Introducing Conspiracyland: Inside an Unsolved D.C. Murder

“Conspiracyland” is a podcast from the creators of Yahoo News' “Skullduggery.” Chief Investigative Correspondent Michael Isikoff dives deep into the unsolved murder of DNC staff member Seth Rich to reveal startling new insights and exclusive interviews in this true-crime podcast. Each week, Isikoff peels away the layers of conspiracy around the murder — conspiracies that falsely claim Rich was killed in a targeted assassination as retaliation for sending DNC emails to WikiLeaks. The story follows the birth of the conspiracy theories, as memes about Rich's death spread like wildfire through the dark corners of the internet. It shows how these bogus claims were quickly picked up and promoted by so-called alt-right websites, and then brought into the mainstream by influential personalities like WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, President Trump's longtime political adviser Roger Stone, White House counselor Steve Bannon and Fox News star Sean Hannity. Rich’s tragic story reveals how disinformation and conspiracy theories have exploded through the use of social media, and how they can be manipulated for cash, for publicity and, most of all, for cynical political purposes. This six-episode investigation demonstrates why conspiracy theories continue to have such a powerful hold on the American psyche, and who, if anybody, can be held accountable for the harm they cause.