Are lizard people real? Was 9/11 an inside job? Is the government really out to get you? We can’t conclusively answer those questions, but we will be exploring these topics in September’s series, State of Conspiracy. State of Conspiracy is hosted by Professor Kathryn Olmsted a professor of History at UC Davis and scholar of conspiracy theories. This week, Professor Olmsted sits down with author Anna Merlan to discuss how Donald Trump successfully used conspiracy theories to gain national attention and get elected and why the surge in government conspiracy theories today may less funny and more insidious than we think.