Hey, it's Empire's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbong. It's hard to deny that there's a certain

allure to conspiracy theories. I'm not even talking about the more pernicious stuff in our current

culture, like QAnon or something. But more like, do aliens exist? Or what's the deal with

spontaneous human combustion? These are the types of questions that Nate Peterson and Dr. Lydia Kang,

yes, doctor as a medical doctor, take on in their new book,

pseudoscience, an amusing history of crackpot ideas and why we love them.

And while, yeah, they are talking about the more amusing stuff,

they talk to MPR's Asia Rosco about how they drew the line between what was funny

and what was actually dangerous.

That's ahead.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, sources and methods. NPR reporters

on the ground bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events matter

here at home. Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Conspiracies in pseudoscience can be very harmful.

But indulging in some of them, I'm looking at you, Mothman, can be fun.

From traveling side shows to TV shows like Unsolved Mysteries,

and The Unexplained with the one and only William Shatner.

Could Bigfoot be one of man's ancient ancestors?

According to many cultures around the world, it's a distinct possibility.

People adore a strange story. A new book explores and debunks some of them using science and humor. It's called pseudoscience and amusing history of crackpot ideas and why we love them. Co-authors Dr. Lydia Kang and historian Nate Peterson. Join me now to talk about it. Welcome to the

program. Thanks for having us. We're glad to be here. Thank you. Let's get this out of the way.

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