
Off the Edge
Flat Earthers, Conspiracy Culture, and Why People Will Believe Anything
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Narrated by:
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Xe Sands
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By:
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Kelly Weill
About this listen
“A deep dive into the world of Flat Earth conspiracy theorists . . . that brilliantly reveals how people fall into illogical beliefs, reject reason, destroy relationships, and connect with a broad range of conspiracy theories in the social media age. Beautiful, probing, and often empathetic . . . An insightful, human look at what fuels conspiracy theories.” —Science
Since 2015, there has been a spectacular boom in a centuries-old delusion: that the earth is flat. More and more people believe that we all live on a pancake-shaped planet, capped by a solid dome and ringed by an impossible wall of ice.
How? Why?
In Off the Edge, journalist Kelly Weill draws a direct line from today’s conspiratorial moment, brimming not just with Flat Earthers but also anti-vaxxers and QAnon followers, back to the early days of Flat Earth theory in the 1830s. We learn the natural impulses behind these beliefs: when faced with a complicated world out of our control, humans have always sought patterns to explain the inexplicable. This psychology doesn’t change. But with the dawn of the twenty-first century, something else has shifted. Powered by Facebook and YouTube algorithms, the Flat Earth movement is growing.
At once a definitive history of the movement and an essential look at its unbelievable present, Off the Edge introduces us to a cast of larger-than-life characters. We meet historical figures like the nineteenth-century grifter who first popularized the theory, as well as the many modern-day Flat Earthers Weill herself gets to know, from moms on vacation to determined creationists to neo-Nazi rappers. We discover what, and who, converts people to Flat Earth belief, and what happens inside the rabbit hole. And we even meet a man determined to fly into space in a homemade rocket-powered balloon—whose tragic death is as senseless and absurd as the theory he sets out to prove.
In this incisive and powerful story about belief, Kelly Weill explores how we arrived at this moment of polarized realities and explains what needs to happen so that we might all return to the same spinning globe.
©2022 Kelly Weill (P)2022 Algonquin BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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Performance
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First few chapters were good. The rest was bashing all right wing politics.
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Overall
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Performance
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Critic reviews
"Veteran narrator Sands is an ideal voice for this nonfiction title. Her careful pacing favors that of natural speech, which helps the listener stay connected . . . Sands brings just enough of the author's opinions into her narration to convey the tone without going overboard, even as sometimes disturbingly outlandish claims are recounted. A pleasant and engaging presentation of a topic that will be high on the list of contemporary concerns for many library patrons." —Booklist
“A deep dive into the world of flat Earth conspiracy theorists . . . that brilliantly reveals how people fall into illogical beliefs, reject reason, destroy relationships, and connect with a broad range of conspiracy theories in the social media age. Beautiful, probing, and often empathetic . . . An insightful, human look at what fuels conspiracy theories.” —Science
"This provocative book is sure to inspire debate about conspiracy theories as well as how citizens of a fractured world can learn to overcome their fear of radical planetary change. A timely and disturbing study of flawed, dangerous thinking." —Kirkus Reviews
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- The Remarkable Story of Risk
- By: Peter L. Bernstein
- Narrated by: Mike Fraser
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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In this unique exploration of the role of risk in our society, Peter Bernstein argues that the notion of bringing risk under control is one of the central ideas that distinguishes modern times from the distant past. Against the Gods chronicles the remarkable intellectual adventure that liberated humanity from oracles and soothsayers by means of the powerful tools of risk management that are available to us today.
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Glad it finally got here
- By bda31175 on 10-16-21
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Merchants of Doubt
- How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming
- By: Naomi Oreskes, Erik M. Conway, Al Gore - foreword
- Narrated by: Liza Seneca
- Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Merchants of Doubt has been praised—and attacked—around the world, for reasons easy to understand. This book tells, with “brutal clarity” (Huffington Post), the disquieting story of how a loose-knit group of high-level scientists and scientific advisers, with deep connections in politics and industry, ran effective campaigns to mislead the public and deny well-established scientific knowledge over four decades.
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Required reading for every informed citizen
- By Eddy on 06-27-23
By: Naomi Oreskes, and others
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White Rage
- The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide
- By: Carol Anderson
- Narrated by: Pamela Gibson
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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As Ferguson, Missouri, erupted in August 2014 and media commentators across the ideological spectrum referred to the angry response of African Americans as 'Black rage', historian Carol Anderson wrote a remarkable op-ed in the Washington Post showing that this was, instead, 'white rage at work. With so much attention on the flames,' she wrote, 'everyone had ignored the kindling.'
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Good History, Was Hoping For More Insight
- By Mike on 09-08-16
By: Carol Anderson
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Cunk on Everything
- The Encyclopedia Philomena
- By: Philomena Cunk
- Narrated by: Philomena Cunk
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Once in a blue moon, a book comes along that changes the world. The Origin of Species. War and Peace. 1984. And now, Cunk on Everything: The Encyclopedia Philomena, by Philomena Cunk. Philomena Cunk is one of the greatest thinkers of the 21st century, and in Cunk on Everything she turns her attention to our biggest issue: why are there so many books? Wouldn't it be better if there was just one? This is that book—an encyclopedia of all human knowledge, delving into not only life's greatest mysteries but our most important political figures and cultural touchstones.
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Very funny!
- By Scott E on 09-28-23
By: Philomena Cunk
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PsyWar
- Enforcing the New World Order
- By: Robert W. Malone MD MS, Jill Glasspool Malone PhD
- Narrated by: Dr. Robert W. Malone
- Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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PsyWar is when a government coordinates and directs deployment of propaganda, censorship, and psychological operations (psyops) tools in campaigns designed to manipulate public opinion. PsyWar: Enforcing the New World Order exposes the history and tactics of modern psychological warfare on the American people and offers a way forward for citizens to resist totalitarian control.
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Horrible narration
- By SAM on 11-27-24
By: Robert W. Malone MD MS, and others
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The Longest Con
- How Grifters, Swindlers, and Frauds Hijacked American Conservatism
- By: Joe Conason
- Narrated by: Steve Marvel
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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The Longest Con tells the fascinating story of the partisan con artists who have corrupted conservative politics in our time, creating a toxic phenomenon that culminated in the election of Donald Trump, a bumptious fraud whose checkered career and tawdry retinue, including his presidential cabinet, have featured almost every variety of scam. But long before he appeared, Trump's path to power was blazed by the motley horde of swindlers and quacks who preceded him.
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Avalanche of Facts
- By K. Clark on 01-13-25
By: Joe Conason
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Attack from Within
- How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America
- By: Barbara McQuade
- Narrated by: Barbara McQuade
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Disinformation is designed to evoke a strong emotional response to push us toward more extreme views, unable to find common ground with others. The false claims that led to the breathtaking attack on our Capitol in 2020 may have been only a dress rehearsal. Attack from Within shows us how to prevent it from happening again, thus preserving our country's hard-won democracy.
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This is not a feel-good book. Review and commentary:
- By Gary M on 03-13-24
By: Barbara McQuade
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But Everyone Feels This Way
- How an Autism Diagnosis Saved My Life
- By: Paige Layle
- Narrated by: Paige Layle
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Paige Layle was normal. She lived in the countryside with her mom, dad, and brother Graham. She went to school, hung out with friends, and all the while everything seemed so much harder than it needed to be. A break in routine threw off the whole day. If her teacher couldn't answer “why” in class, she dissolved into tears, unable to articulate her own confusion or explain her lack of control.
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I FEEL SO SEEN!! 😭
- By Sharon Phillips on 08-20-24
By: Paige Layle
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The Death of Expertise (2nd Edition)
- The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters
- By: Tom Nichols
- Narrated by: Tom Nichols
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Fully updated chapters continue to address how technology and increasing levels of education have exposed people to more information than ever before. These societal gains, however, have also helped fuel a surge in narcissistic and misguided intellectual egalitarianism that has crippled informed debates on any number of issues. Over the past several years, the rise of populism and conspiracy theories have taken this to new levels. All voices, even the most ridiculous, demand to be taken with equal seriousness, and any claim to the contrary is dismissed as undemocratic elitism.
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Good Book, but Longer than Needed
- By Chuck on 06-14-25
By: Tom Nichols
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The Violent Take It by Force
- The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy
- By: Matthew D. Taylor
- Narrated by: Asa Siegel
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Over the last decade, the Religious Right has evolved. Some of the more extreme beliefs of American evangelicalism have begun to take hold in the mainstream. Scholar Matthew D. Taylor pulls back the curtain on a little-known movement of evangelical Christians who see themselves waging spiritual battles on a massive scale.
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Comprehensively Researched
- By Chuck Anderson on 09-25-24
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The Holiness of God
- By: R. C. Sproul
- Narrated by: Michael Beck
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Central to God’s character is the quality of holiness. Yet most people struggle to define what God’s holiness precisely is. Many preachers today avoid the topic altogether because people don’t quite know what to do with words like “awe” or “fear.” R. C. Sproul, in this classic theological work, puts the holiness of God in its proper and central place in the Christian life. Drawing from both the Old Testament and the New Testament, he paints an awe-inspiring vision of God that encourages Christians to become holy just as God is holy.
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Amazing work on God’s Holiness!
- By Anonymous User on 01-24-25
By: R. C. Sproul
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Box Office Poison
- Hollywood's Story in a Century of Flops
- By: Tim Robey
- Narrated by: Tim Robey
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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From grand follies to misunderstood masterpieces, disastrous sequels to catastrophic literary adaptations, Box Office Poison tells a hugely entertaining alternative history of Hollywood, through a century of its most notable flops. What can these films tell us about the Hollywood system, the public’s appetite–or lack of it–and the circumstances that saw such flops actually made? Away from the canon, this is the definitive take on these ill-fated, but essential celluloid failures.
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Excellent BTS analysis of how Hollywood executives make decisions
- By Stardust Fan on 06-27-25
By: Tim Robey
Interesting But Not What I Thought
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Content is well organized, persuasive, and truly describes abuse and disregard for ethics and fair play.
Coherent analysis
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It's extremely sad👎🏻
Interesting read.....
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The author points out that unfortunately, attention from "globe earthers" has inadvertently helped to propel the flat earth movement. People will dispute it, mock it, imitate it in jest, make documentaries about it, and that will just lead to more people joining the movement. But the author points out that it's still important to discuss, to make people aware of these false beliefs and the movements behind them.
In addition to such accidental publicity, social media has really helped to propel the rise of conspiracy theories in the modern era. Social media loves attention. They need eyeballs to sell ads. And guiding people down rabbit holes of conspiracy theory videos, or encouraging them to join more and more extreme groups, is a good way to do that. Some people would spend many hours each and every day watching conspiracy videos.
Also interesting notes about how easily conspiracy theorists get tricked by con artists, despite their intense paranoia of scientists and governments.
Important topic
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Embrace the Truth of a Globe
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Interesting
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The author accurately captures the stories behind some of the key players behind the flat Earth. She also addresses the real dangers behind all of the conspiracies, primarily flat Earth.
Great information on flat Earth and conspiracies
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Weill surprised me. She treated the subjects empathetically, as real people, not clowns. And in the process, she explores why people fervently believe in bizarre, illogical conspiracy theories, even at the cost of family and friends and respectability.
Weill argues that these flat earth true believers, like others in QAnon, Heaven's Gate, anti-vaxxer groups and other cults, often follow similar paths. They are not necessarily stupid, crazy, mean or delusional, but they often follow similar paths. Do listen if you want to be challenged, whatever your own beliefs,. Pass on it if you only want arguments for or against flat-eartherism. This is a book about people and psychology, not theories, and is so much better for that.
Weill treated Flat-Earthers as real people
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How Can People Believe Cray Stuff?
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compelling story told with lots of vocal fry
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