The premise
Facts first. Then the story.
Theories Have Birthdates investigates the true origin of stories — how easy it is to lose verified facts to misinformation, and how to pull them apart again without angry debate or condescension.
Perfect for listeners of true crime, history, and psychology podcasts, and anyone curious how a conspiracy theory is born, spreads, and calcifies into “common knowledge.”
From Don Swann II
Play episode 1 right here
Episodes
Ep. 01
The Motorcade Paradigm
A deep-dive into the Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassination, the origins of World War One conspiracy theories, and the eerie historical parallels to the JFK assassination in Dallas — the Sarajevo timeline, Gavrilo Princip and the Black Hand, 1914 wartime propaganda, and how Proportionality Bias explains why humans reject coincidence in major historical events.
34 min
Ep. 02
The Reichstag Fire
The true history of the 1933 Reichstag Fire and the birth of the false flag conspiracy theory — Fritz Tobias’s investigation, the courtroom proceedings, and how democracies collapse.
34 min
Ep. 03
The Phantom Fleets
The Gulf of Tonkin incident, examined through NSA historian Robert Hanyok’s 2005 report and Commander James Stockdale’s eyewitness account — radar artifacts and the political pressure behind a war authorization.
35 min
Ep. 04
The Titanic and The Olympic Switch?
The maritime conspiracy claiming insurance fraud — yard number 401 and wreck-site evidence weighed against Robin Gardiner’s 1998 theory, and the human narratives behind the myth.
38 min
Ep. 05
The Roswell Incident
The 1947 Roswell Incident and the declassified Project Mogul cover story — Major Jesse Marcel’s account and Stanton Friedman’s 1978 involvement in the birth of modern UFO mythology.
36 min
Ep. 06
The Disappearing Golden Eggs of Tsar / Rasputin
Romanov dynasty forensics — diamond-lined corsets that deflected bullets, Rasputin’s actual autopsy, and the DNA that ended a 60-year impostor’s claim in Anna Anderson’s 1920 story.
38 min
New episodes
Season 1 is just getting started. Get notified when the next case file opens.