Conspiracy Theories and Their Believers (Stockemer & Bordeleau 2025) - Weekend Book Review

🎙️ Welcome to Revise and Resubmit — and you're tuned in to another episode of our 🎧 Weekend Book Review 📚So here’s a question to get us started:Why do so many people, across wildly different countries and cultures, believe that the truth is being hidden from them? 👀Today, we’re diving headfirst into the fascinating world of Conspiracy Theories and Their Believers, a brand-new release from Cambridge University Press, published in March 2025. Written by Daniel Stockemer and Jean-Nicolas Bordeleau, this book is more than just an academic exploration — it’s a global tour of modern conspiratorial thinking.And what a duo these authors make. Daniel Stockemer isn't just a professor — he’s the Konrad Adenauer Research Chair in Empirical Democracy Studies at the University of Ottawa, a prolific researcher with over 140 journal articles, and editor of two major publications in political science. His work explores the deep roots of political participation and populism — the fertile ground where many conspiracy theories grow.Then there’s Jean-Nicolas Bordeleau — or just “Nick” — a rising star and Research Fellow at the Jeff Bleich Centre for Democracy and Disruptive Technologies in Australia. He’s currently wrapping up his PhD under Daniel’s supervision, with a sharp focus on how citizens respond in times of democratic turbulence. From political misinformation to the psychology behind voting patterns, Nick’s work is right at home in the pages of this book.Together, Stockemer and Bordeleau take us through eight countries — from Brazil to Morocco, Australia to South Africa — mapping not just the theories people believe, but why they believe them. 🌍 Whether it’s COVID conspiracies or climate denial, political coverups or local legends, this book shows how surprisingly similar the believers can be — and yet, how deeply shaped they are by where they live.It’s sharp. It’s comparative. It’s grounded in fresh survey data. And it left me wondering...🌟 If the roots of conspiracy thinking are both universal and local, how do we ever begin to untangle truth from belief — especially in an age where misinformation moves faster than facts?💬 Big thanks to Daniel Stockemer and Jean-Nicolas Bordeleau for this timely and important contribution.🎧 If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast on Spotify and follow our YouTube channel — Weekend Researcher! We're also available on Amazon Prime Music and Apple Podcast, so pick your platform and stay curious 🧠Until next time, keep reading — and keep questioning. 🤔✨ReferenceStockemer, D., & Bordeleau, J.-N. (2025). Conspiracy Theories and their Believers. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009570794Youtube channel link https://www.youtube.com/@weekendresearcherSupport us on Patreonhttps://patreon.com/weekendresearcher