(George J. Pinwell/Public domain)Sometime in the last eight months, you've probably come across at least one COVID conspiracy theory. Conspiracy theories tend to gain traction in crisis situations when daily life is disrupted and people lose their sense of control. (Ivan Vladimirov/Public domain)Even before COVID, some experts believed we were living in a golden age of conspiracy theories . The cholera riotsWhispers of conspiracies were rampant during the cholera pandemics of the 19th century, and they provoked an extreme response: the cholera riots. Lessons we can learnWhat can the cholera riots teach us about the conspiracy theories that are running wild today?

Source: CBC News November 08, 2020 10:30 UTC