Build a conspiracy theory from scratch.
The best way to learn to spot a conspiracy theory is to make one yourself.
Pick a real news story. On the next step you'll choose who's behind it and why. Then walk through the four moves real conspiracists use, with a debunk on every step.
- Hunt anomalies — turn coincidence into evidence of a secret plot.
- Fabricate connections — draw lines between unrelated dots until they look meaningful.
- Dismiss counter-evidence — if a fact disagrees, make the fact part of the cover-up.
- Discredit the critics — dismiss people who point out flaws in your theory.
Pick the event.
Choose whichever real-feeling headline your imagination will run wildest with. Don't overthink it.
World's priciest cheese record broken.
Spain’s cabrales blue cheese set a new world record when a 2.2kg wheel sold at auction for €30,000, making it officially the most expensive cheese ever sold. The wheel took the top prize at the Principality of Asturias’ annual cabrales competition, and the high bid surpassed the previous record. Reporters say the buyer was the same restaurant owner who paid the earlier record price in 2019.
Pandemic led to varied changes
Research compiled by YouGov shows that the COVID-19 pandemic prompted different changes in daily routines around the world. In some places people slept more—Saudi Arabia, Brazil, China and Turkey reported increases—while Australians and Britons admitted to drinking more and residents of Mexico, Brazil and Spain reported cutting back on alcohol. Exercise rose in countries including China, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and the United States, and various nations reported shifts in diet quality.
Many Europeans Want to End Daylight Saving Time
As clocks move forward each spring across the northern hemisphere, debates over daylight saving time continue in several Western European countries. YouGov's Eurotrack survey asked people in Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden whether their country should stop switching clocks twice a year. Responses vary widely: 75% of Germans want to end the practice, while Italy is the only country where a majority (56%) prefers to keep changing the clocks. Britain and Spain were narrowly divided on the question.
Mozart's Lullaby soothes pain in newborns
A recent study in New York, conducted between April 2019 and February 2020, tested whether recorded music could reduce pain in newborns during routine heel-prick blood tests. Researchers enrolled 100 infants and randomly assigned about half to listen to Mozart’s Lullaby before and during the procedure while the other infants received standard care without the music. Clinicians measured pain using standard scoring tools at baseline, during the prick, and after the procedure to compare responses.