BBC Radio Podcasts from Top Comment
Whistleblowers, dolphin memes, and a million dollar toilet
The algorithmic arms race driving the spread of harmful content
Nancy Guthrie, TikTok sleuths, and Starmer's cringeposting era
Influencers have descended on the Arizona home of the missing 84-year-old
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.