11. Ian Hislop on Conspiracy Theories

Ever wondered why Tony Soprano’s therapist stuck with him? Why Fleabag is obsessed with sex or why Walter White is always in his underpants? ‘Shrink the Box’ is where actor comedian Ben Bailey Smith and psychotherapist Sasha Bates put their favourite fictional characters such as Shiv from Succession, Omar from the Wire and Ross from Friends on the couch to analyse why their behaviour causes them so much drama. Sasha and Ben explore why these characters make certain decisions, what would happen if they made different ones and what we can learn from their mistakes. The perfect combination of psychology, self-help and the best TV since the birth of the box-set. A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us at @sonypodcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you could plan your perfect death, what would you do? If you were getting married you’d consult a wedding planner, who takes you through everything from what music you're walking into, what flowers to buy and who you’re going to invite. Now change the word “wedding” to “funeral”... Kathy Burke is the host of the brand new podcast, ‘Where There’s a Will, There’s a Wake’, where she chats to her famous friends about their fantasy funeral. How do they want to die? Where are they going next? And who gets their prized possessions? It will be a hilarious, irreverent, dark and sometimes moving podcast with guests from the world of comedy, TV film and celebrity. From Dawn French to Diane Morgan, Jamali Maddix to James Acaster, our guests will see their death brought to life as they plan their final day from dawn to dusk and into the afterlife. A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are these the last days of Twitter? That’s what a lot of people are suggesting online. But might Elon Musk purposefully be trying to rid Twitter of all the annoying libs in order to create an Elon utopia? Ever thought about that, annoying libs? To hear the episode in full head over to www.newconspiracist.com and join the Tier 4 Platinum circle today, or select 'Try Free' on Apple Podcasts. Subscribers get an extra episodes, where we’ll be discussing new developments in the world of conspiracies, extended tangents and the exclusive opportunity to get in touch and tell us what we’ve got wrong. Plus, subscribe now to get all episodes of the show completely ad-free. Jolyon and James recently recorded this very special live edition of The New Conspiracist at Web Summit 2022, where they asked this very question. They were joined by two people very much in the know: Jasper Jackson from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, and Mike Butcher, Editor-at-large of Tech Crunch magazine. A Somethin' Else & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Remember when Bill Gates tried to vaccinate the world against the coronavirus in order to microchip us all? Or was the World Health Organisation trying to alter our DNA? Or make us infertile to control the global population? Whatever the explanation, misinformation and conspiracy theories around the covid vaccine was a huge part of the global pandemic. In the last episode on the season, the boys are joined by James O’Brien, LBC host extraordinaire, to enter the mirky world of anti-vaxxers. Jol and the two James’ chart the origins of the anti-vax movement, and discuss how and why wild conspiracy theories flourished during the coronavirus pandemic. James O’Brien also reflects on the state of the nation, giving his takes on Boris, democracy in general, and, surprisingly how he shouldn’t be bothered private members’ clubs. James O’Brien can be heard on LBC every weekday from 10-1. He is the author of the books ‘How Not To Be Wrong’ and ‘How To Be Right’. The New Conspiracist will be back in the new year. Once a week with us not enough? Join us in the Tier 4 Platinum circle. Subscribers to Tier 4 Platinum circle will get an extra episode every week, where we’ll be discussing new developments in the world of conspiracies, extended tangents and subscribers get the exclusive opportunity to get in touch and tell us what we’ve got wrong. Plus, subscribers get all episodes of the show completely ad-free. Visit the New Conspiracist show page on Apple Podcasts and hit ‘try free’ at the top of the page to start your free trial. A Somethin' Else & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With Halloween just around the corner, we here at New Con HQ are turning our attention to the world of psychic mediums. But the psychic listeners among you already knew that, didn’t you? In a way there’s no point us telling you what’s in the episode because you already know, but we’ll oblige for the non-believers. The boys are joined by comedian and supernatural on-the-fencer Rachel Fairburn, to discuss the $2bn psychic medium industry. Is ‘Big Medium’ a thing? Are psychics ripping us off? Or is there genuinely something to all of this?  Strap yourselves in for a spooky episode, complete with a flash of psychicness from James, an attempted tarot card reading, and the story of a psychic predicting Rachel’s career path.  Rachel Fairburn is a comedian and co-host of the smash hit serial killer podcast All Killa No Filla. Her new supernatural podcast Ghoul Guide is out on 31st October. Once a week with us not enough? Join us in the Tier 4 Platinum circle. Subscribers to Tier 4 Platinum circle will get an extra episode every week, where we’ll be discussing new developments in the world of conspiracies, extended tangents and subscribers get the exclusive opportunity to get in touch and tell us what we’ve got wrong. Plus, subscribers get all episodes of the show completely ad-free. Visit the New Conspiracist show page on Apple Podcasts and hit ‘try free’ at the top of the page to start your free trial. A Somethin' Else & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In June this year one of the world’s most famous musicians headlined Glastonbury. It was hailed as a history-making set, spanned nearly three hours, and featured iconic Beatles songs, massive pyrotechnics, and guest performers. The organisers of Glastonbury will have you believe this man was Paul McCartney, but was it really? For over 50 years there has been speculation that the real Paul McCartney died in a car crash and was replaced by a lookalike, and that we have this stand-in Paul to thank for everything since 1966. Comedian, broadcaster, and lifelong Beatles fan Deborah Frances-White joins James and Jol this week to explore this bizarre conspiracy. Expect your classic stoner questions, from what do you see when you hold a mirror up to the cover of ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’, to what ‘Revolution 9’ sounds like played backwards. No Beatle-shaped stone is left unturned, as we decided whether it really was Macca who graced that stage so masterfully at Glastonbury. Deborah Frances-White is the host of the hugely successful The Guilty Feminist podcast. Once a week with us not enough? Join us in the Tier 4 Platinum circle. Subscribers to Tier 4 Platinum circle will get an extra episode every week, where we’ll be discussing new developments in the world of conspiracies, extended tangents and subscribers get the exclusive opportunity to get in touch and tell us what we’ve got wrong. Plus, subscribers get all episodes of the show completely ad-free. Visit the New Conspiracist show page on Apple Podcasts and hit ‘try free’ at the top of the page to start your free trial. A Somethin' Else & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s a *Special Topical Episode* this week, as we look at whether Kwasi Kwarteng’s recent mini-budget was done to specifically tank the British economy and make millions for the hedge funds. We know that Kwarteng sipped champagne with various hedge fund managers after his now infamous announcements, which begs the question, were the Tories in bed with the hedge funds all along? To help unpack this fiscal dilemma, James and Jol are joined by economist, journalist, and all round clever clogs Duncan Weldon, formerly of The Bank of England, The Economist, and BBC’s Newsnight. And if you’re confused as to why the Bank of England had to intervene to clear up the government’s mess, why the markets completely lost faith in Kwarteng’s vision, or why the British economy has become 'The Vibes Economy', then this is the episode for you. Duncan’s book ‘Two Hundred Years of Muddling Through: The surprising story of Britain's economy from boom to bust and back again’ is out now, and you can subscribe to his ‘Value Added’ Substack now. Once a week with us not enough? Join us in the Tier 4 Platinum circle. Subscribers to Tier 4 Platinum circle will get an extra episode every week, where we’ll be discussing new developments in the world of conspiracies, extended tangents and subscribers get the exclusive opportunity to get in touch and tell us what we’ve got wrong. Plus, subscribers get all episodes of the show completely ad-free. Visit the New Conspiracist show page on Apple Podcasts and hit ‘try free’ at the top of the page to start your free trial. A Somethin' Else & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

According to some of the religious right, gays want to, among other heinous things, recruit children, dismantle the institutions of family and marriage, and force the entertainment industry and courts systems to do their bidding. Not only this, but they’ve ensnared and tricked straight allies into achieving these aims. Who knew!? The gays, they knew. To find out if there really is a gay agenda, James and Jol are this week joined by Scottish comedian Larry Dean. Larry is used to hearing all sorts of conspiracy theories from Glaswegian taxi drivers, so is perfectly placed to dispel fact from fiction. And as the only straight person in this week’s episode, Jol is forced to go all meta, and tackle the question of whether this episode itself is part of the gay agenda. That’s for you to decide. Larry Dean is an award-winning comedian and writer, whose latest show ‘Fudnut’ was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award at this year’s Fringe Festival. Once a week with us not enough? Join us in the Tier 4 Platinum circle. Subscribers to Tier 4 Platinum circle will get an extra episode every week, where we’ll be discussing new developments in the world of conspiracies, extended tangents and subscribers get the exclusive opportunity to get in touch and tell us what we’ve got wrong. Plus, subscribers get all episodes of the show completely ad-free. Visit the New Conspiracist show page on Apple Podcasts and hit ‘try free’ at the top of the page to start your free trial. A Somethin' Else & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If witty World War II songs are to be believed (and why wouldn’t they be) then Adolf Hitler, one of the twentieth century’s most evil people, spent his entire life wandering around with only one testicle. Indeed, Heinrich Himmler suffered the same fate, Hermann Göring had the full set, but shrunken. And, as the song goes, “Poor old Goebbels had no balls at all!” But were these high-ranking Nazis really lacking in the testicle department, or were British troops just making up a cock and bull story? This week James and Jol are joined by Richard Herring, a man perfectly placed to answer this question. Richard was diagnosed with testicular cancer back in 2021, and has been pondering everything ball-related since. He’s even toured shows called ‘Talking Cock’ and ‘Hitler Moustache’, so this episode feels like the logical conclusion of Richard’s journey. Expect a lot of ball chat, some heart-warming group singing, and a veer off into the Richard’s part in the creation of comedy character Alan Partridge. Richard’s new book ‘Can I Have My Ball Back: A Memoir of Masculinity, Mortality and My Right Testicle’ is published on October 20th. Once a week with us not enough? Join us in the Tier 4 Platinum circle. Subscribers to Tier 4 Platinum circle will get an extra episode every week, where we’ll be discussing new developments in the world of conspiracies, extended tangents and subscribers get the exclusive opportunity to get in touch and tell us what we’ve got wrong. Plus, subscribers get all episodes of the show completely ad-free. Visit the New Conspiracist show page on Apple Podcasts and hit ‘try free’ at the top of the page to start your free trial. A Somethin' Else & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Power, greed, religion and sex: historian Dan Jones brings the drama of medieval history alive through compelling stories, larger-than-life characters and vivid scenes. In the first season, get to know the most dysfunctional family of the Middle Ages – the Plantagenets – and find out how their scandalous betrayals and bloody politics shaped the world we live in today.  A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices