COVER STORY
Conspiracy
Kurt Andersen and Jon Ronson talk about the enduring appeal of conspiracy theories, from black helicopters to The Da Vinci Code.

Conspiracy Con
Every theory -- from Chinese troops infiltrating the U.S. to exterrestrial healing -- has an advocate at Conspiracy Con, which took place in May in Santa Clara, California. We visit the people who devote their lives to notions the rest of us would rather ignore. Produced by Raquel Maria Dillon.
Go to the Conspiracy Con Website

Political Thrillers
There's a conspiracy at the heart of every political thriller -- from Shakespeare's Julius Ceasar to John Le Carre's novels. In the mid-1970s, the best filmmakers in America put the turmoil of the times into dark, paranoid movies about forces beyond our control. Derek John spoke with Village Voice film critic J. Hoberman about the golden age of political thrillers.
Go to a Harper's article on conspiracies
Go to an article on conspiracy films
Buy the Parallax View
Buy The Conversation

Mark Lombardi
Mark Lombardi was obsessed with financial chicanery, and with drawing the lines in which power flows. When he died in 2000, he left 14,000 index cards with entries on everything from multinational corporations to arms dealers to his own friends. But the huge, detailed drawings he created with this information are mysteriously difficult to decode. Produced by Ilya Marritz.
See a gallery of Lombardi's work
Go to interpretations of Lombardi's diagrams
Buy Mark Lombardi's Global Networks

SPECIAL GUEST
Jon Ronson
Jon Ronson is a widely published British journalist. In Them, Ronson spent years with members of various extremist groups, from Aryan Nations in Idaho to a jihadi preacher in London to David Icke -- a former soccer commentator who uncovered the plot by which extraterrestrial lizards (including President Bush) run things on Earth. Ronson's new book, The Men Who Stare at Goats, documents the US military's ongoing interest in psychic phenomena.
Go to Jon Ronson's website
Read an article on Ronson from Salon.com
Read about the notorious Bilderberg Group
Buy books by Jon Ronson

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Brian and Gene
Rockabilly revivalist Brian Setzer was rummaging in the Sun Records vaults, looking for unknown gems to cover on his new album. He struck gold with Gene Simmons' "Peroxide Blonde in a Hopped-Up Model Ford," but half the tune was missing, and Gene couldn't remember the other half. What's a rockabilly junkie to do? Produced by Trey Kay.
Visit Brain Setzer's website
Read more about Brian Setzer
Buy music by Brian Setzer

Commentary
Liar, Liar
In the entertainment industry, it's sometimes hard to tell the difference between promotion and lying. Kurt Andersen explains how Columbia pictures got caught in a lie so outrageous it cost their parent company Sony 1.5 million dollars.
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