Shelf Life

In this episode of "Shelf Life," we discuss a dastardly chapter from the annals of fake news: the Popish Plot, a conspiracy theory promoted by a man named Titus Oates. According to Oates's writings in the late 1670s, a cabal of Catholics were conspiring to kill King Charles II and replace him with a Catholic ruler. Even though Oates was a notorious liar and had little to no evidence to support his claim, the story lodged itself in the public's imagination and led to the execution of dozens of people. How did this happen? And what parallels can we draw between 17th-century print culture (the vehicle for spreading Oates's lies) and the media environment we live in today? (Intro music: "Two Types of Awakenings" by Nheap)