Amna Nawaz
@PBSNewsHour·5.3M subscribers·62.2K videos
How conspiracy theories have shaped American history
Posted
July 16, 2026
Views
4,156
Likes
144
Engagement
3.46%
July 16, 2026
4,156
144
3.46%
Every word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
37:19Now PlayingFrom the American Revolution to today, conspiracy theories have been woven throughout our history. In this episode of Judy Woodruff’s “In Pursuit of Happiness,” she talks with Jesse Walker, author of “The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Theory, ” about why Americans have long turned to conspiracy theories. Together, they examine how fear, distrust and the desire to make sense of uncertainty have shaped the stories we tell about ourselves -- and our country.
Sign up for Here's The Deal with Lisa Desjardins
Subscribe for exclusive content in our newsletters
PBS News podcasts
Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app
Find more from PBS News at
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.
