Episode 88: Oranges and Hawaiian Shirts

State of the Theory

This is Episode 88 of the State of the Theory Podcast. Politics. Power. Popular Culture. And other stuff, probably. In this series, we’re like super nerdy philosophical DJs: mashing up Serious Academic Questions with the most topical news and trends in pop culture. Each week, we’ll tackle a new topic and collide it with ‘critical theory’ (we’re pretty loose with our definitions, though, so expect the unexpected). Our aim is to destroy the stuff we know, explore the stuff we don’t and unsettle everything we think we know about the world. We take the obvious, the commonsensical, the certain, and then we rip it all to shreds. We are your theory doctors and we are always on call. This week we look at a few examples of alt-right movements and how they are structured through conspiracy theories. Focussing on recent stories involving the Black Lives Matter and anti-lockdown protests in the US and conspiracies involving the journalist Ash Sarkar in the UK, we think through what conspiracy theories mean, and what it tells us about the alt-right on both sides of the Atlantic. You can read the “InStyle” article about Hawaiian shirts here: https://www.instyle.com/fashion/hawaiian-shirts-alt-right-white-supremacy-protestors You can read about Ash Sarkar’s “orange emoji” tweet here: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/reading-stabbings-muslim-journalist-death-22227933 You can find Ash Sarkar’s “kosher salt” tweet here: https://twitter.com/AyoCaesar/status/1278738702139883521 Since the podcast was recorded, Kick Ass Liz’s tweet seems to have been deleted. State of the Theory is brought to you by Hannah Fitzpatrick (@drhfitz) and Anindya Raychaudhuri (@DrAnindyaR) Find us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/stateofthetheorypodcast) or Tweet us @TheoryDoctors