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From anti-vaxxers to QAnon, we look at how misinformation spreads online \u2013 and the lives it disrupts.\xa0

Reporter Stan Alcorn digs into the origins of \u201cStop the Steal.\u201d In 2016, it was the name of a right-wing activist group that spread the idea that the United States\u2019 democratic institutions were rigged against Donald Trump. In 2020, it re-emerged as a hashtag attached to baseless Republican claims of voter fraud, gained huge audiences on social media and became a rallying cry among the violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.\xa0

Next, reporter and guest host Ike Sriskandarajah looks into one reason people aren\u2019t getting the COVID-19 vaccine: conspiracy theories. The World Health Organization calls it \u201can infodemic,\u201d where dangerous medical misinformation sows chaos and mistrust. So how do conspiracy theories spread? Sriskandarajah unravels the history of the lie that there is a tiny microchip in each vial of the COVID-19 vaccine.\xa0

We close the show with a conversation between a mother and son who are divided over conspiracy theories. Lucy Concepcion is one of roughly 75 million Americans who believe the results of the 2020 presidential election were illegitimate. She also believes in QAnon. Her son, BuzzFeed reporter Albert Samaha, believes in facts. Samaha describes what it\u2019s like when someone you love believes in an elaborate series of lies, and we listen in as he and his mom discuss their complicated and loving relationship.\xa0\xa0

This episode was originally broadcast June 5, 2021.\xa0