Vermont Edition

Conspiracy thinking, misinformation & the 2022 election

By Connor Cyrus,

Published October 24, 2022 at 3:16 PM EDT

A cardboard sign with red letter promotes the QAnon conspiracy in front of a green background. — A sign at a May 2020 protest in Washington state supports the QAnon conspiracy, which has been linked to acts of real-world violence, including the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Ahead of the November election, voters are contending with issues and candidates on the ballot, as well as misinformation, election denialism, and conspiracy theories. This hour, we'll look at how conspiracy thinking affects our democracy, the candidates on the ballot, and our relationships with friends, family and neighbors.

Our guest it:

Russell Muirhead, the Robert Clements Professor of Democracy and Politics at Dartmouth College and co-author of the 2019 book A Lot Of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism And The Assault On Democracy

Broadcast live on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.

Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or tweet us @vermontedition.

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Connor Cyrus

Connor Cyrus joined Vermont Public as host and senior producer in March 2021. He was a morning reporter at WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island. A graduate of Lyndon State College (now Northern Vermont University), he started his reporting career as an intern at WPTZ, later working for WAGM in Presque Isle, Maine, and WCAX Channel 3, where he covered a broad range of stories from Vermont’s dairy industry to the nurses’ strikes at UVM Medical Center. He’s passionate about journalism’s ability to shed light on complex or difficult topics, as well as giving voice to underrepresented communities.

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Matthew F Smith

Originally from Delaware, Matt moved to Alaska in 2010 for his first job in radio. He spent five years working as a radio and television reporter, radio producer, talk show host, and news director. His reporting received awards from the Alaska Press Club and the Alaska Broadcasters Association. Relocating to southwest Florida, he was a producer for television news and NPR member station WGCU for their daily radio show, Gulf Coast Live. He joined Vermont Public in October 2017 as producer of Vermont Edition.

See stories by Matthew F Smith