How conspiracy theories have shaped America | PBS News
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America's conspiracy theories aren't random noise — a book argues they follow recurring patterns that reveal something real about the national psyche.
Collective NarcissismSocial Identity TheoryScapegoat TheoryFunctionalism
Theory Briefing
- "The United States of Paranoia" argues conspiracy thinking is a permanent feature of American culture, not a modern glitch.
- Recurring conspiracy patterns across U.S. history suggest the stories people invent reflect genuine anxieties about power and trust.
- The book frames conspiracy theories as cultural mirrors — what Americans fear most shapes the plots they construct.
- PBS uses the work to ask what the persistence of paranoid narratives reveals about collective American identity.