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 in 2020. Between a pandemic, protests over the police killing of George Floyd and a fraught election that the president himself falsely claimed he won, a growing number of people

 believe things that simply aren’t true

If losing a shared sense of reality is difficult for democracy, it’s even

. Those who’ve lost a loved one to a conspiracy theory like QAnon say it’s almost impossible to combat.

. Conspiracy theories are especially attractive during uncertain times, and multifaceted ideas like QAnon also function like an “

unusually absorbing alternate-reality game

,” which makes it especially hard for adherents to break free.

Tuesday, MPR News host Kerri Miller tackled the second show in a series about disinformation. Earlier this month, she talked to two experts about

 how disinformation is spreading so rapidly

. This week, she investigated how to help a loved one who is immersed in disinformation.

To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above.

Subscribe to the MPR News with Kerri Miller podcast on: 

Shows

Big Books & Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller

Can You Believe It?

Essential tools to fight disinformation

Host

Author

The deluge of disinformation in 2020 pulled many Americans into a vortex of conspiracy theories and fractured relationships between those who believed the disinformation and their loved ones.  How can you reach someone who is deep down the rabbit hole?

How to help a loved one who is caught in a web of conspiracy theories

A person holds a "Q" sign standing for "QAnon." 

How to help a loved one who is caught in a web of conspiracy theories

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