in 1918, rumors spread that
German pharmaceutical company
Bayer, had tainted its U.S. sold
aspirin tablets,
with the so-called
'Spanish Flu'.
The only difference now,
is that our current pandemic
is coming in the age
of the internet.
When it's not only easier
for people to do bad research
and spread their results,
but it's also possible for them
to make material look
startlingly authoritative.
In fact, take Plandemic.
At first view, it looks like
 a high budget true crime
 documentary,
 with fancy graphics
 and drone footage.
And it deploys those techniques
to tell the story
of Judy Mikovits,
a former scientist at
the National Cancer Institute,
who's depicted as
a whistle blower
on the scientific establishment.
Here, is how the film presents
a key moment
in Mikovits' narrative
where she claims
her enemies had her arrested
without cause.
And so what did they charge
you with?
Nothing.
But you were in jail.
I was held in jail
with no charges.
I was called a fugitive
from justice.
(HELICOPTER OVERHEAD)
 No warrant, literally drug me
 out of the house,
 our neighbors are looking
 at, "What's going on here?'
 You know they search my house
 without a warrant.
Now that looks pretty compelling
there.
The police surrounding her house
using violent force,
and eventually throwing her
in jail without cause.
But, a few things
you should know.
First, she was absolutely
criminally charged,
as stated in a lawsuit
that she herself later filed
over the arrest, Mikovits was
arrested on criminal charges."
And when a reporter pointed
this out to her she said,
she meant the charges were
later dropped adding,
"I've been confused
for a decade," and that,
"I'll try to learn
to say it differently."
Second, while the arrest footage
looks dramatic,
it is not actually from
her arrest at all.
It's from an unrelated SWAT raid
and is literally the 1st result
you get when you search
"house raid"
on a stock footage website.
Which is just ridiculous. 'Cause
if they simply worked
a little harder and searched
"house raid"
on other stock footage
sites, they could have found
 this video of a masked robber
 spanking himself,
 then flipping the bird,
 and dancing around
 like a maniac.
And that's not just
objectively better
than the clip they chose,
it's also,
exactly as relevant.
And the issue isn't just
that the film misrepresents
Mikovits' backstory,
it's that in doing so,
they lend her an air
of credibility
when they allow her to make
unchallenged,
batshit medical claims
like these:
MIKOVITS:
 Wearing the mask
 literally activates
 your own virus.
You're getting sick
from your own
reactivated coronavirus
expressions,
and if it happens to be
SARS-CoV 2,
then you've got a big problem.
 Why would you close the beach?
 You've got sequences
 in the soil, in the sand.
 You've got healing microbes
in the ocean, in the salt water.
 That's insanity.
Yes, it is.
Everything that you just said,
is insane!
The idea that wearing a mask
activates your own virus,
is absurd. In debunking it,
 PolitiFact said,
There is no evidence
to support this."
And then threw in, "We're
not sure what a
'coronavirus expression'
even is."
As for the idea that there are
'healing microbes' in the beach,
look, I don't want to be
the depressing guy
that tells you going to
the beach won't cure coronavirus
but I will say, the beach is
exactly three things,
none of which are medicine.
It's sand that goes down
your ass-crack,
salt water that gets up
your nose,
and sun that burns your skin.
The beach doesn't cure anything
except you being comfortable.
And incidentally,
when we reached out to
the director of Plandemic
to cite our many issues
with the film, he wrote back
not only saying
that he stands behind it,
but asking, "In a country
that marches to the chant of,
'believe all women,' why is it
that people are so quick
to disbelieve Dr. Mikovits?"
To which the answer is
obviously, A,
because she's telling people
good coronavirus prevention
involves not wearing a mask
and going boogie boarding.
B, the phrase is 'believe women'
not 'believe all women',
and C, that's not what
that phrase is about,
because the point of that
movement is not
"Well, I guess we all have to
take Rachel Dolezal
at her fucking word now."
And, look, I am well aware
that for some,
even these criticisms of
Plandemic will somehow
be further proof, that what
it's saying is true.
That, is actually a common trait
of conspiracy theories
that they're inherently
self-sealing,
with any criticism just becoming
evidence that the whole thing
is bigger than anyone
could have imagined.
Although, I will simply say
this.
If I am in on this conspiracy,
that means
my puppet master is AT&T.
And what makes you think
that they can pull off
a global conspiracy,
when they can barely pull off
a complete phone call.
How would they even be sending
me orders? Sprint?
The point is these theories
can be innately appealing
and thanks to the internet,
can spread with ease.
And all of this would be
dangerous enough,
before you take into account
that one of
the most prominent spreaders
of conspiracies on earth,
is the current president
of the United States.
'Cause he's been spreading
them around for years.
Often with the excuse
that people are saying them,
and he's just asking questions.
Something he's done
on bullshit claims, like,
Obama was born in Kenya,
Antonin Scalia was murdered,
and that millions
of fake votes were cast
for Hillary Clinton.
Conspiracies are sort of like
ugly buildings
and deeply tragic
adult children,
in that Donald Trump loves
to unleash them
into the world,
and then refuse
to take responsibility for them
ever again.
And he's been doing this
throughout the pandemic,
including, just this week,
when he retweeted a theory
that the CDC and the media
are lying about the virus
that hurt his reelection
chances.
Trump has passed
on so many conspiracies
that news outlets
have repeatedly called him,
"The conspiracy theorist
in chief."
Although, I would argue,
he's not invested
in any of these things
that he's spreading.
He's only interested
in amplifying
whatever he thinks he might
personally benefit from.
And I cannot believe
I'm saying this,
but the person
with the clearest sense
of just how deeply cynical
Trump's use
of conspiracy theories is,
is this guy.
When you get to Trump
and his conspiracy theories,
he does it in a really
clever way.
Trump never says that
he believes
these conspiracy theories...
that he touts.
He's simply passing them on.
And it's-- it's his way
of jamming them up,
it's his way of teasing 'em,
it's his way
of getting these
conspiracy theories out there.
So Trump is just throwing
gasoline on a fire here.
And he's having fun
watching the flames.
Yeah.
Rush Limbaugh gets it.
And that's a sentence
I never thought I'd say
unless I was talking
about
toilet-transmitted chlamydia.
But the thing is,
right now in particular,
there is real harm
in throwing gasoline on the fire
because people are going
to get burned,
making those flames
not quite as fucking fun
to watch.
Because make no mistake here,
people who have been
convinced that COVID
was overblown have sometimes
paid a steep price.
REPORTER: Around this time
 last month,
 Jupiter rideshare driver,
 Brian Hitchens,
 was a self-proclaimed
 COVID-19 skeptic.
I-- I thought it was, maybe,
the government
was trying something
and it was kind of like a--
kind of like they threw it
out there
to kind of distract us.
REPORTER: Fast forward
 to this week, and Hitchens has
 a whole new outlook
 from his hospital bed.
This is a real virus
that you've got to take serious.
 And my wife's
 on the ventilator,
 she's been like that
 for three weeks.
And it's tough, it's--
it's sad.
Yeah, it is sad.
And unfortunately,
I don't think he's gonna be
the last person
in this country
to learn that a lot
of what's on the internet
is bullshit, the hard way.
So what can we do?
Well, social media companies
are finally doing more
to label conspiracy theories,
or limit their spread.
But the truth is,
they can only do so much.
They don't always have
the expertise to mitigate
what is and isn't true,
and the sheer volume
of material flying around
makes it almost impossible
for them to catch everything.
And-- And that's actually been
a challenge for us
in this story, too.
We are clearly only scratching
the surface of what is
out there.
And I'm sure if you look down
at the comment's section
when this is on YouTube,
you will find people saying,
"How about the fact the virus
was created as a bioweapon,"
or, "What about Bill Gates'
plan to microchip me?"
And it would take days
to go through
why each one of those
is bullshit,
and it still won't address
the ones that come up
in the weeks and the months
ahead.
The fact is,
it's gonna be incumbent
upon us, as individuals,
to try and stop these theories,
and treat them
with a skeptical eye
before we believe them.
Or, indeed,
spread them around.
And there are actually three
basic questions
that you can ask yourself
that could help
in that regard.
First... (READS PROMPT)
'Cause remember the theory,
5G towers are spreading
coronavirus, or,
as that one woman
so memorably phrased it...
WOMAN: When they turn
that switch on,
-bye, bye, Mama.
-Exactly.
It made the rounds
helped by images like these,
showing maps
of coronavirus cases,
alongside maps
of the 5G rollout.
And initially,
the similarity there
does seem striking,
until you realize,
those maps also look
like the ones
of population density,
which makes a lot more sense.
Because that's correlation,
not causation.
Wi-Fi rollouts
and virus cases will both be
where there are a lot
of people.
In fact, lots of maps
look like those maps.
This one of Domino's pizza
locations
looks like a map of coronavirus
outbreaks,
and I'm pretty sure Domino's
pizza isn't causing it.
Yes, their Wisconsin six cheese
will give you a dry cough,
fever, diarrhea,
and COVID toe,
but not in the exact same way
as the coronavirus.
And knowing the difference
is called science.
Now, the second question
you could ask is...
(READS PROMPT)
And if so,
what did those experts say?
Because it's not uncommon
for theories
to cite a single source,
a doctor or scientist
like severely Midwestern,
Diane Keaton here,
making an outlandish claim.
But, it's worth checking
if most credible doctors
or scientists agree with it.
And if you're thinking, "Well,
what if all of them
are in on the cover up too?"
That actually brings us
to our final question here...
(READS PROMPT)
Because not every
conspiracy theory is fictional.
Obviously, some have absolutely
turned out to be true.
But the very fact
that we know about the real ones
actually teaches us
something important.
One study looked
at real government secrets
like Edward Snowden's revelation
 about government surveillance,
and found the reason
they unraveled
was because of the sheer number
of people who had
to keep them secret.
They actually created
an equation to predict
how quickly
other science-based
conspiracy theories
would unravel had they
been true,
by finding that faking
the moon landing, for instance,
would have required...
(READS PROMPT)
...to keep quiet,
and would... (READS PROMPT)
Which does make sense,
doesn't it?
'Cause think for a second
just how many people
would have to be sworn
to secrecy
to keep a coronavirus hoax
under wraps.
I don't know if you've
ever tried to organize, say,
a mid-sized surprise party
for your cousin,
but it's borderline impossible
to keep it quiet.
'Cause someone is telling
Roxanne.
No matter how many emails
you've sent, saying,
"No one tell Roxanne,"
Roxanne is finding out.
And I know you may not find
conspiracy theories plausible,
but you also may know people
who do.
And while you can't
reach everyone,
you can reach some.
And-- And now more than ever,
it might be important
for you to try.
Which clearly is not easy,
it is completely natural
to simply want
to scream at them,
"Why do you believe
this nonsense,
you titanic fucking idiot?"
And I would say,
just show them this piece,
but obviously,
I'm not the best messenger.
Within the first 20 seconds
of this story,
I called your uncle a dipshit,
and dipshits tend
not to like that.
Now what experts say
is that the most effective
way to approach someone
is not by shaming them
for believing in something
or overwhelming them
with counterevidence,
but to try and be empathetic,
meet them where they are,
and nudge them
to think a bit more critically.
So to that end,
we've asked some people
that they might be more willing
to listen to,
to help you start
a conversation.
For instance,
let's say your
confused grandparents
are passing around
dangerous misinformation
about not wearing a mask.
They may not listen to me,
but they might listen to the man
that they've been
letting into their home
every weeknight,
to calmly tell them what is
and isn't correct.
Hi, everyone.
The answer is Alex Trebek.
The correct question, of course,
"Who is that handsome man
I'm looking at right now?"
Yeah, we got Alex Trebek
to make a 90-second video
gently urging anyone
who watches him
to be careful with what
they encounter and share online.
So you could show
your grandparents that,
and then talk to them about it.
But, let's say
you've got a cousin
who's not a Jeopardy fan.
Maybe they like wrestling
or Fast and Furious movies.
Well the good news is,
John Cena has got something
to say to them too.
There's a lot of
official looking stuff
on the internet.
Not all of it's true.
And there's some stuff
that seems false but isn't.
Like this one,
John Oliver and I
are the exact same age.
Yep, born on the same year,
on the exact same day.
It seems impossible
that two human bodies
can... age so differently.
But it's true.
I checked.
And it's important you do that.
So before you go believe
any theory about the pandemic,
or share any information
about the pandemic,
it's good to know
where that information's
coming from.
Yeah, both of those things
he said are true.
You should check information
you see online,
and we are the exact same age.
It's a thing that I think about
every birthday.
And it's not just Alex Trebek
and John Cena.
We have an assortment
of truly beloved figures,
from Paul Rudd,
to Catherine O'Hara,
to Billy Porter.
Each of whom made messages
to urge people
to think more critically.
Here is just a taste.
What's going on my people?
It's me, Billy Porter.
Hello there,
I'm Catherine O'Hara.
-I'm Paul Rudd.
-Alex Trebek.
John Cena here, WWE superstar,
actor, internet meme,
dessert lover,
and number three
on your partner's
free pass list.
I'm literally a superhero.
The smallest one,
but it still counts.
I know that we are living
in scary times.
Given the current state
of things,
you're searching for answers
about the global health crisis.
I think that's awesome.
That curiosity,
that's good, I'm curious too.
If nobody ever asked questions,
 Jeopardy would be
a very, very weird show,
wouldn't it?
But you have to be careful,
'cause there's a lot
of convincing-looking shit
on the internet.
And most of it ain't true.
You know, I once thought
I was dead,
because hashtag R.I.P. Paul Rudd
was trending.
So before you go off
and share something
with your friends and family...
It's good to know
where that information's
-coming from.
-Is it a trusted news source?
If you're not sure,
look to see if other
trusted news sources
and experts are saying
-the same thing.
-A good way to know
if an idea or a story
that you've read about
holds water,
is that a majority
of trusted sources
agree on it.
And finally, think critically.
-You're smart.
-You're smart.
You're a smart cookie, I know.
I know you are,
you have the look of a scholar,
and the taste of a macaron.
Y'all got brains, use 'em.
Use it like it's the first roll
of toilet paper
in a brand-new pack.
Unsparingly and with gusto.
(CHUCKLES)
You have common sense.
Trust that part of your brain
to guide you as you educate
yourself during
this difficult time.
And trust that I'm doing
what I can to hop
to number one
on your partner's free pass
list,
and number three on yours.
Hey, be safe out there.
That's all good advice.
And to increase the chance
that conspiracy theorists
stumble on them,
we've put their full videos
online at...
And if you're looking
to start a conversation
with someone,
picking one of these videos
is honestly a pretty good
entry point.
That is our show,
thank you so much for watching,
we'll see you next week,
good night!
