{"podcast":{"title":"New Books in Political Science","slug":"new-books-in-political-science-408770","podcast_index_feed_id":408770,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/LIT7047417664","website_url":"https://newbooksnetwork.com","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/79c533fc-f4de-11e8-9aba-c776eb4c2a32/image/af9ef2afee05125bb265ca99804e6c8a.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"New Books Network","episode_count":1000,"summary":"This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: ⁠newbooksnetwork.com⁠ Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox: ⁠https://newbooksnetwork.substack.com/⁠ Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky to learn about more our latest interviews: @newbooksnetwork Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-political-science-408770"},"episode":{"title":"Stephen F. Knott, \"Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency\" (UP Kansas, 2025)","slug":"stephen-f-knott-conspirator-in-chief-the-long-tradition-of-conspiracy-theories-in-the-american-presidency-up-kansas-2025","published_at":"2026-05-14T08:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-political-science-408770/stephen-f-knott-conspirator-in-chief-the-long-tradition-of-conspiracy-theories-in-the-american-presidency-up-kansas-2025","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-political-science-408770","url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NBNK1716401282.mp3?updated=1778658839","audio_url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NBNK1716401282.mp3?updated=1778658839","summary":"Political Scientist Steve Knott has a new book that focuses on conspiracy theories within the American presidency and often promulgated by the president himself. This is not, per se, a book about conspiracy theories in general, but about the narratives that presidents have used—that constitutes a kind of conspiracy thinking—to engage voters and push for particular policy ideas and outcomes. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency (UP Kansas, 2025) spans the entire history of the United States, paying close attention to presidents Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, and finally Donald Trump. These particular presidents, both during their administrations and after, made use of conspiracies and/or demagogic rhetoric to encourage their supporters and to appeal to public fears. As Knott notes, Alexander Hamilton warns against this in both Federalist #1 and Federalist #85, wrapping the discussion of the new Constitution in concerns with regard to demagoguery. So many of the conspiracies that are pushed by presidents have at their base racism and an effort to fan the flames of racial fear and resentment. Jefferson, Jackson, Johnson, and Wilson all made use of racism as a part of their conspiracies. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency also mines the deep vein of conspiracy theories around moneyed and elite interests, since many presidents cast these interests as predatory and “out to get” the average citizen. This is another constant approach among the presidents from the early days of the republic through to our contemporary “conspirator in chief” Donald Trump. Part of the way that presiden…","meta_description":"Political Scientist Steve Knott has a new book that focuses on conspiracy theories within the American presidency and often promulgated by the president…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2969,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/new-books-in-political-science-408770/episodes/stephen-f-knott-conspirator-in-chief-the-long-tradition-of-conspiracy-theories-in-the-american-presidency-up-kansas-2025/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-political-science-408770/stephen-f-knott-conspirator-in-chief-the-long-tradition-of-conspiracy-theories-in-the-american-presidency-up-kansas-2025.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}