9/11 & the Golden Age of Conspiracy Theories

The 9/11 attacks gave rise to numerous, and often conflicting, conspiracy theories. Catalyzed by the early internet, these theories spread widely, sowing distrust, and offering a harbinger of today’s political and cultural landscape. Elise Wang, assistant professor for the Department of English, Comparative Literature, and Linguistics at California State University, Fullerton, and Stephen Andrews, managing editor of the Journal of American History and adjunct professor for the Department of History at Indiana University, reflect on how 9/11 conspiracy theories tie into a broader historical context and have paved the way for our current culture marked by distrust, suspicion, and mis- and disinformation.