“Global Conspiracy Without a Globe? On Earth Shapes, Vaccines, and Conspiratorial Thinking in the West,” Culturico, February 28, 2022. Link.
This essay explores shifts in modern conspiracy theories that reflect growing mistrust of science—mistrust that has recently manifested in anti-vax sentiments and protests against coronavirus lockdowns. I analyze as my case-studies fringe theories about the shape of the Earth, particularly the shift from Hollow Earth in the last century to Flat Earth. The change in these esoteric theories ultimately reveals a mistrust of government institutions, an emphasis on first-hand experimentation, and a disenchantment with science– all of which I argue are now part of the mainstream zeitgeist.