We’ve got a new sponsor this week! We also blow the lid off of conspiracies. News, movies, JFK, soft drinks, podcast producing. And more! Then we stop, because Tony has to pee. Again. Enjoy!
QUESTIONS:
Magical Hatlings, As a lucid, relatively intelligent person, should I believe the findings of the Warren Commission? — The Producer
That conversation you had about Coke Zero and Diet Coke last year blew my mind. What other interesting soda facts do you know? — Bloodsparrow
LINKS:
In honor of conspiracies, I present to you this video.
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Ruby had lung cancer and didn’t live very long after. I think that’s a reason given to support the mob idea.
I think one measure that can be used on conspiracy theories (separating Moon Landing from JFK Assasination) is to imagine how many people would have to all be in on the conspiracy. Or to quote G. Gordon Liddy (and he should know) “The problem with government conspiracies is that bureaucrats are incompetent and people can’t keep their mouths shut.”
http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/fanta.asp
Isn’t that what I said?
Mostly. 🙂
So I wrote that question around the time of the 50th anniversary of the release of the Warren Commission report. Because everyone was talking about it again, and it seemed like such a weird conversation. I think what strikes me as odd about it is that we don’t seem to have a cultural consensus of what happened. I don’t always agree with the masses, but I at least feel like I generally have a good idea of where they stand. In this case, it’s not clear to me at all.
Listening to you guys talk about it, and hearing William’s enthusiasm for his story makes me wonder if it really isn’t all about story and narrative instead of truth. Looking at JFK’s presidency through the lens of someone born a decade after it occurred, so much of it has become about mythos and archetype. And I think in many cases, the conspiracy theories are more satisfying from a story-telling perspective, and that encourages us to keep coming back to them. Plus there’s several that seem plausible, at least taken at face value, which makes me wonder if they also persist because there’s some satisfaction in there not be a definitive answer but it always being a mystery.
In contrast, there’s not much compelling or interesting about saying the moon landing was filmed on a sound stage or Obama was born outside the US. In those cases, there’s one alternate telling and the players and the motivations are clear, but they’re not something James Campbell would’ve latched onto.
🙂
Excellent points!
I’m pretty sure Jack Ruby died in prison of (lung?) cancer in about 1966.
Donner & Blitzen: I laughed, nearly out loud even.
Snopes: Yup.
William argued for people to be better than they are? No surprise there.
Skyrim: 40+ hours? That’s amateur level playing, I’m currently 201 hours in my first play through.
Galaxy Quest: Never give up, never surrender!
Warren Commission: I’ve no idea if we should believe their findings, but I also don’t know anything about the Kennedy assassination that would make me care.
Soda Facts: I’ve got none, but hearing William talk about root beer was oddly soothing.