Marianna in Conspiracyland
The home of Marianna Spring's social media and disinformation investigations for BBC Radio 4, with new series "Marianna in Conspiracyland 2".
Episodes
6. The Inquest
Can Coroners' courts cope with conspiracy? It’s been more than a year since Paloma Shemirani died after rejecting chemotherapy in favour of alternative methods. Her brother Gabriel blames the beliefs of their mum Kate - who is a prominent B…
5. A collective immune system
Can people fight back against medical misinformation? In the months after Paloma’s death, her brothers say they want to prevent other deaths, and they believe social media companies should take stronger action against medical misinformation…
4. The Archaeologists
Are we equipped to deal with a rising tide of misinformation? The BBC’s social media investigations correspondent Marianna Spring investigates how safeguarding procedures work and how social services and hospitals are trying to deal with th…
3. Down the cancer conspiracy rabbit hole
What are cancer patients seeing on social media? The BBC’s social media investigations correspondent Marianna Spring goes down the cancer conspiracy rabbit hole to find out. She returns to the days Paloma spent in hospital after her cancer …
2. Conspiracyland at home
Could the answer lie in the past? The BBC’s social media investigations correspondent, Marianna Spring, continues investigating what happened to Paloma Shemirani. She speaks to Paloma’s brothers to see if the answers could lie in the house …
1. The Dove and the Pigeon
What happened to Paloma? Aged 22, Paloma Shemirani has her whole life ahead of her. She’s recently graduated, moved into a flat and found a job. But just days before Christmas in 2023 she receives bad news, she has cancer - an aggressive bu…
Introducing... Diddy on Trial
From starting Bad Boy Records in 1993 and signing the Notorious BIG, to becoming a billionaire business mogul, through to the recent federal charges. Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty traces Diddy’s history with Rolling Stone Senior Investigative…
Americast: Why Trump Won (and Why Harris Lost)
In this bonus episode, the Americast team gets together for an election inquest to examine what went right and wrong. Is Joe Biden to blame for Harris’ loss? Or did something else cause the VP to underperform with the voters she needed to w…
5. Fandom Frenzies: Who’s afraid of little old us?
In Why Do You Hate Me? USA, BBC disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring is investigating how what’s happening online can shape the 2024 presidential election. In this episode, Marianna goes deep inside the world of a…
4. Doxxed and Blocked: ‘We’re distressed about war in the Middle East and now trolls are after us.'
Few topics have caused as much division online as the deepening war in the Middle East. In this episode, Marianna is in New York investigating the experiences of students targeted on social media. They have been affected by doxxing – where …
3. The Fable of the Pikesville Clip: ‘I’ve been burnt by the fire once, so I’ll think twice before posting’
A headteacher at a school in small American suburb of Baltimore was a prominent member of the local community. But many in the neighbourhood turned on Principal Eric Eiswert, after an audio clip emerged of him appearing to make racist and a…
2. Counting The Threats: 'I just work in IT – why am I getting threats from election deniers?'
What are the real-world consequences of the belief that almost anything and everything can be staged or rigged – from assassination attempts to elections? In Why Do You Hate Me? USA, BBC disinformation and social media correspondent Maria…
1. Wild Thoughts: 'I hate Trump, she likes him – we both think he staged assassination attempts'
Meet Camille and ‘Wild Mother’. Both women love nature, animals, and the outdoors. Both women also believe the assassination attempts on Donald Trump were staged – but have very different political views. Why do people believe the things th…
Introducing... Why Do You Hate Me? USA
For the second series of BBC Radio 4’s Why Do You Hate Me, disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring heads to the USA. She investigates the social media backdrop to the presidential election, interrogating different onli…
Welcome to Conspiracyland
This is the new home of Marianna Spring's social media and disinformation investigations for BBC Radio 4. Listen back to Death by Conspiracy, War on Truth, Disaster Trolls, Conspiracyland and Why Do You Hate Me? Plus, hear the new series, W…
5. I Went Inside The World Of The Trolled And The Troll
Marianna investigates online abuse targeting Eni Aluko and tracks down one of her trolls.In this series, Why Do You Hate Me?, Marianna Spring delves into her inbox to investigate extraordinary cases of online hate like this one. She meets t…
4. I Received Online Death Threats And The Premier League Caught My Troll
The Premier League has told the BBC it’s fighting a rise in social media threats against both its players and their families, with a team dedicated to hunting down online trolls. The BBC’s Disinformation and social media correspondent Maria…
3. Sadiq Khan: I Didn’t Say That!
Last November, a faked audio clip of London's mayor went viral. Marianna Spring talks to Sadiq Khan about the impact it had and tracks down it's suspected creator.The clip used artificial intelligence to create a replica of Mr Khan's voice …
Why Do You Hate Me? Episode 1
When Julia Wandelt posted on social media that she believed she was Madeleine McCann, she became a lightning rod for online anger. In the first of a new series exploring extraordinary cases of online hate and the possibility of forgiveness,…
Coming up on… Why Do You Hate Me?
The online world can be a breeding ground for hate. But why do some people behave the way they do on social media?In each episode, the BBC's Disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring - one of the most trolled BBC journal…
2. I Believed Conspiracies About The Shooting I Survived
Marianna Spring talks to a survivor of the mass shooting in Las Vegas in 2017 about how posts on a social media account made him question an event he’d witnessed with his own eyesListen to more episodes of Why Do You Hate Me on BBC Sounds o…
1. I Regret Posting Online That I Was Madeleine McCann
When Julia Wandelt posted on social media that she believed she was Madeleine McCann, she became a lightning rod for online anger. In the first of a new series exploring extraordinary cases of online hate and the possibility of forgiveness,…
Introducing... Why Do You Hate Me?
The online world can be a breeding ground for hate. But why do some people behave the way they do on social media? In each episode, the BBC's Disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring - one of the most trolled BBC journ…
Introducing... Why Do You Hate Me?
The online world can be a breeding ground for hate. But why do some people behave the way they do on social media?In each episode, the BBC's Disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring - one of the most trolled BBC journal…
Introducing....Why Do You Hate Me?
The online world can be a breeding ground for hate. But why do some people behave the way they do on social media?In each episode, the BBC's Disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring - one of the most trolled BBC journal…
Introducing The Cows Are Mad
The Covid-19 pandemic has been one of the weirdest things any of us has lived through. But there was another sickness that once stalked the nation and turned things very strange for a while.
Bonus: Irish Conspiracyland
Marianna travels to Dublin to investigate a court case unfolding against the Irish Light conspiracy theory newspaper. Edel Campbell and her lawyer have been targeted by an extreme campaign of abuse after suing The Light which falsely claime…
Bonus: Frontlines of Conspiracyland
In this bonus episode, the BBC’S International Editor Jeremy Bowen and Disinformation and Social Media Correspondent Marianna Spring talk about their respective new podcasts: Frontlines of Journalism and Marianna in Conspiracyland. They r…
10. A Risk That’s Impossible To Ignore
What will happen next in Conspiracyland? In the final episode, Marianna is back where she started, in the Devon town of Totnes. With the help of locals, she makes sense of the legacy left by the conspiracy theory newspaper and the wider mov…
9. People Like Us
Do you know someone who’s fallen down the rabbit hole? During the investigation, Marianna’s inbox has been filled with messages from people sharing their stories about those they know and love who’ve been sucked into conspiracy theories. Wi…
8. The Science Of Conspiracy
Could people in the UK conspiracy theory movement ever become violent? Returning to the UK, BBC disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring meets possibly the only person outside of the movement who has read as much of the…
7. After An Attempted Coup
What can the UK learn from Germany? In Berlin, BBC disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring meets a whistleblower who stopped writing for a conspiracy theory newspaper in his country because he feared it was becoming mo…
6. German Conspiracyland
Why are journalists being attacked in Germany? Marianna travels to Berlin to meet a journalist called Jorg who’s been covering the conspiracy theory movement in his country. He’s been attacked several times trying to do his job and he’s not…
5. Follow The Money
Who is funding this UK conspiracy theory newspaper? Flicking through the pages of The Light, Marianna is drawn to the adverts that populate its back pages. After the face-to-face encounter with the paper’s editor Darren she has more questio…
4. The Conspiracy Theory Newspaper
Who is the man behind The Light? BBC disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring tracks down the editor of the conspiracy theory newspaper, The Light. His name is Darren and he agrees to meet Marianna in a pub just outside…
3. Trestle Tables for Truth
Where does all the anger come from? As Marianna delves further down the rabbit-hole, she finds herself in the alternative medicine clinic of one Totnes’ movement’s figureheads. He is one of the people behind a conspiracy-theory group in the…
2. Down The Rabbit Hole
What do those in the movement believe? And why? BBC disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring continues her investigation into Totnes’ conspiracy theory movement after hearing about one of its prominent members: an artis…
1. Entering Conspiracyland
What’s happening in the Devon town of Totnes? The small town of Totnes in Devon is known for its warmth and open-mindedness, gong baths and healing crystals, but a fault line has emerged between the minority who’ve been drawn in by disinfor…
Introducing... Marianna in Conspiracyland
What happened to the people who fell down the rabbit hole into a world of conspiracy theories? How far have they fallen – and how far will they go? In this 10-part series, the BBC’s Disinformation and Social Media Correspondent Marianna Spr…
Introducing... Marianna in Conspiracyland
What happened to the people who fell down the rabbit hole into a world of conspiracy theories? How far have they fallen – and how far will they go? In this 10-part series, the BBC’s Disinformation and Social Media Correspondent Marianna Spr…