Mission Implausible
Do you want to know the truth behind the world’s wildest conspiracy theories? Former CIA officers John Sipher & Jerry O’Shea try to determine where misinformation is coming from, when we’re being lied to and when a conspiracy theory is an actual real conspiracy. In the world of espionage, they were part of creating conspiracies. Now they and their circle of experts probe what’s true and when we’re being manipulated. New episodes every week. Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod Executive Producers: Adam Davidson, John Sipher, Jerry O'Shea & Jonathan Stern. Producer: Rachel Harner A production of Honorable Mention and Abominable Pictures
Episodes
Drawing on her leadership roles with Planned Parenthood Global and humanitarian organizations in Africa, actor & activist Stephanie March (ADA Alex Cabot on Law & Order: SVU) describes how ill-conceived policy decisions —particularly the dismantling of USAID programs — have immediate, devastating consequences. Plus, is there any actual nation-building happening in Venezuela, why CIA doesn’t use honey traps...
From wellness culture and yoga influencers to QAnon forums and January 6, the pathways into conspiracy extremism aren’t always obvious — especially for women. Identity and meaning can quietly turn misinformation into ideology. Author and researcher Noelle Cook discuss did direct fieldwork with women involved in conspiracy movements and the Capitol attack. Extremism doesn’t always look extreme. Sometimes it looks l...
Our team gives their analysis of a disturbingly familiar year in power and politics, normalization and surprises. Much of it was predictable, some was worse, and some was worse that worse. Yet conspiratorial thinking cuts both ways, and 2025 illuminated some “theories” as being actual conspiracies. What trajectories might actually improve in 2026?
Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImp...
We didn't always assume the government was hiding aliens. The Manhattan Project was a crash course in how to run a secret program. Some secrets were real and necessary. Some were real and needing exposure - The Vietnam War, The Pentagon Papers, Watergate. So now people distrust everything the government tells us -- from UFO's to 9/11. Bestselling author and historian Garrett Graff has been reporting on this phenomenon via oral hist...
An expert on psychological manipulation and politics, including Nazi propaganda and Stassi, NYU professor Tamsin Shaw studies conspiracy theories and how they might be changing with the internet and A.I.
Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod
Organ transplants, ice baths, Russian propaganda, RFK Jr.'s science denialism... Scott Carney has investigated in depth about where lies the truth and who is taking advantage of our ignorance.
Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod
"Leaving MAGA" is a community for those who have left the movement, or have doubts and remorse about staying in MAGA but are afraid to leave. Rich Logis and Erica Roach tell their stories of falling into MAGA and then climbing out.
Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod
How CIA became the largest purveyor and owner of LSD in the world and, in the process, destroyed lives and introduced psychedelics to The Counterculture.
Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod
" There are things we feel like we know that we we can't even say. It is even worse. worse. It is even more people."
Journalist Tara Palmeri and our own Adam Davidson have been writing and podcasting about the Epstein case since 2019. There's so much new Epstein news that it's easy to overlook the overwhelming, depressing, terrifying amount of crime and coverup that involves so many people besides just Trump. How is the worldwide i...
The Curator of the NSA’s National Cryptologic Museum knows if the government is watching you. He knows how to tell who’s doing hidden nuclear testing. He’s written about some of the wilder (and unsuccessful) endeavors by the CIA, and how the CIA build Miami, the second largest hub of espionage in the world.
Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod
Investigator Laura Krantz (the Wild Things podcast) knows about everything Bigfoot, including Bigfoot erotica, the CIA's supposed relationship with the cryptid, and how Bigfoot can be a gateway drug to other conspiracy theories.
Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod
Comedian Trae Crowder (aka The Liberal Redneck) is here to prove that not everyone from The South is MAGA, and tried to understand why so many are, despite the inherent contradictions with their prior attitudes and what's in their self-interest. Also, how comedians are the such a threat to authoritarians.
Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod
MSNBC & NBC justice and inteligence correspondence Ken Dilanian predicts how the Dept. of Justice will continue to be used under Trump, and reports on the experiences of the people still working there.
Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod
Adam is back and is now a bona fide expert on Artificial Intelligence. When it comes to conspiracy theories, it’s both our nemesis and our ally. Plus, a prediction for the upcoming misuse of The Insurrection Act.
Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod
We continue with Gareth Gore, author of: Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking and Right-Wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church. Opus Dei has worked behind the scenes for decades to build up political influence and power in the U.S., bankrolling many right-wing causes.
Opus Dei is a secretive, ultra-conservative Catholic sect. Gareth Gore uncovered how it pushed its radical agenda within the Church and around the globe, using billions of dollars siphoned from one of the world’s largest banks. His book is: Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking and Right-Wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church.
The New Apostolic Reformation is a growing anti-democratic religious movement that believes that God speaks through modern-day apostles and prophets. How did they become energetic allies of Trump? (ENCORE from Season 4)
Gus Russo’s research into the Kennedy Assassination is second only to The Warren Commission. He’s been to primary sources. He’s seen documents few ever have. And he’s ready to address the question of whether CIA was involved in the assassination. Here’s his answer: No. So why DO people still suspect CIA? And who else WAS involved? He’s got answers to that too. Also, why the government shouldn&rsq...
Journalist Tom Nichols (The Atlantic) explains how discrediting expertise is used as a weapon in order to control (mis)information. (ENCORE from Season 3)
Jerry and John -- and Adam! -- think about the current hurricanes and the dangerous conspiracy theories that weaponize them. As always, they view the larger context of false weather beliefs.
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Hosts And Creators
Adam Davidson
John Sipher
Jerry O'Shea