The moon landing was staged, the September 11 attacks were planned by the US government itself and vaccination makes you autistic: these are just a few of the most common conspiracy stories. They often sound bizarre, absurd or funny - but most of the time they are also dangerous. Because they slowly develop their power and undermine democratic discourse. Anh Tran from the Deutschlandfunk podcast "Der Rest ist Geschichte" (The rest is history) talks live on location with the American expert Michael Butter about why conspiracy theories have a long history, when they thrive best and what can be done about them.

"Der Rest ist Geschichte" is Deutschlandfunk's history podcast: a new episode every week with historical knowledge on current topics - from the Middle East conflict to the Reichsbürger and Trump's America.

Hosted by: Anh Tran

Pub kid on Deutschlandfunk. Born and raised in Dresden as a descendant of Vietnamese contract workers. Often struggles with home and has made a podcast about it ("Auf Heimatsuche"). Used to want to be everything - animal keeper, linguist, theater educator - and ended up in journalism with stints at Campusradio Jena, MDR aktuell and a traineeship at Deutschlandradio. In 2020, she won the German Radio Award for Best Newcomer. When she's not at the microphone, you can find her in the front row at small club concerts. Tweets with @anhspruch. And: The rest is history.

Guest: Prof. Dr. Michael Butter

Michael Butter, born in 1977, is Professor of American Studies at the University of Tübingen. He heads an EU research project analyzing conspiracy theories. His most recent publication is: "Die Alarmierten. What conspiracy theories do" (Suhrkamp 2025).

The podcat + poodle project is funded by the Neustadt district advisory council of the state capital Dresden. We would like to thank Ostsächsische Sparkasse Dresden for their support of the project in the form of sponsorship.