What happens when a hoax takes on a life of its own? In 1966, a group of satirists fabricated a secret government report claiming that world peace was impossible because the economy depended on war. It was meant to be a joke. Instead, it became one of the most enduring conspiracy theories in modern history.
Phil Tinline, journalist, broadcaster, and expert on political fear, traces how Report from Iron Mountain went from left-wing satire to right-wing gospel, fuelling paranoia from Watergate to Alex Jones. As conspiracy culture dominates headlines and elections, this story is more relevant than ever.
How do myths become facts? Why do fake stories outlast the truth? And what does this tell us about the world we live in? Join us for a gripping conversation, chaired by James Ball, on deception, propaganda, and the strange power of belief.
Phil Tinline is a freelance writer and documentarian. He is the author of The Death of Consensus, which was chosen as The Times (London)’s Politics Book of the Year. Over the course of twenty years working for the BBC, he has made and presented many acclaimed documentaries about how political history shapes our lives. He has also written for The Times (London), The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph (London), The New Statesman (UK), BBC History Magazine, and Prospect. A graduate of Oxford University, where he obtained a degree in English language and literature, he lives in London.
James Ball is an award winning journalist, broadcaster and author, fellow of the think-tank Demos, and the political editor of The New World.
