Conversation about conspiracy show topics and label suggestions

“It takes a long time to turn Ben Stein into Ann Coulter,” | explained. During a break in the show, | suggested to her that the labels “conservative” and “liberal” had become obsolescent, and | asked what she thought might be appropriate substitute labels. “Americans and cowards,” she said. “Yikes,” | replied. On another occasion, | got a call from Conspiracy Zone producer Andy Meisler. The show was featuring debates about cover-ups, ranging from Freemasons to bar codes to Hollow Earth. “The frightening thing,” he observed, “is that life is so random. At least there’ s something comforting about conspiracies.” He was calling me for recommendations as to who might be appropriate to appear on programs about the fix behind professional sports and the fix behind the election of George Bush. (The latter topic was discarded after 9/11.) He told me that the show would also deal with “unexplained deaths,” such as Jimmy Hoffa, Marilyn Monroe and the Kennedys. “Oh, that’ s so last century,” | said. “Conspiracy research has evolved from ‘Who Killed JFK?’ to ‘Who Fucked a Lizard From Outer Space?’ “ HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_015272