Today we are taking a look at conspiracy theories.
Why people believe them, why they can be so seductive, and the damage that they can do.
We'll also take a look at three of the wackiest ones out there - from why people believe Disney made Frozen to why people think the dinosaurs built the pyramids.
[00:00:02] Hello, good morning, good afternoon, good night, wherever you are.
[00:00:07] This is the English Learning for Curious Minds podcast by Leonardo English.
[00:00:13] I'm Alastair Budge and today we are going to be talking about conspiracy theories.
[00:00:21] We'll talk about what they are, the psychology behind why people believe them, what impact they have, and at the end of the podcast, I'll tell you about three of the weirdest ones out there.
[00:00:36] You'll find out why people think Disney made the film Frozen, what animals people think built the pyramids, and who people think helped humans build Stonehenge.
[00:00:55] Before we get right into it, if you don't have the transcript and key vocabulary in front of you, you can grab it over on the website, which is leonardoenglish.com.
[00:01:06] If you're not already a member of Leonardo English, but would like to get your hands on the transcript and key vocabulary so that you can follow along as I speak and not miss a single word and get the definitions of any of the less common words or expressions, then our promotional price of just nine euros per month is only available until midnight on January the 31st.
[00:01:30] This was the special 'early bird' price and good things, well, they can't last forever .
[00:01:36] So if you want to understand every single word and discover new bits of vocabulary as you listen, then head to leonardoenglish.com/subscribe to find out more.
[00:01:49] As I said, this is only available until midnight on January the 31st, which is three days from when this episode is being released, so there isn't a huge amount of time left.
[00:02:01] Okay then, conspiracy theories.
[00:02:05] Before we go into some of the weirdest ones out there, let's just define exactly what they are, why people believe them, and why they can be so seductive.
[00:02:18] A conspiracy theory, according to the Cambridge dictionary, is 'a belief that an event or situation is the result of a secret plan made by powerful people'.
[00:02:31] You probably know about the existence of conspiracy theories such as that the moon landing was faked, that JFK was assassinated by the CIA, or that 9/11 was an inside job.
[00:02:48] You might be familiar with these theories, you might even believe them.
[00:02:53] Millions of people all over the world do believe them.
[00:02:58] 29% of Americans, apparently, according to a recent survey, believe that there is a deep state working against President Trump.
[00:03:09] I have to admit there is something very seductive about a lot of conspiracy theories.
[00:03:16] This idea that there is some great conspiracy, some great secret or trick that is being held back from normal people, plays right into the fictional narratives that we enjoy so much in films, books, and TV.
[00:03:34] It plays into this idea of goodies against baddies, normally with the government or any kind of institution that has power over us as the baddy and the rest of the world us normal people, as the goodies.
[00:03:52] Conspiracy theories are also popular because we as humans are always searching for meaning and connections in events, even when there might be none.
[00:04:04] Professor Joe Uscinski, who is the author of a book called American Conspiracy Theories says, ' we are very good at recognising patterns and regularities, but sometimes we overplay that.
[00:04:19] We think we see a meaning and significance when it isn't really there. We also assume that when something happens, it happens because someone or something made it happen for a reason'.
[00:04:32] What Professor Uscinski is saying is that especially when you want to believe something is true and it fits into your narrative of goodies versus baddies, if someone presents a connection between different events that fits your narrative of what you want to believe, then it's quite easy to find yourself believing it.
[00:04:58] The world can be a confusing place and people want to see patterns, they want to understand things, they want there to be connections between events.
[00:05:10] Conspiracy theories offer explanations that provide these connections, and they also suggest that the underlying causes are hidden from public view.
[00:05:23] When confusing things happen, believers in conspiracy theories can then assume that it is because they are being intentionally deceived by outside forces, normally by the government, and this fits into this attractive narrative of goodies versus baddies.
[00:05:46] And while conspiracy theories used to be pretty niche and would exist in forums and chat rooms deep in the recesses of the internet, for a series of reasons they are now much more mainstream.
[00:06:04] Some attribute this to social media, the ease with which fake news spreads, or you could even say just the ease with which information spreads.
[00:06:17] Others attribute this to a lack of trust in government and the authorities.
[00:06:23] As people trust these kinds of institutions less and less, the more seductive it becomes to believe that there is some kind of great conspiracy that the government is engaged in against us, against normal people.
[00:06:40] While others blame politicians for fanning the flames.
[00:06:45] When the President of the USA is a serial conspiracy theorist, this legitimises a lot of beliefs which would previously not have been given the light of day.
[00:06:58] And while some conspiracy theories used to be sort of laughable, the past few years have shown just how dangerous some of them can be.
[00:07:09] Pizzagate, for example, is one that you might remember. To those of you that need a reminder, this was a conspiracy theory that there was a child sex ring linked to the Democratic party in the USA, and it was operated out of a pizza restaurant in Washington DC. It was spread by fake news websites and far right organisations after having surfaced in internet forums.
[00:07:42] The restaurant owners, the owners of the pizza restaurant, were harassed by hundreds of people, and a 28 year old man turned up at the restaurant to 'self-investigate' with an assault rifle and he fired three shots.
[00:07:59] The conspiracy theory has been completely debunked, proved to be completely false, and luckily nobody died, but evidently it was pretty close.
[00:08:12] So these kinds of conspiracy theories can be really dangerous, and obviously I wouldn't like to even give any airtime to any semi mainstream conspiracy theory.
[00:08:25] So today we are going to talk about three of the wackiest, weirdest conspiracy theories out there.
[00:08:34] All of these aren't a joke, there are people who really genuinely believe them.
[00:08:40] So without further ado, our first one, our first conspiracy theory is that dinosaurs built the pyramids.
[00:08:50] Yes. Dinosaurs, the species that most people acknowledge to have been made extinct about 65 million years ago.
[00:08:59] They are believed by some to have been tamed, domesticated by the ancient Egyptians and to have built the pyramids.
[00:09:11] The reason for this is supposedly that some texts were found that show images of dinosaur-type creatures building the pyramids, but the evidence seems to be pretty tenuous.
[00:09:27] I think we can safely say that dinosaurs were not involved in the construction of the pyramids. But I guess we'll never know for sure.
[00:09:36] I imagine that's the policy line of people who believe that particular conspiracy theory.
[00:09:41] Secondly, and this is one that I quite like, there is a conspiracy theory that Disney made the film Frozen in order to distract attention from the other conspiracy theory that Walt Disney, the creator of Disney, was cryogenically frozen.
[00:10:04] If you weren't aware, there was a conspiracy theory or there still is a conspiracy theory, that when Walt Disney died he was frozen in order to be brought back to life when the technology existed.
[00:10:19] So when people would Google 'Disney frozen', all these websites would show up with conspiracy theories about Walt Disney being cryogenically frozen.
[00:10:33] So some people believe that the reason the entire Frozen franchise was created, and that it was called Frozen, was to fill up the search results with references to the actual film and not the conspiracy theory.
[00:10:50] So with this example, you kind of get two conspiracy theories for the price of one.
[00:10:56] If this is indeed true, and I should add, of course, I don't believe it is, the people at Disney really are pretty smart.
[00:11:05] As not only did this film hide the previous conspiracy theory from the search results of people looking for Disney plus frozen, but it has also made the company more than a billion dollars.
[00:11:20] Finally, our third conspiracy theory takes us to Britain, and it's to do with Stonehenge.
[00:11:29] If you aren't familiar with Stonehenge, it's the prehistoric monument in the English countryside with huge stones piled up on each other. It's estimated that it was constructed between 3000 and 2000 BC and archeologists have no hard evidence actually for how these huge stones were lifted up on top of each other.
[00:11:55] So some people believe that aliens built it.
[00:12:01] That they either built it themselves or they explained to humans how to lift up these huge stone blocks. And also, I have to admit, if you have ever seen them, it is pretty amazing to think that prehistoric man managed to lift up blocks weighing around 50 tonnes.
[00:12:22] But I think that going from thinking that it's pretty amazing to believing that the only explanation is that aliens helped them, well, I think that's quite a stretch.
[00:12:35] We could of course go on all day with weird conspiracy theories, and if you Google conspiracy theories, it really is a internet rabbit warren, you could just go on and on all day, but I think this is quite enough for today's podcast.
[00:12:53] I will leave that up to you if you want to continue the hunt for conspiracy theories, but as I've warned you, it is a slippery slope. So we will leave it there for today.
[00:13:06] For those of you listening that haven't yet got your membership to Leonardo English and haven't got the transcripts and key vocabulary in front of you, I should just remind you that the promotional price will come to an end at midnight on January the 31st the transcripts are incredibly helpful for following every single word, and the key vocabulary means that you get explanations of the harder words as you go along.
[00:13:33] They are all now available in PDF format as well, so you can download them for later, print them out, share them with friends, or do whatever you want with them. So head to leonardoenglish.com/subscribe before midnight on January the 31st and check out everything that your membership gives you.
[00:13:54] As always, thank you for listening to the show.
[00:13:57] This has been English Learning for Curious Minds by Leonardo English. I'm Alastair Budge and I'll catch you in the next episode.
[00:00:02] Hello, good morning, good afternoon, good night, wherever you are.
[00:00:07] This is the English Learning for Curious Minds podcast by Leonardo English.
[00:00:13] I'm Alastair Budge and today we are going to be talking about conspiracy theories.
[00:00:21] We'll talk about what they are, the psychology behind why people believe them, what impact they have, and at the end of the podcast, I'll tell you about three of the weirdest ones out there.
[00:00:36] You'll find out why people think Disney made the film Frozen, what animals people think built the pyramids, and who people think helped humans build Stonehenge.
[00:00:55] Before we get right into it, if you don't have the transcript and key vocabulary in front of you, you can grab it over on the website, which is leonardoenglish.com.
[00:01:06] If you're not already a member of Leonardo English, but would like to get your hands on the transcript and key vocabulary so that you can follow along as I speak and not miss a single word and get the definitions of any of the less common words or expressions, then our promotional price of just nine euros per month is only available until midnight on January the 31st.
[00:01:30] This was the special 'early bird' price and good things, well, they can't last forever .
[00:01:36] So if you want to understand every single word and discover new bits of vocabulary as you listen, then head to leonardoenglish.com/subscribe to find out more.
[00:01:49] As I said, this is only available until midnight on January the 31st, which is three days from when this episode is being released, so there isn't a huge amount of time left.
[00:02:01] Okay then, conspiracy theories.
[00:02:05] Before we go into some of the weirdest ones out there, let's just define exactly what they are, why people believe them, and why they can be so seductive.
[00:02:18] A conspiracy theory, according to the Cambridge dictionary, is 'a belief that an event or situation is the result of a secret plan made by powerful people'.
[00:02:31] You probably know about the existence of conspiracy theories such as that the moon landing was faked, that JFK was assassinated by the CIA, or that 9/11 was an inside job.
[00:02:48] You might be familiar with these theories, you might even believe them.
[00:02:53] Millions of people all over the world do believe them.
[00:02:58] 29% of Americans, apparently, according to a recent survey, believe that there is a deep state working against President Trump.
[00:03:09] I have to admit there is something very seductive about a lot of conspiracy theories.
[00:03:16] This idea that there is some great conspiracy, some great secret or trick that is being held back from normal people, plays right into the fictional narratives that we enjoy so much in films, books, and TV.
[00:03:34] It plays into this idea of goodies against baddies, normally with the government or any kind of institution that has power over us as the baddy and the rest of the world us normal people, as the goodies.
[00:03:52] Conspiracy theories are also popular because we as humans are always searching for meaning and connections in events, even when there might be none.
[00:04:04] Professor Joe Uscinski, who is the author of a book called American Conspiracy Theories says, ' we are very good at recognising patterns and regularities, but sometimes we overplay that.
[00:04:19] We think we see a meaning and significance when it isn't really there. We also assume that when something happens, it happens because someone or something made it happen for a reason'.
[00:04:32] What Professor Uscinski is saying is that especially when you want to believe something is true and it fits into your narrative of goodies versus baddies, if someone presents a connection between different events that fits your narrative of what you want to believe, then it's quite easy to find yourself believing it.
[00:04:58] The world can be a confusing place and people want to see patterns, they want to understand things, they want there to be connections between events.
[00:05:10] Conspiracy theories offer explanations that provide these connections, and they also suggest that the underlying causes are hidden from public view.
[00:05:23] When confusing things happen, believers in conspiracy theories can then assume that it is because they are being intentionally deceived by outside forces, normally by the government, and this fits into this attractive narrative of goodies versus baddies.
[00:05:46] And while conspiracy theories used to be pretty niche and would exist in forums and chat rooms deep in the recesses of the internet, for a series of reasons they are now much more mainstream.
[00:06:04] Some attribute this to social media, the ease with which fake news spreads, or you could even say just the ease with which information spreads.
[00:06:17] Others attribute this to a lack of trust in government and the authorities.
[00:06:23] As people trust these kinds of institutions less and less, the more seductive it becomes to believe that there is some kind of great conspiracy that the government is engaged in against us, against normal people.
[00:06:40] While others blame politicians for fanning the flames.
[00:06:45] When the President of the USA is a serial conspiracy theorist, this legitimises a lot of beliefs which would previously not have been given the light of day.
[00:06:58] And while some conspiracy theories used to be sort of laughable, the past few years have shown just how dangerous some of them can be.
[00:07:09] Pizzagate, for example, is one that you might remember. To those of you that need a reminder, this was a conspiracy theory that there was a child sex ring linked to the Democratic party in the USA, and it was operated out of a pizza restaurant in Washington DC. It was spread by fake news websites and far right organisations after having surfaced in internet forums.
[00:07:42] The restaurant owners, the owners of the pizza restaurant, were harassed by hundreds of people, and a 28 year old man turned up at the restaurant to 'self-investigate' with an assault rifle and he fired three shots.
[00:07:59] The conspiracy theory has been completely debunked, proved to be completely false, and luckily nobody died, but evidently it was pretty close.
[00:08:12] So these kinds of conspiracy theories can be really dangerous, and obviously I wouldn't like to even give any airtime to any semi mainstream conspiracy theory.
[00:08:25] So today we are going to talk about three of the wackiest, weirdest conspiracy theories out there.
[00:08:34] All of these aren't a joke, there are people who really genuinely believe them.
[00:08:40] So without further ado, our first one, our first conspiracy theory is that dinosaurs built the pyramids.
[00:08:50] Yes. Dinosaurs, the species that most people acknowledge to have been made extinct about 65 million years ago.
[00:08:59] They are believed by some to have been tamed, domesticated by the ancient Egyptians and to have built the pyramids.
[00:09:11] The reason for this is supposedly that some texts were found that show images of dinosaur-type creatures building the pyramids, but the evidence seems to be pretty tenuous.
[00:09:27] I think we can safely say that dinosaurs were not involved in the construction of the pyramids. But I guess we'll never know for sure.
[00:09:36] I imagine that's the policy line of people who believe that particular conspiracy theory.
[00:09:41] Secondly, and this is one that I quite like, there is a conspiracy theory that Disney made the film Frozen in order to distract attention from the other conspiracy theory that Walt Disney, the creator of Disney, was cryogenically frozen.
[00:10:04] If you weren't aware, there was a conspiracy theory or there still is a conspiracy theory, that when Walt Disney died he was frozen in order to be brought back to life when the technology existed.
[00:10:19] So when people would Google 'Disney frozen', all these websites would show up with conspiracy theories about Walt Disney being cryogenically frozen.
[00:10:33] So some people believe that the reason the entire Frozen franchise was created, and that it was called Frozen, was to fill up the search results with references to the actual film and not the conspiracy theory.
[00:10:50] So with this example, you kind of get two conspiracy theories for the price of one.
[00:10:56] If this is indeed true, and I should add, of course, I don't believe it is, the people at Disney really are pretty smart.
[00:11:05] As not only did this film hide the previous conspiracy theory from the search results of people looking for Disney plus frozen, but it has also made the company more than a billion dollars.
[00:11:20] Finally, our third conspiracy theory takes us to Britain, and it's to do with Stonehenge.
[00:11:29] If you aren't familiar with Stonehenge, it's the prehistoric monument in the English countryside with huge stones piled up on each other. It's estimated that it was constructed between 3000 and 2000 BC and archeologists have no hard evidence actually for how these huge stones were lifted up on top of each other.
[00:11:55] So some people believe that aliens built it.
[00:12:01] That they either built it themselves or they explained to humans how to lift up these huge stone blocks. And also, I have to admit, if you have ever seen them, it is pretty amazing to think that prehistoric man managed to lift up blocks weighing around 50 tonnes.
[00:12:22] But I think that going from thinking that it's pretty amazing to believing that the only explanation is that aliens helped them, well, I think that's quite a stretch.
[00:12:35] We could of course go on all day with weird conspiracy theories, and if you Google conspiracy theories, it really is a internet rabbit warren, you could just go on and on all day, but I think this is quite enough for today's podcast.
[00:12:53] I will leave that up to you if you want to continue the hunt for conspiracy theories, but as I've warned you, it is a slippery slope. So we will leave it there for today.
[00:13:06] For those of you listening that haven't yet got your membership to Leonardo English and haven't got the transcripts and key vocabulary in front of you, I should just remind you that the promotional price will come to an end at midnight on January the 31st the transcripts are incredibly helpful for following every single word, and the key vocabulary means that you get explanations of the harder words as you go along.
[00:13:33] They are all now available in PDF format as well, so you can download them for later, print them out, share them with friends, or do whatever you want with them. So head to leonardoenglish.com/subscribe before midnight on January the 31st and check out everything that your membership gives you.
[00:13:54] As always, thank you for listening to the show.
[00:13:57] This has been English Learning for Curious Minds by Leonardo English. I'm Alastair Budge and I'll catch you in the next episode.
[00:00:02] Hello, good morning, good afternoon, good night, wherever you are.
[00:00:07] This is the English Learning for Curious Minds podcast by Leonardo English.
[00:00:13] I'm Alastair Budge and today we are going to be talking about conspiracy theories.
[00:00:21] We'll talk about what they are, the psychology behind why people believe them, what impact they have, and at the end of the podcast, I'll tell you about three of the weirdest ones out there.
[00:00:36] You'll find out why people think Disney made the film Frozen, what animals people think built the pyramids, and who people think helped humans build Stonehenge.
[00:00:55] Before we get right into it, if you don't have the transcript and key vocabulary in front of you, you can grab it over on the website, which is leonardoenglish.com.
[00:01:06] If you're not already a member of Leonardo English, but would like to get your hands on the transcript and key vocabulary so that you can follow along as I speak and not miss a single word and get the definitions of any of the less common words or expressions, then our promotional price of just nine euros per month is only available until midnight on January the 31st.
[00:01:30] This was the special 'early bird' price and good things, well, they can't last forever .
[00:01:36] So if you want to understand every single word and discover new bits of vocabulary as you listen, then head to leonardoenglish.com/subscribe to find out more.
[00:01:49] As I said, this is only available until midnight on January the 31st, which is three days from when this episode is being released, so there isn't a huge amount of time left.
[00:02:01] Okay then, conspiracy theories.
[00:02:05] Before we go into some of the weirdest ones out there, let's just define exactly what they are, why people believe them, and why they can be so seductive.
[00:02:18] A conspiracy theory, according to the Cambridge dictionary, is 'a belief that an event or situation is the result of a secret plan made by powerful people'.
[00:02:31] You probably know about the existence of conspiracy theories such as that the moon landing was faked, that JFK was assassinated by the CIA, or that 9/11 was an inside job.
[00:02:48] You might be familiar with these theories, you might even believe them.
[00:02:53] Millions of people all over the world do believe them.
[00:02:58] 29% of Americans, apparently, according to a recent survey, believe that there is a deep state working against President Trump.
[00:03:09] I have to admit there is something very seductive about a lot of conspiracy theories.
[00:03:16] This idea that there is some great conspiracy, some great secret or trick that is being held back from normal people, plays right into the fictional narratives that we enjoy so much in films, books, and TV.
[00:03:34] It plays into this idea of goodies against baddies, normally with the government or any kind of institution that has power over us as the baddy and the rest of the world us normal people, as the goodies.
[00:03:52] Conspiracy theories are also popular because we as humans are always searching for meaning and connections in events, even when there might be none.
[00:04:04] Professor Joe Uscinski, who is the author of a book called American Conspiracy Theories says, ' we are very good at recognising patterns and regularities, but sometimes we overplay that.
[00:04:19] We think we see a meaning and significance when it isn't really there. We also assume that when something happens, it happens because someone or something made it happen for a reason'.
[00:04:32] What Professor Uscinski is saying is that especially when you want to believe something is true and it fits into your narrative of goodies versus baddies, if someone presents a connection between different events that fits your narrative of what you want to believe, then it's quite easy to find yourself believing it.
[00:04:58] The world can be a confusing place and people want to see patterns, they want to understand things, they want there to be connections between events.
[00:05:10] Conspiracy theories offer explanations that provide these connections, and they also suggest that the underlying causes are hidden from public view.
[00:05:23] When confusing things happen, believers in conspiracy theories can then assume that it is because they are being intentionally deceived by outside forces, normally by the government, and this fits into this attractive narrative of goodies versus baddies.
[00:05:46] And while conspiracy theories used to be pretty niche and would exist in forums and chat rooms deep in the recesses of the internet, for a series of reasons they are now much more mainstream.
[00:06:04] Some attribute this to social media, the ease with which fake news spreads, or you could even say just the ease with which information spreads.
[00:06:17] Others attribute this to a lack of trust in government and the authorities.
[00:06:23] As people trust these kinds of institutions less and less, the more seductive it becomes to believe that there is some kind of great conspiracy that the government is engaged in against us, against normal people.
[00:06:40] While others blame politicians for fanning the flames.
[00:06:45] When the President of the USA is a serial conspiracy theorist, this legitimises a lot of beliefs which would previously not have been given the light of day.
[00:06:58] And while some conspiracy theories used to be sort of laughable, the past few years have shown just how dangerous some of them can be.
[00:07:09] Pizzagate, for example, is one that you might remember. To those of you that need a reminder, this was a conspiracy theory that there was a child sex ring linked to the Democratic party in the USA, and it was operated out of a pizza restaurant in Washington DC. It was spread by fake news websites and far right organisations after having surfaced in internet forums.
[00:07:42] The restaurant owners, the owners of the pizza restaurant, were harassed by hundreds of people, and a 28 year old man turned up at the restaurant to 'self-investigate' with an assault rifle and he fired three shots.
[00:07:59] The conspiracy theory has been completely debunked, proved to be completely false, and luckily nobody died, but evidently it was pretty close.
[00:08:12] So these kinds of conspiracy theories can be really dangerous, and obviously I wouldn't like to even give any airtime to any semi mainstream conspiracy theory.
[00:08:25] So today we are going to talk about three of the wackiest, weirdest conspiracy theories out there.
[00:08:34] All of these aren't a joke, there are people who really genuinely believe them.
[00:08:40] So without further ado, our first one, our first conspiracy theory is that dinosaurs built the pyramids.
[00:08:50] Yes. Dinosaurs, the species that most people acknowledge to have been made extinct about 65 million years ago.
[00:08:59] They are believed by some to have been tamed, domesticated by the ancient Egyptians and to have built the pyramids.
[00:09:11] The reason for this is supposedly that some texts were found that show images of dinosaur-type creatures building the pyramids, but the evidence seems to be pretty tenuous.
[00:09:27] I think we can safely say that dinosaurs were not involved in the construction of the pyramids. But I guess we'll never know for sure.
[00:09:36] I imagine that's the policy line of people who believe that particular conspiracy theory.
[00:09:41] Secondly, and this is one that I quite like, there is a conspiracy theory that Disney made the film Frozen in order to distract attention from the other conspiracy theory that Walt Disney, the creator of Disney, was cryogenically frozen.
[00:10:04] If you weren't aware, there was a conspiracy theory or there still is a conspiracy theory, that when Walt Disney died he was frozen in order to be brought back to life when the technology existed.
[00:10:19] So when people would Google 'Disney frozen', all these websites would show up with conspiracy theories about Walt Disney being cryogenically frozen.
[00:10:33] So some people believe that the reason the entire Frozen franchise was created, and that it was called Frozen, was to fill up the search results with references to the actual film and not the conspiracy theory.
[00:10:50] So with this example, you kind of get two conspiracy theories for the price of one.
[00:10:56] If this is indeed true, and I should add, of course, I don't believe it is, the people at Disney really are pretty smart.
[00:11:05] As not only did this film hide the previous conspiracy theory from the search results of people looking for Disney plus frozen, but it has also made the company more than a billion dollars.
[00:11:20] Finally, our third conspiracy theory takes us to Britain, and it's to do with Stonehenge.
[00:11:29] If you aren't familiar with Stonehenge, it's the prehistoric monument in the English countryside with huge stones piled up on each other. It's estimated that it was constructed between 3000 and 2000 BC and archeologists have no hard evidence actually for how these huge stones were lifted up on top of each other.
[00:11:55] So some people believe that aliens built it.
[00:12:01] That they either built it themselves or they explained to humans how to lift up these huge stone blocks. And also, I have to admit, if you have ever seen them, it is pretty amazing to think that prehistoric man managed to lift up blocks weighing around 50 tonnes.
[00:12:22] But I think that going from thinking that it's pretty amazing to believing that the only explanation is that aliens helped them, well, I think that's quite a stretch.
[00:12:35] We could of course go on all day with weird conspiracy theories, and if you Google conspiracy theories, it really is a internet rabbit warren, you could just go on and on all day, but I think this is quite enough for today's podcast.
[00:12:53] I will leave that up to you if you want to continue the hunt for conspiracy theories, but as I've warned you, it is a slippery slope. So we will leave it there for today.
[00:13:06] For those of you listening that haven't yet got your membership to Leonardo English and haven't got the transcripts and key vocabulary in front of you, I should just remind you that the promotional price will come to an end at midnight on January the 31st the transcripts are incredibly helpful for following every single word, and the key vocabulary means that you get explanations of the harder words as you go along.
[00:13:33] They are all now available in PDF format as well, so you can download them for later, print them out, share them with friends, or do whatever you want with them. So head to leonardoenglish.com/subscribe before midnight on January the 31st and check out everything that your membership gives you.
[00:13:54] As always, thank you for listening to the show.
[00:13:57] This has been English Learning for Curious Minds by Leonardo English. I'm Alastair Budge and I'll catch you in the next episode.
