Watergate | 6. Rabbit Holes

Summary

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Slow Burn: Watergate | Episode 6 - “Rabbit Holes”

Release Date: January 9, 2018

Host: Leon Neyfakh

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Episode Overview

This episode, titled “Rabbit Holes,” explores the explosion of conspiracy theories in America following the Watergate scandal. Through select stories, archival tape, and expert commentary, the episode examines how Watergate didn’t just expose government wrongdoing—it fundamentally altered Americans’ relationship to truth and suspicion, launching the nation into a new era of skepticism and paranoia. The episode uses the 1972 crash of United Airlines Flight 553—killing Dorothy Hunt, wife of Watergate burglar E. Howard Hunt—as a lens to explore how real events fueled wild speculation, blurred the line between legitimate theories and outright conspiracies, and changed American belief systems forever.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Crash of United 553: Tragedy Meets Suspicion

• Opening Story: The episode sets the stage with United Airlines Flight 553’s crash on Chicago’s South Side (00:00–01:00). Dorothy Hunt, wife of Watergate operative E. Howard Hunt, was on board, carrying $10,000 in cash.
  • “As the Boeing 737 hit the ground, it sent a car flying through one house and sliced the roof off another.” (Narrator, 00:10)
• Media highlight: Investigators were tracing hundred-dollar bills found in Dorothy Hunt’s purse (01:09), stirring suspicions from the start.

2. Mae Brussell and the Rise of the Conspiracy Counterculture

• Mae Brussell, a California radio host, emerges as a key figure—dubbed the "Queen of Conspiracy."
  • “Brussell’s show is broadcast out of KLRB, a small left-wing FM rock station in California.” (Narrator, 01:47)
• Brussell quickly connected the crash to Watergate, spotlighting the immediate appointment of Nixon’s aides to key transportation and investigation posts following the crash (02:11).
  • "Now that's an interesting location for an espionage agent who's tied in with his whole team and secret funding." (Mae Brussell, 02:37)
• She speculated about the origins of Hunt's money and even referenced rumors of cyanide in the pilot’s bloodstream (02:49).
  • “The money came from El Paso Gas…there were cyanide traces in the bloodstream of the pilot in the crash…” (Mae Brussell, 02:49)

3. Expanding Circles of Paranoia

• Brussell compiled a list of 30 Watergate-connected deaths, including Martha Mitchell and J. Edgar Hoover. She promoted the idea they were victims of foul play (03:00–03:35).
  • “Martha Mitchell is dead. They murdered her the same way as they did Jack Ruby. And Martha Mitchell and Jack Ruby have a lot in common.” (Mae Brussell, 03:27)
• The host notes: Mae Brussell symbolized the energy unleashed by Watergate—one that made an entire generation more suspicious and eager to uncover government secrets (03:35).

4. Why America Became a Nation of Conspiracy Theorists

• Historian David Greenberg puts the phenomenon in context:
  • “We’re still coming out of the most heated, florid period of kind of 60s radicalism…” (David Greenberg, 04:06)
  • “There’s in the culture this deep-seated distrust of authority, distrust of officialdom. And so people are already in a skeptical frame of mind…” (David Greenberg, 04:19)
• Watergate proved that “the paranoiacs were right”—a real cabal existed.
  • “Watergate was a conspiracy.” (David Greenberg, 04:38)
  • “They really did steal and cheat and lie.” (Narrator, 04:43)
  • “Once you realize that part of the picture lies outside of you, you sort of wonder how much else.” (David Greenberg, 04:56)

5. Conspiracy Theories Become Mainstream

• Shift in public belief: After Watergate, Americans’ willingness to believe in hidden plots soared.
  • Example: The percentage of Americans convinced Lee Harvey Oswald was part of a conspiracy increased from 52% in 1963 to 81% in 1976 (05:05).
  • “Belief in others proliferates—American society has gone buggy on conspiracy theories, because so many nasty demonstrations of the real thing have turned up.” (Washington Post columnist, paraphrased by the narrator, 05:23–05:30)
• The “weird bouquet of conspiracy theories” after Watergate was American society’s response to an awakening: there really were secrets, and people wanted answers.

6. Defining the Line: Conspiracy Theory vs. Theory

• The episode sets out its central questions:
  • Why were so many ready to believe?
  • How did these beliefs help take Nixon down?
  • What distinguishes a conspiracy theory from a legitimate theory? (05:50–06:20)
• The opening crash story recurs as a motif: Did it “confirm to everybody that Mae had it right?” (News reporter, 06:20)
  • “If they had the proper witnesses, we'd begin to exhume some of these bodies and find out what's really happening in this nation.” (Mae Brussell, 06:28)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Mania for Explanations:
  • “All of the secrets and skullduggery that were revealed during Watergate created an enormous appetite for explanations and for answers.” (Narrator, 05:30)
• On the Culture of Distrust:
  • “There’s in the culture this deep-seated distrust of authority, distrust of officialdom. And so people are already in a skeptical frame of mind when it comes to official explanations.” (David Greenberg, 04:19)
• On Watergate’s Lasting Impact:
  • “Watergate turned everyone into a conspiracy theorist.” (Narrator, 03:35)
• Mae Brussell’s Challenge:
  • “If they had the proper witnesses, we’d begin to exhume some of these bodies and find out what’s really happening in this nation.” (Mae Brussell, 06:28)

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Timeline of Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Theme | |------------|------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00–01:00| United 553 crash, Dorothy Hunt’s death and mysterious cash | | 01:09 | News report on found cash and investigation | | 01:23–02:43| Mae Brussell’s suspicions and theories | | 03:00–03:35| Brussell’s list of Watergate-related deaths | | 04:06–04:56| Historian Greenberg contextualizes post-Watergate paranoia | | 05:05 | Surge in public belief in conspiracy | | 05:50–06:20| Episode questions: why belief, impact on Nixon, theory vs. conspiracy | | 06:20–06:37| News and Brussell on the need for answers |

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Final Thoughts

Rabbit Holes dives deep into how Watergate’s proven conspiracies set off an era where nothing official could be trusted at face value. The episode shows how a nation, confronted with evidence of backroom plots, slid into a maze of suspicion that would permanently reshape political culture—even beyond Nixon’s downfall. The stories of Mae Brussell and Dorothy Hunt highlight how fact and theory, coincidence and intent, became indistinguishable for millions of Americans.

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“Watergate turned everyone into a conspiracy theorist.” — Narrator (03:35)

“If they had the proper witnesses, we’d begin to exhume some of these bodies and find out what’s really happening in this nation.” — Mae Brussell (06:28)

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Transcript

[Narrator (Leon Naphat)]

United Airlines Flight 553 was a minute away from landing at Midway Airport in Chicago when it crashed on a residential street on the city's south side. As the Boeing 737 hit the ground, it sent a car flying through one house and sliced the roof off another.

[News Reporter]

Power lines were severed. Police and firemen set up a temporary morgue in a local schoolhouse. A woman who lived nearby said, the place is bedlam. There are ambulances screaming up and down the street.

[Narrator (Leon Naphat)]

4:45 people were killed, including the captain. Among them was a woman named Dorothy Hunt. And there were two noteworthy facts about her. First, she was carrying $10,000 in cash. And second, she was the wife of E. Howard Hunt, who had helped plan and carry out the Watergate break in. The plane crash happened on December 8, 1972, six months after the bugging operation at Democratic Party headquarters. At that point in time, Howard Hunt stood accused of burglary, conspiracy and wiretapping. The plane crash that killed Hunt's wife Dorothy got a lot of coverage on television and in the papers.

[News Reporter]

In Mrs. Hunt's purse, one hundred hundred dollar bills were found. Federal investigators have asked the Federal Reserve to trace the bills.

[Narrator (Leon Naphat)]

The crash also attracted interest from some less mainstream sources.

[Mae Brussel (Radio Host)]

It's time once again for Dialogue Conspiracy with Mae Br. How conspiracy, political assassination and abuses of power affect us all.

[Narrator (Leon Naphat)]

Mae Brussel was a radio host who became known during the 1970s as the Queen of Conspiracy.

[Mae Brussel (Voice)]

I brought so much material in this week, I don't know where to start. The news is just coming in so rapidly.

[Narrator (Leon Naphat)]

Brussels show is broadcast out of klrb, a small left wing FM rock station in California. She also published a newsletter called simply the Conspiracy Newsletter. The death of Dorothy Hunt set off alarm bells for mae Brussel because Mrs.

[Mae Brussel (Voice)]

Hunt had testified to the grand jury and they may be wanting to use her later. And Mrs. Howard Hunt died on that plane crash in Chicago, December.

[Narrator (Leon Naphat)]

She noted that the day after the United553 incident, Richard Nixon had nominated one of his aides to the position of undersecretary of Transportation, giving him direct control over the agency that would be investigating the crash. About a week after that, he nominated another aide to head the Federal Aviation Administration. And then a few months later, a third Nixon aide became an executive at United Airlines. Brussel did not think any of this was a coincidence.

[Mae Brussel (Voice)]

Now that's an interesting location for an espionage agent who's tied in with his whole team and secret funding.

[Narrator (Leon Naphat)]

She also had some ideas about the cash that Dorothy Hunt was carrying. When her plane went down.

[Mae Brussel (Voice)]

The money came from El Paso gas. It had something to do with John Mitchell. There were cyanide traces in the bloodstream of the pilot in the crash that Mrs. Hunt was on.

[Narrator (Leon Naphat)]

In an interview with a Canadian tabloid called Midnight, mae Brussel listed 30 people connected to Watergate who had died either just before or after the break in. Dorothy Hunt was on the list. So was longtime FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, who had died suddenly of a heart attack in May of 1972. The last person on the list was Martha Mitchell. We talked about Martha in our first episode. She was the wife of Nixon's first Attorney General and she died of cancer in 1976.

[Mae Brussel (Voice)]

Well, Martha Mitchell is dead. They murdered her the same way as they did Jack Ruby. And Martha Mitchell and Jack Ruby have a lot in common.

[Narrator (Leon Naphat)]

Some of the people we've talked about on this show could fairly be described as tragic figures. Martha Mitchell was one. But Mae Brussel, who died in 1988, was not. Rather, I've come to think of Brussels as the embodiment of a dark but invigorating energy that was unleashed after Watergate, one that made Americans more suspicious than they'd ever been and more desperate to uncover the secrets that their government was keeping from them. Basically, Watergate turned everyone into a conspiracy theorist.

[David Greenberg (Historian)]

We're still coming out of the most heated, florid period of kind of 60s radicalism.

[Narrator (Leon Naphat)]

This is historian David Greenberg, author of the book Nixon's Shadow.

[David Greenberg (Historian)]

So there's in the culture this deep seated distrust of authority, distrust of officialdom. And so people are already in a skeptical frame of mind when it comes to official explanations.

[Narrator (Leon Naphat)]

And here's something that might seem obvious, but it's worth dwelling on for a minute.

[David Greenberg (Historian)]

Also importantly, Watergate was a conspiracy.

[Narrator (Leon Naphat)]

The Watergate plot proved that the paranoiacs were right. There really was a cabal of government officials working in the shadows to seize and maintain power and to stifle dissent. And they really did steal and cheat and lie.

[David Greenberg (Historian)]

Once you realize that part of the picture lies outside of you is you sort of wonder how much else.

[Narrator (Leon Naphat)]

Thanks to Watergate, wild eyed speculation about invisible forces and schemes no longer seemed all that crazy. And it wasn't just crazy people who took it seriously. Between 1963 and 1976, the percentage of Americans who thought Lee Harvey Oswald had acted as part of a conspiracy jumped from 52% to an astonishing 81%. In 1975, a columnist for the Washington Post lamented that when you prove the existence of one batch of conspiracies Watergate, for example. Belief in others proliferates American society has gone buggy on conspiracy theories, the columnist concluded, because so many nasty demonstrations of the real thing have turned up. All of the secrets in skullduggery that were revealed during Watergate created an enormous appetite for explanations and for answers. And the weird bouquet of conspiracy theories that Watergate inspired is a manifestation of that appetite in today's episode. Why were so many Americans ready to believe conspiracy theories after Watergate? And how did those beliefs help trigger the downfall of Richard Nixon? And given everything we know about Watergate, what separates a conspiracy theory from just a theory? This is Slow Burn. I'm your host Leon Naphat.

[News Reporter]

There was speculation that the crash might have had a Watergate connection. It confirmed to everybody that May had it right.

[Mae Brussel (Voice)]

If they had the proper witnesses, we'd begin to exhume some of these bodies and find out what's really happening in this nation.

[Narrator (Leon Naphat)]

Episode 6 Rabbit Holes.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

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