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Conspiracy theories used to be fun, didn’t they? “We never landed on the moon” or “Paul McCartney died and was replaced in the Beatles’ line-up” – these theories are low-stakes in terms of their impact on our day-to-day lives, and good fodder for strange conversations after dessert at dinner parties. In Conspiracy Nation, though, journalists Ariel Bogle and Cam Wilson demonstrate that it’s not all fun and games. This isn’t a book that simply says “look at these kooks with their wacky beliefs” – it’s one that looks at the real-world impacts of conspiracy theories and what they say about our society. Ultimo Press was kind enough to send me a copy for review (and it arrived wrapped in tin foil, naturally).
I was especially glad to see that Conspiracy Nation is specifically focused on conspiracy theories in the Australian context. All too often, books like this are US-based, and the nuances don’t always translate. “Conspiracy theories have global and often centuries-old threads, but they clearly react and adapt to local conditions,” Bogle and Wilson write on page 248. “They find their feet in our time, our uncertainty and precarity as well as the foundation of our national identity: our stories and our values… They draw from how we feel about our environment, our place in the world and our relationships to one another.”
They cite Port Arthur conspiracies – that the massacre was a false flag event, or otherwise contrived – as the canary in the coal mine for modern era Australian conspiracies. From there, they explore the tangled web of conspiracy theories that have come to define much of our media and politics over the past 20 years: Safe Schools, COVID-19, vaccines, sovereign citizens, fluoride, and more.
Bogle and Wilson quote a lot of experts in Conspiracy Nation – which is laudable in terms of verifying what they’re saying, but sometimes their own message gets buried. I would’ve liked to see more personal stories, interviews with conspiracy theorists themselves and/or people who loved them. The pages they do dedicate to one such example (a woman who ‘lost’ her wife to the world of conspiracy theories proliferated online) were the most impactful, for me.
The final chapter of Conspiracy Nation is a real banger, too. It leaves the reader with an understanding of the seriousness of conspiracy theories in public discourse, but with enough hope to counteract feelings of helplessness. So, I’ll give the final word to Bogle and Wilson here, too.
“There are real conspiracies. The powerful do try to exert their will over the people. Believing this does not make you delusional. But a growing tendency in politics and the media towards using conspiracy as the default heuristic for any event or social trend is a troubling one. Venerating the guru, the unverifiable anecdote, the elaborate tale that momentarily satiates your fears is no answer either.”
Conspiracy Nation (page 251)
August 20, 2025 at 12:04 PM
I always enjoy your reviews, they are super interpretive. Conspiracy theorist who I have met seem to have little, if any academic training and are often unable to supply data and evidence to qualify their views. Their sources are often other conspiracy theorists. I recently listened to a podcast where Joe Vialls the Port Arthur (among many other) conspiracist was discussed. It is interesting that Pauline Hanson picked up on this one. Finally, I find it amusing that Trump has been accused of a conspiracy with the Jeffrey Epstein files and his own attempted assignation. I will seek out this book. Thank you.