Tinfoil Hat Not Included: Conspiracy Theories in Art and Practice

Since the advent of Donald Trump's presidency, conspiracy theories have gone mainstream. However, lost among the arguments between the left and the right about which group of people is screwing them over, is the plain fact that some conspiracies are real and accepted. So why are conspiracy theories treated differently from other sorts of theories? Is it necessary to pretend that the Reagan administration never traded arms for hostages, or that the FBI wasn't attacking Black leaders under COINTELPRO, in order to avoid the "tinfoil hat" label? Why would it be necessary for labels at all? Are the often ridiculous assertions put forth by QANON believers characteristic of everyone who disagrees with the party line?

TINFOIL HAT NOT INCLUDED attempts to rationally unpack what is meant by conspiracy, why conspiracy theorists are worse than other sorts of theorists, and whether all of this isn't simply the criminalization of dissent. After all, if the colonists hadn't believed that King George had been conspiring against them, we likely wouldn't have a United States.