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.
1,300 languages ranked by complexity
Linguists have long thought that social context shapes grammar: communities with many non-native speakers, like trade hubs, were believed to favor simpler, easier-to-learn systems, while isolated, homogenous groups develop dense, specialized grammatical rules. A new study compiled measurements across about 1,300 languages to test whether languages used mainly by “societies of strangers” indeed show reduced grammatical complexity compared with languages used in more stable, insider communities.
Loch Ness Monster search resumes
The Loch Ness search, described as the biggest in fifty years, took place over the weekend at Scotland’s Loch Ness. The Loch Ness Centre partnered with Loch Ness Exploration to run the operation and invited volunteers to join boat patrols that ran from about 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Organizers set up 17 official spotting points around the loch and asked the public to report any unusual sightings to the survey team.
British doctor killed in Cape Town
A 40-year-old British doctor touring South Africa was shot and killed in Cape Town after turning into Ntlangano Crescent during violent street protests, authorities said. The incident occurred last Thursday when the general practitioner took a different route after leaving the airport. Multiple unidentified suspects confronted him and opened fire; he did not survive. South African police confirmed the death and said they were investigating the circumstances and seeking the attackers.