Alternate Realities: A Question for Listeners

About this episode

The episode discusses listener experiences with loved ones who have fallen for conspiracy theories and seeks effective intervention strategies.

After we released Alternate Realities , hundreds of listeners reached out, sharing stories about friends and family members who had also fallen under the spell of conspiracy theories. Many of them had tried everything they could think of to get that person back... and failed. Has anyone had success with this? If you or anyone you know has come up with an intervention or experiment or strategy that actually worked — please email us at embedded@npr.org . See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

Topics covered

• conspiracy theories
• listener stories
• intervention strategies
• personal experiences
• communication
• social influence

Keywords

• conspiracy theories
• intervention
• listener stories
• communication
• social influence

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NPR

More episodes of Embedded

• We Keep Us Safe: Who Killed Antonio Mays Jr.? · June 11, 2026 · 35 min
• Introducing "We Keep Us Safe" from NPR, KUOW and The Seattle Times · June 4, 2026 · 3 min
• The Girls: “This is my story to tell” · May 21, 2026 · 57 min
• The Girls: “If it was your daughter” · May 21, 2026 · 48 min
• The Girls: “This isn’t ringing alarms to y’all?” · May 14, 2026 · 44 min
• The Girls: “I need to tell you something” · May 14, 2026 · 34 min