Podcast Spotlights

Podcast Spotlight: Mulder Was Right – Conspiracy and Alternative Facts

May 23, 2017 7:58 am

Roswell and alien landings, the JFK assassination, and whether or not the Earth is flat are just a couple of the several conspiracy theories the Mulder Was Right podcast tackles on any given episode. Regardless if you believe in some of these theories, or you’re a pure skeptic, the hosts present all available evidence and argue on the merits and plausibility of the topic.

Recently, I got a chance to speak with one of the hosts, Brendan, to discuss how the podcast came to be, if there are any particular theories he subscribes to, and the general appeal of conspiracy theories. See our full Q&A below.

Discover Pods: How did your podcast get started?

Brendan: I was working at my AV(audio visual) job early December of last year. After working for an hour, myself and a couple coworkers took a short break. I ran to the restroom and arrived back to the others, and hear one of them talking. I hear mentions of aliens, Antarctica, government conspiracies, etc. I walk in and begin listening with my other coworker who looks as uncomfortable as I am. He jumps up on his soapbox and begins feeding his theories down our throats. But there’s a catch. I’m interested in what he is saying. I’m almost 100% sure most of the things he is saying is bogus, but I’m still intrigued. Conspiracy theories have always interested me, not because I believe them, but because they are their own stories that people tell themselves. It is quite fun to look at the world from a different view.

Now I had talked to a friend about doing a podcast for a while, and we were leaning towards doing a video podcast about video games at the time, but when I told them about this experience with my coworker, something in my mind just clicked. I knew that this was going to be something that I wanted to do.

That night we did some brainstorming and came up with the name, the overall format of the show, and various topics for the first couple of weeks. After that, things just fell into place.

DP: Conspiracy theories, now we’re talking! What have some of the more popular episodes covered?

Brendan: We’ve covered many different topics, including but not limited to The Flat Earth Theory, Roswell, and The Bohemian Grove.

DP: Any generally-thought-as-unbelievable theories that you subscribe to?

Brendan: For the most part, I am a skeptic. Most of this is just really fun to laugh at, which is why I do this. That being said, I do think there is some reality to the 9-11 conspiracy theories. We will be spending a month on this as the date comes closer.

DP: Why did you choose podcasts over other mediums?

Brendan: Podcasts have always been something I have loved. I’ve been listening to podcasts for over 7 years and have wanted to make my own for a while. The issue is that you can’t just say you’re going to do a podcast without a good niche, which I never thought of until now. Overall I think that our format (4 dudes talking about conspiracy theories) could work as a video podcast, but wouldn’t be as successful.

DP: Which theory that by all accounts is crazy and unverified are you secretly kinda hoping is true?

Brendan: There are a lot of those. We recently recorded an episode on the Mandella Effect, which looks back on various memories that we have and wonders why people remember things differently that they are now. For example, think about that children book you read when you were young about the family of bears. What is the book series called? The Berenstein Bears? Well actually, it is called the Berenstain Bears. For whatever reason, this is remembered as something completely wrong. There are 3 different theories why this is.

We are all actually in the Matrix
This is the work of time travel
There are many different parallel dimensions that sometimes skew into ours I would be happy with any of these theories actually being true.

Unfortunately, I subscribe to the fact that people have terrible memories and just remember these small unimportant quotes or names poorly. That being said, I kind of really hope that one of these theories are true because that would make a way better story than people have bad memories.

Recently we also recorded an episode about the Philadelphia Experiment (https://soundcloud.com/mulderwasright/8-the-philadelphia-experiment). While many people think that was how the cheese steak came to be, this is actually a military experiment that went horribly wrong. Accounts say that the ship bonded with humans and created a crazy human demon ship. As terrifying as this is, I really hope that this is real and is the reasons for why the Bermuda Triangle is like it is.

DP: What is unique about your podcast?

Brendan: The way we do our podcast is simple. We give you genuine first impressions of conspiracy theories on our show. The idea is that one of our 4 hosts researches the topic diligently, while the others know nothing about it. Then the host brings it to the table and the hilarity ensure. Think The Dollop meets conspiracy theories. I think that we bring a fresh take on these theories in a casual, easy to digest kind of way.

DP: Why do your listeners keep coming back?

Brendan: I think that our listeners like to learn. Whether that’s about weird things that people believe or just another way to look at a thing that is commonly agreed upon as fact, our listeners like to hear about the topics. We try to pick topics people haven’t heard of before, not trying to choose the most popular conspiracy theories, but they will get covered. I find it more interesting hearing about things I’ve never heard of that to hear an extension of something I know more about. The listeners enjoy hearing about these intriguing topics while the other hosts crack jokes sometimes at its expense.

DP: What’s next?

Brendan: We are hoping to do more collaboration with other podcasts. We’ve already interviewed people from the Flat Earth Society and have a collaboration with another podcast set up for the next coming month. I’ve been very impressed with the friendliness of podcast community already and am looking forward to working with them more soon.

Furthermore, we would like to grow our audience. While we are thrilled with the size we are at this point in our podcast (almost 2 months), we would love to get more listeners and create a dialogue about various topics.

DP: The flat earth theory seems to have gained ground lately, especially among NBA players. Do you think some of these theory movements are cyclical?

Brendan: Lately, various basketball players have come out and said that they believe the earth to be flat (including Shaq). I feel like the first player to come out and say this has really created a snowball effect. Not to be cynical, but players will say whatever they can in order to be back on the front page. Now, I’m not saying that they don’t believe this, but I do believe that some of the players may have jumped on the bandwagon. That being said, we have talked to John Davis, the Secretary of The Flat Earth Society. He thinks that this is good exposure for his movement. You can listen to the whole interview here: https://soundcloud.com/mulderwasright/7-flat-earth-society-ft-john-davis

DP: Where do you want to take your podcast?

Brendan: We are hoping that our podcast will start to grow into a community. We have had some small interactions with our audience, but we would like that to grow and turn into something we can have conversations with our listeners and see what they think about a topic.

DP: What are your top 5 favorite podcasts?

Brendan: Top 5: In no particular order: The Dollop Masters of Modern Myths and Legends Podcast Serial Ced Talks

But have you heard S Town? I know it is a stand alone thing, but it is amazing. I loved the novel feel it and really want more like it. One of my favorites as well.

DP: Anything else you’d like to add?

Brendan: While we are a new podcast, we’ve loved doing it for the couple months that we’ve been around. We would love to hear from our listeners on any topics that you want us to cover. If you haven’t checked out the podcast, we have our backlog of all our episodes on our website. A good place to start is the Lincoln Episode (https://soundcloud.com/mulderwasright/episode-2-lincoln-assassination) or Operation Snow White (https://soundcloud.com/mulderwasright/6-operation-snow-white).

DP: Where can listeners find you?

Brendan:

You can find us most places where you can find podcasts.