BBC Radio Podcasts from Top Comment
School wars, Dubai's crisis PR, and is Fabrizio cancelled?
How phantom trends cause real-world hysteria
Kalshi, Polymarket, and gamifying the future
Prediction markets have exploded online but they're inviting scrutiny.
Decline porn explained, and why Clavicular is misunderstood
Episode 1 of Top Comment is here.
Introducing... Top Comment
We talk through the stories behind your social media feed.
Marianna in Conspiracyland 2: 6. The Inquest
Can coroners' courts cope with conspiracy?
Marianna in Conspiracyland 2: 5. A collective immune system
Can people fight back against medical misinformation?
Marianna in Conspiracyland 2: 4. The Archaeologists
Are we equipped to deal with a rising tide of misinformation?
Marianna in Conspiracyland 2: 3. Down the cancer conspiracy rabbit hole
What are patients seeing on social media?
Marianna in Conspiracyland 2: 2. Conspiracyland at home
Could the answer lie in the past?
Marianna in Conspiracyland 2: 1. The Dove and the Pigeon
What Happened to Paloma?
Why Do You Hate Me? USA: 5. Fandom Frenzies: Who’s afraid of little old us?
How are the Swifties impacting the vote?
Why Do You Hate Me? USA: 4. Doxxed and Blocked: ‘We’re distressed about war in the Middle East and now trolls are after us.'
The social media tactic harming and further polarising people.
Why Do You Hate Me? USA: 3. The Fable of the Pikesville Clip: ‘I’ve been burnt by the fire once, so I’ll think twice before posting’
A clip that divided and convinced a community – and what it could mean for the election.
Why Do You Hate Me? USA: 2. Counting The Threats: 'I just work in IT – why am I getting threats from election deniers?'
Inside the election centre where workers face threats and abuse ahead of the 2024 vote.
Why Do You Hate Me? USA: 1. Wild Thoughts: 'I hate Trump, she likes him – we both think he staged assassination attempts'
How do two people with different politics end up believing similar conspiracy theories?
Why Do You Hate Me? USA: Introducing... Why Do You Hate Me? USA
Marianna Spring investigates the online phenomena that could influence the election.
Why Do You Hate Me?: 5. I Went Inside The World Of The Trolled And The Troll
Marianna investigates online abuse targeting Eni Aluko and tracks down one of her trolls.
Why Do You Hate Me?: 4. I Received Online Death Threats And The Premier League Caught My Troll
How a Premier League unit tracked down the troll who threatened the player and his family.
Why Do You Hate Me?: 3. Sadiq Khan: I Didn’t Say That!
How faked audio of London's mayor inflamed hate on social media and tensions offline.
Why Do You Hate Me?: 2. I Believed Conspiracies About The Shooting I Survived
How the survivor of a mass shooting in Las Vegas fell into a world of conspiracy theories
Why Do You Hate Me?: 1. I Regret Posting Online That I Was Madeleine McCann
The woman who went viral for claiming to be Madeleine McCann explains her motives
Why Do You Hate Me?: Introducing... Why Do You Hate Me?
Marianna Spring investigates different extraordinary cases of online hate.
Marianna in Conspiracyland 1: Bonus: Irish Conspiracyland
Can you hold papers sharing disinformation and hate to account?
Marianna in Conspiracyland 1: Bonus: Frontlines of Conspiracyland
What are the obstacles that stand between journalists and the truth?
Marianna in Conspiracyland 1: 10. A Risk That’s Impossible To Ignore
What will happen next in Conspiracyland?
Marianna in Conspiracyland 1: 9. People Like Us
Do you know someone who’s fallen down the rabbit hole?
Marianna in Conspiracyland 1: 8. The Science Of Conspiracy
Could people in the UK conspiracy theory movement ever become violent?
Marianna in Conspiracyland 1: 7. After An Attempted Coup
What can the UK learn from Germany?
Marianna in Conspiracyland 1: 6. German Conspiracyland
Why are journalists being attacked in Germany?
Marianna in Conspiracyland 1: 5. Follow The Money
Who is funding this conspiracy theory newspaper?
Marianna in Conspiracyland 1: 4. The Conspiracy Theory Newspaper
Who is the man behind The Light?
Marianna in Conspiracyland 1: 3. Trestle Tables for Truth
Where does all the anger come from?
Marianna in Conspiracyland 1: 2. Down The Rabbit Hole
What do those in the movement believe? And why?
Marianna in Conspiracyland 1: 1. Entering Conspiracyland
What’s happening in the Devon town of Totnes?
Marianna in Conspiracyland 1: Introducing... Marianna in Conspiracyland
What happened to the people who fell down the rabbit hole?
Disaster Trolls: Bonus: Remember My Name
Marianna Spring revisits her investigation into conspiracy theories about terror attacks.
Disaster Trolls: 10. The Billion Dollar Question
A landmark US court ruling gives hope to victims of conspiracy theories in the UK.
Disaster Trolls: 9. What They Don’t Tell You About Terror
Are terror survivors taken seriously when they seek help against abusive trolling?
Disaster Trolls: 8. I Was a Conspiracy Theorist... Get Me Out of Here!
Brent disavows the toxic conspiracy theories he helped create, but can Paul forgive him?
Disaster Trolls: 7. I Helped Bring Down Alex Jones
The Infowars employee whose testimony helped Sandy Hook parents win huge damages.
Disaster Trolls: 6. The Visitor
He said he was a customer, but the visitor to Lisa’s boatyard hid his real intentions.
Disaster Trolls: 5. Who Believes This Stuff?
How widespread is the belief that major terror attacks in the UK are faked?
Disaster Trolls: 4. Hall’s Stall
Marianna Spring finally meets the conspiracy theorist at the heart of her investigation.
Disaster Trolls: 3. The Insider
An unexpected source provides an insight into a leading conspiracy theorist.
Disaster Trolls: 2. Sharpening the Spike
The conspiracy show host who tried to prove a teenage bomb victim wasn’t injured.
Disaster Trolls: 1. Darkness in the Glade of Light
Daren can’t forget that night at the Manchester Arena. So who claims it never happened?
Disaster Trolls: Introducing... Disaster Trolls
What happens when tragedy makes you a target?
War on Truth: 9. Roddy: 'We don’t trust the media, so we became it'
How self-styled citizen journalists are covering the war in Ukraine.
War on Truth: 8. Tetyana: ‘My son is the Snake Island hero’
How a story of sweary heroism wasn't quite what it seemed.
War on Truth: 7. Sergei: ‘It’s my duty to keep telling Russians the truth’
The Russian journalist who refused to stay silent after the Kremlin took him off air.
War on Truth: 6. The View from the Other Side
Russia spun a web of lies around her photo, but now she’s resurfaced to tell her story.
War on Truth: 5. Rob: ‘Covid was a hoax, and so is the war’
They didn’t believe Covid was real - and now they think the war in Ukraine is staged.
War on Truth: 4. One Baby, Three Photos, and a Web of Lies
A pregnant woman injured in the bombing of a maternity hospital was attacked again online.
War on Truth: 3. Masha: The Influencer Who is a Secret Weapon
How a Eurovision host and other stars are helping Ukraine fight an information war.
War on Truth: 2. Maxim: Homeless and Trolled
Maxim's home was destroyed, but he never expected to be called a liar.
War on Truth: 1. Kristina: ‘My cousin thinks we’re bombing ourselves’
What do you do when your relative refuses to believe her country is attacking yours?
War on Truth: Introducing... War on Truth
What’s fake, what’s real? Stories from the information war over Ukraine.
Death by Conspiracy?: 10. Light and Dark
What does the story of Gary Matthews tell us about the world now?
Death by Conspiracy?: 9. The Conspiracist Mindset
Debunking stereotypes about those who fall for conspiracy theories.
Death by Conspiracy?: 8. Tracking the Timeline
What did Gary’s online life look like?
Death by Conspiracy?: 7. Gary's Final Days
Marianna traces Gary’s final week.
Death by Conspiracy?: 6. Tristan's Quest
Seeking to understand what happened, Gary’s cousin returns to Shrewsbury.
Death by Conspiracy?: 5. Reflections in the Glass
After Gary’s death, the information battle heats up.
Death by Conspiracy?: 4. Charlie
Marianna meets the man who ran the Facebook group Gary was in before he died.
Death by Conspiracy?: 3. The Protest
A protest in Shrewsbury gets weird.
Death by Conspiracy?: 2. Fleeing a Virus
How did Gary get pulled towards conspiracies?
Death by Conspiracy?: 1. A Magical Town
What happened to Gary Matthews?
Death by Conspiracy?: Introducing... Death by Conspiracy?
Gary Matthews was drawn to conspiracies about Covid - until he caught the virus, and died.