On this episode of The Zach Show, Mick West joins Zach to trace how modern conspiracies form from the Charlie Kirk assassination to UFO lore. They examine social media speed, projection of political fears, and AI’s role in amplifying falsehoods such as Grok inventing quotes about the Kirk assassination. Mick shows why high-resolution footage often fails to stop speculation, how theories evolve like viruses, and why people prefer simple enemies. The conversation moves into an analysis of the recent 'Hellfire Missile Vs. UFO' video presented in Congress, parallax, thermal contrast, provenance problems, the rise of UFO cults, how misperception fools even the most experienced pilots, and more.

Guest bio: Mick West is a science writer, debunker, and founder of Metabunk.org. Author of Escaping the Rabbit Hole, he specializes in unraveling conspiracy theories and UFO claims. A former video game programmer, Mick co-founded Neversoft and helped create Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater before becoming the internet’s go-to UFO skeptic.

This is only the first half of the episode with Mick West. To get the full episode (audio and video), subscribe to The Zach Show 2.0 today: https://thezachshow.supercast.com/

MICK WEST LINKS:

Escaping The Rabbit Hole: https://bit.ly/3IG6ROm

Metabunk: https://www.metabunk.org/

SitRec: https://www.metabunk.org/sitrec/

X(Twitter): https://x.com/MickWest

YouTube: https://bit.ly/4nT5YBh

THE ZACH SHOW LINKS:

The Zach Show 2.0: https://thezachshow.supercast.com/

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3zaS6sP

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3lTpJdj

Website: https://www.auxoro.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/auxoro

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thezachshowpod

If you’re not ready to subscribe to The Zach Show 2.0, rating the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts is free and massively helpful. It boosts visibility, helps new listeners discover the show, and keeps this chaos alive. Thank you:

Rate The Zach Show on Spotify: https://bit.ly/43ZLrAt

Rate The Zach Show on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/458nbha

Leaked audio from Israel’s former chief of military intelligence, Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, reveals him saying “50,000 dead in Gaza is necessary” and that Palestinians “need a Nakba” to learn the cost of resistance. In this conversation, genocide scholar Omer Bartov unpacks the implications: the blurred line between war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and genocide; the whataboutisms comparing Gaza to WWII bombings; and U.S. complicity through its weapons pipeline. We also explore how Holocaust memory has been wielded as shield and sword, whether Zionism can be salvaged, and the paradox of a state born from genocide now accused of committing one.

Guest bio: Omer Bartov is a historian and genocide scholar at Brown University, specializing in Holocaust studies, genocide, and modern warfare. Born in Israel, he has written extensively on the Holocaust in Eastern Europe and ethnic violence, and is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on genocide.

To gain access to The Zach Show full episodes as soon as they drop, plus exclusive AMAs, the ability to suggest questions to future guests, The Zarchives (super secret beginnings of The Zach Show), and more, subscribe to The Zach Show 2.0 today: https://thezachshow.supercast.com/

OMER BARTOV LINKS:

Twitter (X): https://x.com/bartov_omer

Genocide, the Holocaust, and Israel-Palestine: https://bit.ly/4n502Ey

Israel: What Went Wrong? (Pre-Order): https://amzn.to/47QaITd

Professor Page: https://history.brown.edu/people/omer-bartov

New York Times article: https://nyti.ms/3JGCWG4

THE ZACH SHOW LINKS:

The Zach Show 2.0: https://thezachshow.supercast.com/

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3zaS6sP

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3lTpJdj

Website: https://www.auxoro.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/auxoro

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thezachshowpod

If you’re not ready to subscribe to The Zach Show 2.0, rating the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts is free and massively helpful. It boosts visibility, helps new listeners discover the show, and keeps this chaos alive. Thank you:

Rate The Zach Show on Spotify: https://bit.ly/43ZLrAt

Rate The Zach Show on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/458nbha

Genocide scholar Omer Bartov joins The Zach Show for part 1 of this conversation to explain why, by May 2024, it was “no longer possible to deny” Israel’s genocidal intent in Gaza. We dig into the Rafah operation, the systematic destruction of homes, hospitals, and schools, bulldozers flattening entire neighborhoods, mass starvation, and leaders invoking biblical calls to wipe out Amalek. Bartov lays out how operational patterns + explicit statements reveal genocide, raising haunting questions about U.S. complicity and the future of Palestinians.

Guest bio: Omer Bartov is a historian and genocide scholar at Brown University, specializing in Holocaust studies, genocide, and modern warfare. Born in Israel, he has written extensively on the Holocaust in Eastern Europe and ethnic violence, and is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on genocide.

To gain access to The Zach Show full episodes as soon as they drop, plus exclusive AMAs, the ability to suggest questions to future guests, The Zarchives (super secret beginnings of The Zach Show), and more, subscribe to The Zach Show 2.0 today: https://thezachshow.supercast.com/

OMER BARTOV LINKS:

Twitter (X): https://x.com/bartov_omer

Genocide, the Holocaust, and Israel-Palestine: https://bit.ly/4n502Ey

Israel: What Went Wrong? (Pre-Order): https://amzn.to/47QaITd

Professor Page: https://history.brown.edu/people/omer-bartov

New York Times article: https://nyti.ms/3JGCWG4

THE ZACH SHOW LINKS:

The Zach Show 2.0: https://thezachshow.supercast.com/

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3zaS6sP

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3lTpJdj

Website: https://www.auxoro.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/auxoro

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thezachshowpod

If you’re not ready to subscribe to The Zach Show 2.0, rating the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts is free and massively helpful. It boosts visibility, helps new listeners discover the show, and keeps this chaos alive. Thank you:

Rate The Zach Show on Spotify: https://bit.ly/43ZLrAt

Rate The Zach Show on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/458nbha