Debunking Covid & Conspirituality Misinformation

The combination of wellness, disinformation and conspiracy flourished in the pandemic. But as interest in COVID-19 waned, some influencers are latching onto a new topic

What is the appeal of conspiracy theories, and how is it that they entrap our friends, coworkers, or family members? Political polarization and the rise of social media have generated an unprecedented amount of seemingly absurd misinformation, yet many real people fall for it, and a seemingly endless supply of grifters are ready to exploit them. In this episode, Adam speaks with award-winning author Naomi Klein about what led us to this moment and what hope we have of extricating loved ones who've fallen prey to conspiracy. Find Naomi's book at factuallypod.com/books SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/adamconover SEE ADAM ON TOUR: https://www.adamconover.net/tourdates/ SUBSCRIBE to and RATE Factually! on: » Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/factually-with-adam-conover/id1463460577 » Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0fK8WJw4ffMc2NWydBlDyJ About Headgum: Headgum is an LA & NY-based podcast network creating premium podcasts with the funniest, most engaging voices in comedy to achieve one goal: Making our audience and ourselves laugh. Listen to our shows at https://www.headgum.com. » SUBSCRIBE to Headgum: https://www.youtube.com/c/HeadGum?sub_confirmation=1 » FOLLOW us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/headgum » FOLLOW us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/headgum/ » FOLLOW us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headgum

It's not uncommon to believe conspiracy theories, and surveys show that many Americans believe in at least one of them. But what happens when those beliefs go too far?

Fueled by the internet, conspiracy theories are having a big moment in America. They're driving online chat room conversations, influencing our politics and adding to the polarization threatening to undermine our democracy.

There’s so much at stake with this study.

A trio of researchers claimed they found likely evidence that the virus that causes Covid-19 was synthetic. And then scientists went to work picking the theory apart.

An important new mechanistic study and a blitz of other reports that help our understanding

Links between the complement and coagulation systems could lead to Long Covid therapies

Long COVID sufferers from across Canada are left struggling for words, breath and answers after some specialized clinics have shut down.

Unit led by Tal Hanan that boasts vast army of bots exposed by undercover reporters and leaked emails

The pandemic's 2nd biggest wave of infections and what the JN.1 variant is telling us

Nearly 17,000 people across six countries may have died because they took hydroxychloroquine (HQC) during the first wave of COVID-19 in 2020, according to a new analysis published by French researchers.

Studies show that health misinformation on social media has led to fewer people getting vaccinated and more lives lost to COVID-19 and…

The use of fact-checking services spikes during major news events. Fortunately, the fact checkers have generally agreed in their assessments of whether news claims are true or false, according to researchers from the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST).

Naomi Klein joins us at Penguin to answer some big questions on the reality-distorting algorithms, social media regulation, and the true threat of AI. Order ...

A new, rigorous study sheds light on 5 top causes.

The writer’s enjoyable obsession with the ‘other Naomi’ (Wolf), a conspiracy theorist, becomes a deeply insightful inquiry into the way technology fuels the polarisation of society

For 15 years, Brent Lee spent hours each day consuming ‘truther’ content online. Then he logged off. Can he convince his former friends to question their worldview?

Amid the ongoing global repercussions of SARS-CoV-2, it’s crucial to comprehend its potential long-term psychiatric effects. Several recent studies have suggested a link between COVID-19 and subsequent mental health disorders. Our investigation joinsthis exploration, concentrating on Schizophrenia Spectrum and Psychotic Disorders (SSPD). Different from other studies, we took acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and COVID-19 lab negative cohorts as control groups to accurately gauge the impact of COVID-19 on SSPD. Data from 19,344,698 patients, sourced from the N3C Data Enclave platform, were methodically filtered to create propensity matched cohorts: ARDS (n = 222,337), COVID-positive (n = 219,264), and COVID-negative (n = 213,183). We systematically analyzed the hazard rate of new-onset SSPD across three distinct time intervals: 0-21 days, 22-90 days, and beyond 90 days post-infection. COVID-19 positive patients consistently exhibited a heightened hazard ratio (HR) across all intervals [0-21 days (HR: 4.6; CI: 3.7-5.7), 22-90 days (HR: 2.9; CI: 2.3 -3.8), beyond 90 days (HR: 1.7; CI: 1.5-1.)]. These are notably higher than both ARDS and COVID-19 lab-negative patients. Validations using various tests, including the Cochran Mantel Haenszel Test, Wald Test, and Log-rank Test confirmed these associations. Intriguingly, our data indicated that younger individuals face a heightened risk of SSPD after contracting COVID-19, a trend not observed in the ARDS and COVID-negative groups. These results, aligned with the known neurotropism of SARS-CoV-2 and earlier studies, accentuate the need for vigilant psychiatric assessment and support in the era of Long-COVID, especially among younger populations. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Clinical Protocols https://ncats.nih.gov/n3c/resources. ### Funding Statement Yes ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: WVU CTSI, WVU IRB and N3C Publication Committee I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes The data underlying the results presented in the study are available from https://covid.cd2h.org/ which requires institutional access.

The COVID era has been a golden age of misinformation. It has seen the development of innumerable false claims and shoddy arguments, and it has breathed new life into ancient anti-vaccine tropes. I…

Researchers suggest this provides further evidence of benefit of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination before or during pregnancy.

r/DebunkThis: We are an evidence-based subreddit dedicated to taking an objective look at questionable theories, dodgy news sources, bold-faced …

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DrWilsonDebunksI rarely read YouTube comments these days, so if you want me to see your comment, here is how you can contact...