In this photo from the Saudi Press Agency, U.S. President Donald Trump is joined by Egyptian dictator Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and Saudi king Salman bin Abdulaziz at the opening of the so-called "Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology." The three men ceremonially "activated" the building by placing their hands upon a mysterious glowing orb and making wishes, or something. The internet is perplexed and fascinated by the event's perfect strangeness. Read the rest

Fusion looks at the tensions between a pacifist religious sect and local North Dakota officials over an abandoned Cold War anti-missile complex that looks like something out of Illuminati conspiracies. The Hutterites won the auction for the giant pyramid on the prairie to the chagrin of local officials, who unsuccessfully tried to buy the decomissioned military facility. Read the rest

Anika Burgess of Atlas Obscura posted a gallery of images from the book As Above, So Below: Art of the American Fraternal Society 1850-1930, which has a forward by David Byrne.

With the growth of membership came a rise in the creation of artwork, which is explored in the book As Above, So Below: Art of the American Fraternal Society 1850-1930. Divided into the types of imagery, such as banners, magic lanterns and ritual objects, the book also examines how new technologies, such as the invention of the chromolithograph, created new means of expression.

Read the rest

You are Not So Smart is hosted by David McRaney, a journalist and self-described psychology nerd. In each episode, David explores cognitive biases and delusions, and is often joined by a guest expert. David concludes each episode by eating a delicious cookie baked from a recipe sent in by a listener.

This episode of You Are Not So Smart is brought to you by Squarespace, the all-in-one platform that makes it fast and easy to create you own professional website or online portfolio. For a free trial and ten percent off go to Squarespace.com and use the offer code PIPE.

Who is pulling the strings? Who is behind the coverup? Who holds the real power, and what do they want? How deep does the conspiracy to control your mind go?

In this episode we discuss the history, social impact, neuroscience, and psychology behind conspiracy theories and paranoid thinking.

Our guests are Steven Novella and Jesse Walker. Listen as they explain why we love conspiracy theories, how they flourish, how they harm, and what they say about a culture.

Steven Novella is a leader in the skeptic community, host of The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe, and an academic clinical neurologist at Yale University School of Medicine. He blogs at Neurologica, Skepticblog, and Science-Based Medicine.

Jesse Walker is the book editor for Reason Magazine and author of the new book, The United States of Paranoia, a Conspiracy Theory. Walker's articles can be seen in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and many others. Read the rest

In this performance from 1982, schoolchildren face off against the disco Illuminati of Pink Project, their dueling renditions of Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall (part 2) and Alan Parsons Project's Mammagamma merging into a groovy mashup a fair few years ahead of its time. An extended mix is also available. If you like it, the next stop is Pink Project's mix of Jean Michele Jarre's Oxygene and APP's Hyper Gamma Spaces. The next stop after that is paying too much for a tatty vinyl at eBay Italy. Read the rest