Episode 9: Epiphany

1552px-2021_storming_of_the_United_States_Capitol_DSC09048_(50827411286).jpg

This season has chronicled…

a long, dark century of lies, fakes, frauds, and hoaxes. In the season 2 finale, Jill Lepore draws that history all the way down to the lie that the 2020 election was stolen. This week: the winding path from the little-known Iron Mountain hoax of the late-1960s to the Capitol insurrection on January 6th, 2021.

Image: By Tyler Merbler from USA. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Key accessible sources

  • Learn more about the real Iron Mountain Inc., the company, from its FAQ page.

  • Read the hoax Report from Iron Mountain.

  • We used this 1971 news clip covering the Pentagon Papers scandal.

  • Hear more about the The Report from Iron Mountain from Victor Navasky.

  • We used excerpts of this 1993 conspiracy theorist’s retelling of The Report from Iron Mountain.

  • We used clips of former President Trump speaking about election unfairness including this and this.

  • Listen here for William F. Buckley’s critique of academia.

  • Senator Barry Goldwater footage courtesy of CBS News Archive.

  • Footage from the January 6 attack on the Capitol, from the riot to the pre-riot rally, can be found here.

  • This footage takes you inside the January 6 riot.

  • We also used this footage of Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial.