The Conspiracy Theory Your Parents Are Falling For

Fictional “medbeds” are for sale online, preying on the sick and elderly. We're sorry, but something went wrong while fetching your podcast feeds. Please contact us at plus@slate.com for help. Episode Notes What if I told you there was a machine that, using powerful energy and frequencies, could cure everything from common colds to cancers to missing limbs? Well, I’d be lying. And yet, a not-insignificant part of the internet is waiting with baited breath for the arrival of “medbeds,” a QAnon-adjacent conspiracy theory that President Trump has even acknowledged himself. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Slate staff writer Molly Olmstead, who spent a year investigating how the myth of medbeds came to be, and found the man behind it all. He regrets everything. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.