PREVIEW: The Friday Edition. - Conspiracy theories are getting dumber.

Summary

---

Tangle Podcast: "Conspiracy theories are getting dumber."

Host (narrator): Will K. Back (Senior Editor, reading a piece by Isaac Saul)
Date: July 17, 2026
Episode Type: Friday Edition Preview

---

Episode Overview

This preview episode of Tangle's Friday Edition, narrated by Senior Editor Will K. Back, dives into the current state of conspiracy theories in modern political discourse. The core theme is the increasing prevalence, rapid spread, and decreasing sophistication ("dumbing down") of conspiracy theories in U.S. political culture. Isaac Saul (whose article is read aloud by Will) critically examines recent viral conspiracies regarding the health and deaths of high-profile politicians, the persistence of unfounded narratives, and the societal consequences of such misinformation, all while maintaining a nuanced approach that distinguishes healthy skepticism from wild speculation.

---

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. On the Term "Conspiracy Theory"

Timestamp: 01:20 – 02:30

• Isaac (via Will) expresses dislike for the expression "conspiracy theory," calling it often overused and unhelpful in political discussion.
• Notes that he encourages open-mindedness and cautions against dismissing minority or controversial views as mere conspiracy.
• Clarifies definitions:
  • “A theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators.”
  • “A theory asserting that a secret of great importance is being kept from the public.”
  • Emphasizes these definitions are not intrinsically judgmental about the truth of a theory.

2. Historical Context and Persistence

Timestamp: 02:31 – 03:30

• Conspiracy theories are not new; examples date back centuries (e.g., Illuminati, Salem witch trials, blood libels).
• Some ideas previously labeled conspiracies (such as Covid’s lab-leak theory) gain credibility over time as evidence changes.

3. Contemporary Spread and “Dumbing Down”

Timestamp: 03:31 – 04:26

• Theories now spread faster due to social media; society appears increasingly gullible.
• Many today believe easily disprovable claims or demand others believe in ideas with scant evidence.

"What has changed recently, though, is that these theories spread more easily, society seems more gullible, and the theories themselves are just getting, well, a whole lot dumber."
— Isaac Saul (read by Will, 03:35)

---

4. Case Study: Mitch McConnell's Health Rumors

Timestamp: 04:27 – 08:50

• After Sen. McConnell was hospitalized, details were vague and prompted reasonable curiosity.
• Internet sleuths began speculating McConnell had died, with claims circulating that his publicized “health update” photo was recycled from a previous event.
• Fact-checking:
  • Will (Isaac) describes personally researching the claim—no such “old photo” existed; the story was fabricated.
  • The original post went viral (5 million views) despite no evidence, and even AI tools (Grok X) unwittingly supported the falsehood.

“The poster was literally making up the existence of a previous photo from whole cloth.”
— Isaac Saul (read by Will, 06:30)

• Official sources (Washington Post, McConnell’s press release) provided clear proof the photo was legit, including a current newspaper in the image.
• Points out: absence of evidence does not prevent a theory from gaining damaging traction.

“Of all the questions I've gotten about politics in the last two weeks from friends, the most common one has been: Is Mitch McConnell dead?”
— Isaac Saul (read by Will, 07:45)

• Notes that these suspicions were commonly voiced among left-leaning friends and family, indicating conspiracy thinking is bipartisan.

---

5. Lindsey Graham’s Death and Instant Speculation

Timestamp: 10:52 – 13:00

• Upon Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sudden death after visiting Ukraine, conspiracy theories quickly flourished.
  • Laura Loomer: speculated assassination by Russia or Iran.
  • Matt Van Swole: “it didn’t make any sense” for Graham to die unexpectedly (shared by Sean Spicer).
  • Mark Thiessen: “it’s not a conspiracy theory to suggest something else might be at play.”
  • Bill Ackman: posted, then deleted, doubts based on Graham’s recent video appearance.
  • Lara Logan: shared numerology-based claims connecting Trump’s social posts to Graham’s death.
• None of the speculations acknowledged Graham’s age, health history, or the rapid release of a medical examiner’s report confirming death by aortic dissection.

"All that mattered was that he died after visiting Ukraine and the conspiracists had a field day."
— Isaac Saul (read by Will, 12:46)

---

6. Conspiracies from the High-Profile to the Absurd

Timestamp: 13:01 – 15:34

• J.D. Vance on Joe Rogan:
  • Vice President Vance entertained the idea that Jeffrey Epstein was potentially working for “the highest levels of Israeli and US Intelligence,” speculating further about the Mossad, CIA, or “some other deep state.”
• Charlie Kirk Assassination Theories:
  • Numerous implausible claims made about who was behind Kirk’s murder, including Israel, French spies, and Kirk’s wife.
  • Candace Owens was a chief promoter, but evidence (texts, video, DNA) consistently points to the primary suspect.
  • Owens at times undermined her own claims by sharing exculpatory video evidence.
• Trump’s “Stolen Election” Theories:
  • [Discussion set up but truncated, as this is the preview cut-off.]

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the Spread of the 'Dead McConnell' Theory

"Rather than take a supposedly well intentioned Internet sleuth at their word, I downloaded the original photo McConnell had posted and used Google's reverse image search … After about 10 minutes, I determined that no such 2023 image existed."
— Isaac Saul (read by Will, 06:15)

On Public Suspicions

"It'd be a remarkable thing if one public person lied about speaking to a dead man, but even more remarkable if several of them risked their credibility to do so, particularly US Senators."
— Isaac Saul (read by Will, 08:13)

On Lindsey Graham Conspiracies

"It didn't matter that he told someone he was feeling unwell and ignored advice to seek out urgent medical care … All that mattered was that he died after visiting Ukraine and the conspiracists had a field day."
— Isaac Saul (read by Will, 12:33-12:46)

On Elite Embracing of Conspiracy

"Hilariously, Vance speculated that maybe Epstein was Mossad or CIA or, quote, some other deep state, as if he were just some podcast bro trying to put things together and not, you know, the Vice President of the United States."
— Isaac Saul (read by Will, 13:32)

---

Important Segment Timestamps

• 01:20 — Will introduces himself and sets up the article’s framework, discussing problems with the term "conspiracy theory."
• 04:27 — Deep dive into the McConnell conspiracy claims and the process of independent fact-checking.
• 10:52 — New conspiracy theories post-Lindsey Graham's death, illustrating the speed and absurdity of modern speculation.
• 13:01 — Discussion of J.D. Vance’s Rogan appearance and further breakdown of conspiracy-mongering by public figures.
• 15:34 — Preview cut-off, signaling the end of content and prompting listeners to subscribe for the full episode.

---

Tone & Language

• The narration retains a direct, accessible, and skeptical-but-open-minded tone.
• Language is conversational, often peppered with dry humor or gentle sarcasm about the absurdity of many modern conspiracy theories.
• Isaac (via Will) is clear about the importance of evidence, distinguishing responsible skepticism from reckless rumor-spreading.

---

Summary

This episode of Tangle explores how conspiracy theories, though historically entrenched in society, have become more simplistic, rapidly disseminated, and less critically examined due to social media and partisan echo chambers. Using fresh examples—Mitch McConnell’s recovery, Lindsey Graham’s death, and other high-profile cases—the host illustrates how easily baseless theories seed and spread, often crossing political lines. The show repeatedly urges listeners to value skepticism and fact-checking over viral, evidence-free narratives—making it a thoughtful take on an increasingly polarized information landscape.

---

For more, full access to the episode and further analysis, listeners are encouraged to subscribe via the Tangle newsletter or podcast feed.

Transcript

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states.

[Live Nation Announcer]

Santana Oneness Tour 2026 from Woodstock to Supernatural and beyond with very special guest the Doobie Brothers. Get tickets [e-mail].

[Isaac Saul]

Decisions made in Washington can affect your portfolio every day, but what policy changes should investors be watching? Washington Wise is an original podcast from Charles Schwab that unpacks the stories making news in Washington right now and how they may affect your finances and portfolio. [e-mail] WashingtonWise

[Tangle Promo Announcer]

from executive producer Isaac Saul, this is Tangle.

[Will K. Back]

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening and welcome to the Tangle Friday Edition. I am your host today Senior Editor Will K. Back. I'm filling in for our Executive Editor Isaac Saul today, who is off taking a well earned break. Isaac authored today's Friday Edition, so I'm going to be reading his piece in his words, and I'll clarify at any point where something is in Isaac's words and is not meant to be coming from me, the narrator. Otherwise, we're really excited to share this edition with you. It's one that we've been working on for some time, but the events of the past week really brought the core ideas into into focus and so we're going to be citing a lot of stories that we've talked a bit about in Tangle already, but through a new lens or a new framework that you haven't seen in the day to day editions. So without further ado, let's get into today's Friday edition. Generally speaking, I hate the expression conspiracy theory. It's an overused and unhelpful descriptor for what often amounts to a minority or controversial view. I've begged writers to stop calling everything they don't like a conspiracy theory, and I've written regularly about my open mindedness to all manner of ideas that have at some point been called conspiracy theories. But it's also an expression with a definition. The Merriam Webster Dictionary offers two a theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators, or a theory asserting that a secret of great importance is being kept from the public. End quote. These are both good workable definitions. They both aptly describe a lot of the ideas I encounter on social media on a regular basis, and neither suggests judgment on whether the theory itself is true, which I think is important. Conspiracy theories obviously are not. New examples go back centuries, not decades, to the Illuminati panic of the 1700s or the Salem witch trials or blood libels targeting Jews in medieval Europe. I assume there were prehistoric conspiracy theories too. Contemporary ideas like Covid came from a lab, were once labeled conspiracy theories, but have become more mainstream and gained credibility with new evidence, though they are still unproven. What has changed recently, though, is that these theories spread more easily, society seems more gullible, and the theories themselves are just getting, well, a whole lot dumber. The end result is that a lot of people seem to believe easily disprovable things, or, conversely, they latch onto ideas for which there is almost zero evidence and insist others subscribe to those ideas too. Just this week we got fresh examples of all of the above. Not long before the news of Senator Lindsey Graham's death, conspiracy theories were circulating around Senator Mitch McConnell. As most of you know by now, McConnell was hospitalized a few weeks back, and the circumstances around his hospitalization were, to put it mildly, shady. Emergency responders at his residence described a person in cardiac arrest who had to be administered CPR. McConnell eventually claimed to have just taken a bad fall, been momentarily unconscious, and then contracted pneumonia while in the hospital. Either the 911 call was misstated, a remarkable coincidence occurred, or McConnell's team isn't being totally forthcoming. The day after he was hospitalized, two Republican senators said they had spoke to him. After that, McConnell made zero public appearances for nearly a month and little was said about his condition and his contact with the outside world. Many questioned fairly what had happened to him and whether he was okay. Then slowly, after weeks of no updates from the McConnell team, Republican colleagues and pundits started popping up to say they had spoken to him. And after Senator Graham died Suddenly this week, McConnell released a photo of himself and his wife from the hospital alongside a very PR polished update on his health. The whole thing was odd, and after the months long disappearance of Representative Tom Keene, there was a lot of reasonable curiosity about what was going on. For me, McConnell's description of his medical emergency and hospital stay just didn't quite add up, and I was starting to feel a little conspiratorial myself. Then something on social media caught my eye. A Post alleged that McConnell's health update photo was the same exact photo he had released in 2023 after a previous stay at a rehabilitation facility. I was intrigued, of course, but having seen Internet nonsense go viral quickly before I was also immediately skeptical. Rather than take a supposedly well intentioned Internet sleuth at their word, I downloaded the original photo McConnell had posted and used Google's reverse image search and some other widely available tools to see if I could surface a similar photo from the past. After about 10 minutes, I determined that no such 2023 image existed. The poster was literally making up the existence of a previous photo from whole cloth. A few commenters replying to the original poster asked for proof, but to no avail. One top comment even asked Grok X's built in AI whether the photo was actually years old, and Grok backed up the false claim. When I saw the Post, it had over 5 million views, no community notes, and more than 10,000 shares. As I wrote this piece, the Washington Post confirmed what was already obvious. The photo was real, new, and in a kind of kidnapping proof of life move, it included that day's newspaper in the picture. It is obviously embarrassing for McConnell and his team to have to put to bed any suspicions that he was dead, but the update that they posted did so successfully. Or at least it should have. In reality, there need not be any evidence for a theory like this to do some damage. Of all the questions I've gotten about politics in the last two weeks from friends, the most common one has been is Mitch McConnell dead? While the right may seem much more conspiracy minded than the left these days, this particular theory was quite popular on the left. Nearly all of my friends and family who suggested that McConnell might be dead were liberals, and all had their own theories about the degree to which he was incapacitated. This is true despite the fact that several prominent senators, pundits and journalists said they had spoken to McConnell. It'd be a remarkable thing if one public person lied about speaking to a dead man, but even more remarkable if several of them risked their credibility to do so, particularly US Senators. But even after his team released a photo, many still insist they aren't sold. I have questions about what exactly happened to McConnell, and I wrote last Thursday that I think he should resign. But I don't think he's dead or brain dead because there's direct evidence to the contrary.

[Isaac Saul]

We'll be right back after this quick break. Hey everyone, quick thought before we get started. If you listen to Tangle, it's probably because you're trying to escape the media echo chamber. But even when you read broadly, it's hard to see which stories are being emphasized and which ones are being ignored. This episode is brought to you by Ground News. Ground News is not a publisher. It's an app and website that gathers reporting on every news story from across the political spectrum and shows you each outlet's bias rating, factuality rating and who owns it. It's more than just an aggregator. It gives you context on every perspective in one place so that you can make up your own mind. For example, a recent story about a bipartisan border deal collapsing was covered by 50 outlets. One left leaning headline read GOP sinks border deal under Trump Pressure while a right leaning one said Democrats block stronger border enforcement. Same event, very different framing. Ground News lets you compare that instantly and even flags blind spots, stories disproportionately covered by one side. If you want unlimited access to these features, subscribe to the vantage plan for 40% [e-mail] tn that's ground news.com tn promo code tn again groundnews.com tn code tn for 40% off if you care about seeing the full picture, I think you'll really value this tool.

[Paylocity Announcer]

When everything is moving all at once. Your workforce, your tech stack, your business. You don't need more tools, you need one solution. That's why Paylocity built a single platform to connect hr, finance and IT with AI driven insights and automated workflows to that simplify the complex and power what's next. Because when everything comes together in one place, growth comes easy experience. One place for all your HCM needs. Start [e-mail] One.

[Will K. Back]

The New Age conspiracy theories haven't just swirled around McConnell either. Before the flags could even be lowered to half staffed, theories about the late Senator Lindsey Graham had already gone viral too. News of Graham's unexpected death broke early Sunday morning, just after he had returned from a trip to Ukraine. Those two facts opened the floodgates of confident speculation. The Bulwark's Will Sommer helpfully summarized some of the more obscene stuff. Right wing activist Laura Loomer, who initially pushed the McConnell brain dead conspiracy, immediately speculated that Russia or Iran had assassinated Graham. Conservative activist Matt Van Swole suggested that it didn't make any sense at all, end quote, for Graham to die out of the blue, a post that former White House press secretary Sean Spicer shared. Mark Thiessen, who writes for the Washington Post, Fox News and the American Enterprise Institute, offered that it's entirely possible Graham just had a heart attack, end quote, but that it's not a conspiracy theory to suggest something else might be at play. Putin has poisoned and assassinated many of his opponents, and Gramm was just in Kyiv, where there are certainly FSB agents operating. Replying to a video of Graham, celebrity investor Bill Ackman said, quote, this doesn't look like a guy who would die hours later, a post he later deleted. Lara Logan, a former CBS News anchor, shared an incomprehensible numerology post that I think, think suggests Trump's truth. Social posts were timed to send signals about Graham's death. Well, the entire thing was honestly pretty alarming. It didn't matter that Graham was 71 years old, slightly overweight, and had a family history of heart disease. His dad died of a heart attack at 69. It didn't matter that he told someone he was feeling unwell and ignored advice to seek out urgent medical care. It didn't matter that he fit the standard profile for the aortic dissection that he died of, according to the actual medical examiner's report. Nobody even waited for the medical examiner's report, which was literally released less than 24 hours after his death. All that mattered was that he died after visiting Ukraine and the conspiracists had a field day. Then on Wednesday, Vice President J.D. vance waded into all manner of conspiracy theories on a new episode of Joe Rogan's podcast, including the supposition that Jeffrey Epstein had ties to, quote, the highest levels of Israeli and US Intelligence. Hilariously, Vance speculated that maybe Epstein was Mossad or CIA or, quote, some other deep state, as if he were just some podcast bro trying to put things together and not, you know, the Vice President of the United States. If one wanted to get to the bottom of Epstein's intelligence ties, you could do worse than being first in line to the presidency with presumably unlimited access to intelligence briefings and classified information. But no. Better to just speculate wildly amid all this. A preliminary hearing for Charlie Kirk's alleged murderer started in Utah. In the event that you've been blissfully unaware of the conspiracy theories surrounding that story, Leaders at Turning Point usa, Kirk's organization, Israel, French spies, Kirk's wife, and many others have all been accused of having a hand in or directly organizing his assassination, mostly by the popular podcaster Candace Owens. Aside from a few text messages from Kirk expressing fear that his life was in danger and claiming that he didn't. Like some pro Israel commentators like Ben Shapiro, Owens has offered precisely zero evidence for her theories, or alternatively, has relied on the firsthand accounts of a man who also claims his dad was the zodiac killer and that he's being surveilled by beetle sized drones. Yet this hasn't stopped a wave of people on the Internet from believing someone other than the accused murderer killed Kirk. This is, of course, despite the overwhelming evidence that the defendant was the shooter, the text message confessions, DNA evidence on the weapon, the the video footage of him at the scene, and so on. Indeed, Owens has at times undermined her own arguments by sharing video evidence that supports the primary suspect as Kirk's killer. And then on Thursday night, we got a reheated version of the granddaddy of them all Trump's Stolen Election theories. Before we address these specific claims that Trump made, I think it's worth reminding everyone of the evolution of 2020 stolen election theories.

[John Law]

Hey everybody, this is Jon, Executive Producer producer for Tangle. We hope you enjoyed this preview of our latest episode. If you are not currently a newsletter subscriber or a premium podcast subscriber and you are enjoying this content and would like to finish it, you can go to readtangle.com and sign up for a newsletter subscription. Or you can sign up for a podcast subscription or a bundled subscription, which gets you both the podcast and the newsletter and unlocks the rest of this episode as well as add free free daily podcasts, more Friday editions, Sunday editions, bonus content, interviews and so much more. Most importantly, we just want to say thank you so much for your support. We're working hard to bring you much more content and more offerings, so stay tuned. I will join you again for the daily podcast. For the rest of the crew, this is John Law signing off. Have a great day, y'.

[Will K. Back]

All.

[John Law]

Peace.

[Isaac Saul]

Our Executive editor and founder is me, Isaac Sowell, and our Executive producer is John Lowell. Today's episode was edited and engineered by Dewey Thomas. Our editorial staff is led by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman with Senior Editor Will K. Back and Associate Editors Audrey Moorhead and Bailey Saul. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet75. To learn more about Tangle and to sign up for a membership, please visit our website at Retangle.

[Contentful Announcer]

Marketers. You know that feeling when your creative clicks? When that social post sends engagement through the roof, when your outside of the box campaign hits ROI positive. When a personalized homepage turns prospects into customers, it's utter marketing bliss. Contentful helps you create tailored omnichannel experiences without working overtime. No stress, no limits, only possibilities. Get the [e-mail] he's dribbling the ball

[Boost Mobile Announcer]

with everything on the line. He's driving down the pitch. He's facing price hikes and cuts past him. Carrier contracts, tries to block him. Oh, he leaves him in the dust. He's at the edge of the he cuts past the non stop group chat trash talk. He clears on goal. He shoots no unlimited data for $25 a month forever.

[Live Nation Announcer]

Visit your local Boost Mobile store today to get unlimited data with a price that never changes. Boost mobile after 30gb, customers may experience lower speeds. Customers will pay $25 a month as long as they remain active on the Boost $25 Unlimited plan.

[Tangle Promo Announcer]

Should I stay married? Have a kid? Buy that house? What if you could know with certainty what you should do before you do it? Disruption is a new play about six friends, one dinner and a technology that knows them better than they know themselves. A provocative new play about love, ambition and the cost of certainty. Off Broadway at the Pershing Square Signature Center, July 22 through September 13. [e-mail].