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The Scramble Finds a Throughline: Trump, Apple, and Conspiracies

Jamelle Boule
/
Creative Commons
Donald Trump

Donald Trump's win in this weekend's South Carolina primary was bigger than most establishment Republicans, and the media, want to admit.It comes after a week that would have sunk the other candidates; he tangled with the Pope, said the Bush administration didn't protect us from 9/11, and almost supported Obamacare's health care mandate, before he took it back. Are his supporters irrational, or do they just not care about his gaffes? Can anyone really still stop him?

Apple is locking horns with the Department of Justice over their request to create a 'backdoor' that would allow them to access the iPhone of the man who killed fourteen people in San Bernardino in December. Apple CEO Tim Cook, says the move would compromise privacy and security of citizens. The government says it's necessary to keep citizens safe. Sounds pretty simple right? Wrong. 

Lastly,the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is provoking conspiracy theorists convinced that left-wing operatives are responsible for his death. While most conspiracies are false, let's not forget that Woodward and Bernstein's revelations started as a 'theory.' Why are we so quick to assume foul play?

GUESTS: 

  • Philip Bump - Political reporter for the Washington Post blog, The Fix
  • Will Oremus - Senior technology writer for Slate.com
  • Joseph Uscinski - Associate professor of political science, University of Miami and the co-author with Joseph Parent of American Conspiracy Theories

Join the conversation on Facebookand Twitter

Colin McEnroe, Betsy Kaplan, Chion Wolf, and Greg Hill contributed to this show. 

Betsy started as an intern at WNPR in 2011 after earning a Master's Degree in American and Museum Studies from Trinity College. She served as the Senior Producer for 'The Colin McEnroe Show' for several years before stepping down in 2021 and returning to her previous career as a registered nurse. She still produces shows with Colin and the team when her schedule allows.

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