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Episode details

World Service,16 Aug 2018,26 mins

Sandy Hook Hoaxers Update

The Thought Show

Available for over a year

An update on American conspiracy theorists who deny that twenty-six people, mostly young children, died at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. False rumours that the attacks were staged were pushed by media mogul Alex Jones, and his online news site Infowars. Big social media companies have now shut down Infowars’ and Alex Jones’ accounts. This is an update of a story that was originally broadcast in March 2017. How do you get a hashtag to trend around the world? We look at the numbers behind the case of a politician who is little known outside the United Kingdom but became a hot topic online. Lesley Curwen has sailed thousands of miles around Europe on her yacht and knows the strange joy of being out of sight of land. Talking to fellow sea-lovers , she asks why we are drawn to go to sea and put ourselves at the mercy of wind and waves. Photo: Alex Jones, founder of Infowars Credit: Getty Images

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