HowStuffWorks_Conspiracy_Theories

The Federal Emergency Management Agency was created in 1976 to handle domestic emergencies, but conspiracy theorists allege that FEMA's mission is anything but benevolent.

Although US prohibition ended in 1933, the consequences of this policy remain in the modern day.

You've heard the phrase before, but what does it really mean? Join Matt and Ben to learn more.

Is it possible that all the little breadcrumbs of data you leave behind could be used to forecast your future?

Imagine if a government disguised its operatives as members of some other organization -- and then attacked itself. While this might sound crazy, several historians have argued that false flag attacks are more than just conspiracy theories.

On April 19, 1995 Timothy McVeigh detonated a bomb at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Why do so many people believe the full story of this attack remains untold?

How interrelated is life on Earth? Could it be possible that the entire planet is a single superorganism? Tune in and learn more about the Gaia hypothesis.

Modern historians generally mark the beginning of the Armenian Genocide as 24 April, 1915 -- one hundred years ago this week. However, people and nations still can't seem to agree on whether it actually was a genocide. Why?

You might not think about phosphorus all that often, but it's pretty important stuff, and crucial to food production. So what happens when we run out?

Would the federal government really try to take over states via a military exercise? What do politicians, voters and officials think? Join Matt and Ben as they explore the history of military exercises and the upcoming Jade Helm 15.

Public wifi can be an enormously convenient thing -- it helps people dodge data charges in coffee shops, airports and other places around the globe. But how safe is it? Tune in to learn more.

It’s often said that money makes the world go round – so what would happen if there was no money left? Would it be a paradise or pandemonium?

Journalist Danny Casolaro swore to his friends that he'd stumbled upon something big -- a massive conspiracy at the heart of the US government, spanning the globe. His life, he believed, was in danger. But what, exactly, is "The Octopus"?

Could we really discover intelligent life out there in the inky black of space? How? Listen in to learn more about SETI.

In 1977, astronomer Jerry Ehman may have stumbled across the most significant discovery in human history - or, at least, found one of the strangest observable things any human being has ever witnessed. Listen in to learn more about the WOW! signal.

For decades rumors about Bohemian Grove have run wild through the conspiracy world -- but what actually happens at Bohemian Grove? Tune in to learn more.

Join Matt and Ben as they speak with special guest Jeremy (MTGHeadquarters) about conspiracies in gaming, from card-hoarding cartels to the rumors about Steve Jackson's infamous Illuminati game.

Earthquakes are terrifying reminders that some of Earth's processes remain beyond human control. So why do some people think scientists can actually create these disasters? Learn more about earthquake conspiracy theories in this episode.

What do Ouija boards actually do? Have some games really predicted the future? Tune in to learn more about conspiracy theories in the world of gaming.

From stories of suppressed Tesla technology to worries over weaponized hurricanes, HAARP is a mainstay in many conspiracy theories. But what is it actually doing? Listen in and learn more.

It sounds like the plot of a James Bond film: Some shadowy super villain holds the world for ransom while threatening to destroy civilization with an earthquake, floods or volcanic eruptions. But what if it was true?

A few fringe professors have caused rumblings with their controversial claim that three hundred years of human history have been entirely made up. But why do they believe in phantom time, and how do they think it happened? Tune in to learn more.

It seems that every year new evidence redefines our earlier assumptions about the past. Tune in to learn more with Ben and Matt.

Tune in to learn more about ancient Egypt, alternative chronologies and historical revisionism with Ben and Matt.

Across 1300 square miles in West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland a strange electronic silence looms heavily in the air. Cell phones don’t work, there’s only one radio station and government officials patrol the streets searching for illegal wifi.