How to talk about conspiracy theories - 6 Minute English

Conspiracy theories are not a new phenomenon - some people still don’t believe that man has ever been to the Moon. But with the coronavirus pandemic has come a huge wave of novel online misinformation, including some outlandish ideas, and some panicky people are buying into them. Neil and Sam discuss what to do when you are confronted with someone who spreads falsehoods. They teach you vocabulary along the way. To download the audio and a transcript, go to our website: More 6 Minute English episodes: Should we wear face masks? COVID-19: The office after lockdown Sport against poverty Food made in space The medicine of coronavirus Is this the era of distrust? Vocabulary down the rabbit hole enter a situation which seems interesting and uncomplicated at first but ends up becoming strange, confusing and hard to escape from pretext pretend reason for doing something that is used to hide the real reason bonkers silly, stupid or crazy (informal) disdain disliking something because you feel it does not deserve your attention or respect get to the bottom of (something) discover the real but sometimes hidden reason why something happens sweeping something spoken or written about that is too general and does not carefully consider all the relevant facts [Cover: Getty Images] #bbclearningenglish #learnenglish #conspiracytheories