Can YouTube turn you into a Flat Earther?

Can the YouTube algorithm really turn you into a Flat Earther, or some other kind of radical conspiracy theorist? Rich takes Ben on a journey through terrible poetry, evangelical newsletters and 9/11 Truther videos. It turns out the “filter bubble” is an idea that might need bursting.  

Show Notes: Sources and links:

Blount, Lady Elizabeth (1898) “The ‘Why’ and ‘Because’” [poem included in her novel Adrian Galilio; Or, a Song Writer’s Story] 

Bruns, Axel. (2019) Are Filter Bubbles Real? Polity Press. 

Flat Earth News (1976-1994) [Newsletter of the Flat Earth Society] 

Garwood, Christine (2008) Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea. Pan Books. 

Grusauskaite, Kamile, Luca Carbone, Jaron Harambam, and Stef Aupers (2023). “Debating (in) echo chambers: How culture shapes communication in conspiracy theory networks on YouTube,” New Media & Society. Online First.  

Loose Change (2005) Dir. Dylan Avery. [Film] 

Olshansky, Alex, Robert M. Peaslee and Asheley R. Landrum (2020) “Flat- Smacked! Converting to Flat Eartherism,” Journal of Media and Religion, 19(2). 

Paolillo, John C. (2018) “The Flat Earth phenomenon on YouTube,” First Monday.  

Pariser, Eli (2011) The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You. Penguin Books. 

“Phillip Is Absolutely Baffled by the Men Who Believe the Earth Is Flat | This Morning” [Video]  

Roose, Kevin (2020) Rabbit Hole, New York Times [Podcast]  

Roose, Kevin (2021) “How a Viral Video Bent Reality,” New York Times, September 8. 

Russell, Jeffrey Burton (1991) Inventing the Flat Earth. Praeger.  

Sales, Nancy Jo (2006) “Click Here for Conspiracy”, Vanity Fair, October 10.  

Sunstein, Cass R. (2001) Republic.com. Princeton University Press. 

Note: Journal articles are often behind paywalls. If you don't have institutional access but would like a copy of these papers please email Illeffectspod@gmail.com and we will happily send you a copy 

Credits:

Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland  

Music by -  Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman 

Creative producer – Rachel Wood 

Technical producer – Caroline Pringle 

Technical production – Colin Frank