Cristen Conger

Cristen Conger (she/her) is a podcaster, writer and professional womansplainer. On her provocative new podcast Conspiracy, She Wrote, Cristen unravels women’s overlooked roles in today’s conspiracy culture as instigators, evangelizers and mascots of good versus evil.  She is also the creator and host of the Webby Award-winning lifestyle podcast Unladylike and co-author of Unladylike: A Field Guide to Smashing the Patriarchy and Claiming Your Space. 

Describe Conspiracy, She Wrote in 10 words.
Unraveling conspiracy theories with feminism, aka the Joe Rogan inverse. 

Fill in the blank: you will like Conspiracy, She Wrote if you like ______.
Existing in the context (call me coconut-pilled, but it applies!).

Are you a fan of Murder, She Wrote? What’s the connection? Or is it just a fun play on words? (It is a perfectly fun play on words.)
It’s mostly a play on words, but I do love Murder, She Wrote and like to think JB Fletcher would approve of my detective work on Conspiracy, She Wrote.

What do all these conspiracy theories have in common?
A couple things. They’re all centered around women, whether that’s QAnon moms peddling pedo panic or Beyonce’s Illuminati mess. Also, speaking of cabals, pretty much all conspiracy red strings eventually root back to Illuminati propaganda published by a trio of rich fascist ladies a century ago. Wild!

Can you describe the moment that caused you to fall down the rabbit hole of investigating the intersection of feminism and conspiracy theories?
It was late summer of 2020. I was sitting in a giant backyard baby pool with a few friends when one of them started sidebarring with me about Jefrrey Epstein and sex trafficking and alluding to deep state plots. But the red flag came when I half-jokingly asked her if she was a QAnoner, and she replied, “I’m just asking questions.” (Dun dun dunnn!)

That and one particular conspiracy theory she passed along during that baby pool encounter launched me down my own rabbit hole to make sense of what she was even talking about and why. And for all the details on that inciting conspiracy, listen to the season one finale, “Michelle Obama’s ‘Secret Identity’,” dropping October 11!

Which conspiracy theory from this season surprised you the most?
Meghan Markle pregnancy truthers by far. We also touch on similar conspiracy theories that came for Beyonce during her pregnancy with Blue Ivy, but that they’ve mostly faded out. Not so for Meghan anti-fans. Their commitment to the cause of “outing” Meghan Markle as essentially the root of all evil (and a pregnancy/motherhood faker) is unreal.

I think we assume that the media and social media have contributed to the influx of conspiracy theories, but you went back in history to see the influences that laid the groundwork for it all. What do you think is the biggest cause of the conspiracy theories about women today?
A grain of salt is warranted since conspiracy theories are a spectrum and the causes are layered. That said, everyday misogyny and sexism fuels it big time. Conspiracy theories are often narratives of power and control–hence the recurring cabals, puppet masters and binaries of good versus evil. And something that’s struck me in my Conspiracy, She Wrote research and reporting is how women and gendered frameworks of power drive those narratives and who engages.

What’s the funniest/most ridiculous conspiracy theory you came across during your research?
Definitely the one that Taylor Swift is some kind of occult-y clone of Zeena Schreck, the daughter of Church of Satan founder Anton Levay. It’s entirely based on a vague resemblance between Swift and a young, blonde, red lipstick-wearing Zeena, but I appreciate the creativity. 

Have you ever found yourself believing in any of the conspiracy theories, even just for a moment?
Of course! Conspiracy theory belief is surprisingly normal human behavior. It’s the nature and intensity of that belief where things get weird. For example, when I got the news alert about the Trump assassination attempt and saw the photo of him with his fist in the air, my immediate reaction was suspicion. Surely it was a hoax! The timing and photo opp were too perfect! 
Conspiratory theory logic is a three-part recipe: Accidents don’t happen. Nothing is as it seems. Everything is connected. It took a concerted effort in that moment not to cook with it. I had to put away my phone, remind myself of Occam’s razor and wait for Michael Barbaro to fill me in on Monday. 

Is there anything from the cutting room floor that you can share with us? Anything that didn’t fit and you had to take out?
I hear a lot of sound advice on encountering misinformation, conspiracyheads, etc. from a number of experts I interviewed that couldn’t fit into episodes. But we’re planning to pull it all together for a bonus episode. It feels like podcast sacrilege to waste genuinely helpful tape!

What do you hope people learn from Conspiracy, She Wrote?
I hope people learn new and deeper ways to understand conspiracy theories and what they can tell us about the very real emotional and social conflicts they reflect. Conspiracy, She Wrote also just wrapped a three-episode run unraveling the many ways misogynoir compounds conspiracy and misinformation that comes for Black women in the public eye. It’s a timely primer with Kamala Harris running for President and the deluge of disinformation targeting her in response.

How do you unwind after exploring these offbeat and sometimes dark topics?
Nothing soothes quite like an hour-long visit to Cabot Cove, the idyllic murder capital of North America, where a single, childfree woman with ample face wrinkles and un-veneered teeth is living her best life. OK, maybe I should’ve made a Murder, She Wrote recap podcast instead…  

Thanks, Cristen!