Political conspiracy movies from the past can help us understand our current moment

NPR | By Danny Hensel,

Marc Rivers, Adam Raney, Barrie Hardymon, Sacha Pfeiffer

Published November 1, 2026 at 5:25 PM EST

Political conspiracy films peaked in the 1970s. What do those films offer at a time when conspiracy theories flood social media and are repeated by the president and other politicians?

Danny Hensel

See stories by Danny Hensel

Marc Rivers

Adam Raney

Barrie Hardymon

Barrie Hardymon is the senior editor for NPR's Investigations team.

Sacha Pfeiffer

Correspondent, Investigations

See stories by Sacha Pfeiffer

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