Somebody Told Me: One Mans Unexpected Journey Down the Rabbit Hole of Lies, Trolls and Conspiracies

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Description

The million-copy bestselling author of Yes Man and Join Me immerses himself in the contagious, dangerous world of disinformation, everyday lies, trolls, conspiracy theories and those trying to fight back. Have you been keeping your eye on your grandma lately Have you been calling her enough You sure she's not spending too much time on YouTube Is she talking fondly of dictators Has she suddenly started quietly muttering in the Aldi queue about the "Jewish Space Lasers" she's heard are setting wildfires around the world to make sure everyone believes in climate change When was the moment the world began to believe anything In recent years a new type of conspiracy theory has emerged- conspiracy without the theory. Often, it's enough just to float a mad idea and then, through likes and retweets and follows and at attitude of 'just asking questions', you can have the lie repeated enough that you can go on TV and say things like 'A lot of people are saying...'. Danny Wallace, million-copy bestselling author of Yes Man and Join Me, is on a mission to understand how lies, conspiracies and propaganda can infiltrate our lives and our relationships. Along the way, he encounters families torn apart by accusations and fake news, journalists putting themselves on the frontline of the disinformation war, reformed conspiracy theorists, influencers who see profit in stoking paranoia, and the shadowy nameless, faceless figures on the other side of our screens. He discovers how disinformation and well-told lies can ruin a year or a whole life, how they can affect our family, our street, our community. How they can spread across a country, a continent, even the world. How they take hold of our imaginations and make us feel both helpless and powerful. And Danny asks- can you do anything to stop it - even with the truth on your side

Author Bio

Danny Wallace is a Sunday Times-bestselling author who lives in London. His first book, Join Me, was described as a 'word-of-mouth phenomenon' by The Bookseller and 'one of the funniest stories you will ever read' by the Daily Mail. His second book, Yes Man - in which he decided to say 'Yes' to everything - became a hugely successful film with Jim Carrey in the lead role. He was the PPA Columnist of the Year 2011 and the Arqiva Radio Presenter of the Year 2012 for his work as the host of the triple Sony Award-winning Xfm Breakfast Show with Danny Wallace. GQ magazine has called him- 'One of Britain's great writing talents'. www.dannywallace.com