LARB Radio Hour: William Cooper, Conspiracy Theories, and the Decline of the American Mind

Journalist and Author Mark Jacobson joins co-hosts Medaya Ocher and Eric Newman to discuss his timely new book, Pale Horse Rider: William Cooper, the Rise of Conspiracy, and the Fall of Trust in America. The result is a Trump-era gem: equally depressing and hilarious, with as much sociological and political insight as can be packed into one show. Jacobson addresses the phenomenal rise of conspiracy theory culture through the underground history of its most influential text, Behold a Pale Horse by William Cooper, who emerges as a sincere and at-least-somewhat redeemable character, the tragedy to Alex Jones's farce. The detour the conversation takes through hip-hop culture is worth the price of admission itself!

Also, philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah returns once more to recommend a text he never tires of teaching, John Stuart Mill's On Liberty.