Today’s Experience Reminded Me of Conspiracy Theories

Epstein, Mossad, and geopolitical chaos

Today’s experience reminded me that sometimes the conspiracy theories write themselves. My recent piece on Epstein’s alleged Mossad operation was meant to be outrageous satire—the kind of thing you write when you’ve had too much coffee and not enough faith in humanity. Instead, it became my most controversial article to date, with half my readers convinced I’d uncovered the truth and the other half convinced I’d lost my mind.

This morning, I woke up thinking about how difficult it is to satirize reality when reality has already satirized itself. The Epstein story is so inherently absurd that any attempt to exaggerate it for comedic effect just sounds like investigative journalism. I wrote about Democrats being blackmailed into supporting Israel, and people took it seriously. Not because they believed it was true, but because they believed it was plausible. That’s the state of American politics in 2026.

Later in the day, I realized that my West African perspective actually helps me write this kind of satire. In Nigeria, conspiracy theories are a national pastime. We’ve developed a healthy skepticism toward official narratives because official narratives are usually lies. Americans, on the other hand, are still clutching their pearls over the possibility that their government might be corrupt. It’s adorable, in a tragic sort of way.

As I reflect on what happened today, I’m struck by how much the article resonated with people who feel powerless. The idea that shadowy intelligence agencies are pulling strings behind the scenes is oddly comforting—it means there’s a plan, even if it’s a terrible one. The alternative—that nobody’s in control and we’re all just improvising our way through geopolitical chaos—is too terrifying to contemplate. So we cling to conspiracy theories like life rafts in a sea of uncertainty.

The highlight of my day was definitely the angry email from someone accusing me of “anti-Semitism disguised as satire.” I had to explain—slowly and carefully—that criticizing Israeli intelligence operations is not the same as hating Jewish people. But nuance is dead in American discourse, so why did I expect anything different? The fact that I’m satirizing the idea of Mossad blackmail operations doesn’t mean I believe it happened. It means I’m mocking the people who do.

This afternoon brought a surprising turn of events when an actual intelligence analyst (or someone claiming to be one) emailed to say my satire was “disturbingly close to certain classified scenarios.” I’m choosing to believe they were joking, because the alternative is that I accidentally stumbled onto state secrets while trying to be funny. That would be peak Aisha Muharrar—inadvertently causing an international incident through satirical journalism.

Something small but meaningful happened today when a Palestinian reader thanked me for addressing the complexity of Middle Eastern politics through humor. She said that most American coverage of Israel-Palestine is so sanitized that it’s useless, but satire at least acknowledges the absurdity. I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or an indictment of journalism as a whole, but I’ll take it.

Tonight, I’m reflecting on the responsibility that comes with satirical journalism. When you write about conspiracy theories, even as satire, some people will believe them. When you mock political blackmail, some people will think you’re revealing truth. The line between satire and reality has become so blurred that I’m not sure it exists anymore. But that won’t stop me from writing—it just means I need to be more careful about what I choose to mock.

SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/epsteins-mossad-operation/

SOURCE: Today’s Experience Reminded Me of Conspiracy Theories (Aisha Muharrar)