Are birds real? Are the flying creatures on campus just government drones in disguise? Most people might keep these potentially dangerous thoughts on the down low, but two Northwestern students had a different idea.

Weinberg freshman Katie Introcaso has always loved having conversations about conspiracy theories. Her friend, Weinberg junior Mason Brown, suggested she make a podcast about it, an idea she assumed they would never follow through with.

To her surprise, the two started “Spill the Conspiratea,” a podcast dedicated to discussing viral conspiracy theories.

“(Mason’s) that one friend who’s like, ‘If you say you’re gonna do it then let’s f—ing do this,’” Introcaso said. “So we started a podcast together, and it’s one of my favorite things, every week being able to sit down and be like, ‘Here’s this ridiculous thing and let’s see if it works.’”

Spill the Conspiratea uploads their weekly episodes to sites such as Spotify and Stitcher, and the duo have published three recordings so far. Introcaso said the format of the show is very informal — the co-hosts take turns picking a conspiracy theory they’re passionate about and explain it to each other. Introcaso joked that the show was a “voice memos” only podcast, and that they see it as “the one sh–ty podcast on campus,” as the two have minimal equipment and experience with podcasting and audio.

Introcaso said part of what makes creating the podcast fun is that it forces the two to treat the conspiracy theories they investigate seriously. The hosts do a lot of research about the cases, which leads them to learn interesting and unexpected facts. Introcaso said when she was researching the first episode about the CIA mind control program MK-Ultra, she found it haunting that the experiments were, in fact, real and some of the tests had been done at Northwestern.

Weinberg freshman Avery Zieper was featured on the show’s third episode as its first guest. During the episode, she and the hosts had a discussion about the possibility that the whole world is a simulation.

Zieper said the experience was very fun, and Mason and Brown were engaging and brought up a variety of ideas and points. Zieper said she enjoyed the discussion, and although she doesn’t necessarily believe in conspiracy theories, she keeps an open mind about them, as they reveal information about unusual subjects.

“There is a form of creativity and intellectual challenge involved when thinking through the implications of (conspiracy theories),” Zieper said.

Aside from gaining trivia knowledge, co-creator Brown said one of the reasons he and Introcaso both enjoy discussing conspiracy theories is because it acts as a way to form connections with people. Since these taboo discussions are so involved, they act as an icebreaker and help people get to know and understand each other.

“You get to know somebody pretty well, and you get to gauge their creativity and open-mindedness when you have a conversation with them (about conspiracy theories),” Brown said. “You can learn something about somebody, and then they learn something cool along the way, and they can engage with you.”

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