The Fourth of July Mailbag: World Cup Conspiracies and Princess Diana With Jomi Adeniran
July 2, 2026
AI Summary
5 min read“You have crossed an ocean to steal a corpse.” That is the opening of this episode of Wait a Second…, and it is not a metaphor. Hosts Jason Concepcion and Tyler Parker are joined by Jomi Adeniran for a Fourth of July mailbag episode that begins with the true story of William Cobbett, a radical English journalist who, in 1819, dug up the bones of Thomas Paine in New Rochelle, New York, and smuggled them back to England. Cobbett thought Paine’s remains would ignite a reform movement. Instead, the bones were ignored, passed to Cobbett’s son, sold to an ironmonger, and eventually lost to history. It is a parable about the gap between what a symbol is supposed to do and what it actually does — and it sets the table for a wide-ranging conversation about conspiracy theories, their mechanics, and their persistence across cultures.
The Five Elements of a Sticky Conspiracy Theory
Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.
Read Full Summary →Free • No credit card required
Never miss an episode of Wait a Second...
Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
What you'll learn
- 1 (00:07) **The Grave of Thomas Paine** - A dramatic cold open about William Cobbett digging up Thomas Paine's bones in 1819 to use as a symbol for the English reform movement, only for the bones to be lost to history.
- 2 (02:00) **Welcome and Guest Introduction** - Jason welcomes co-host Tyler Parker and guest Jomi Adeniran, setting up the mailbag format focused on conspiracy theories.
- 3 (06:10) **The Five Elements of a Sticky Conspiracy** - Answering a listener email, Jason proposes a framework for what makes a conspiracy theory catch on and stick in the public imagination.
- 4 (14:03) **Sports Conspiracies: World Cup VAR and Rigged Results** - The group dives into sports conspiracy theories, starting with a listener question about the 2022 World Cup and the controversial use of semi-automatic offside technology.
- 5 (25:14) **Global Conspiracies: Princess Diana** - The hosts explore international conspiracy theories, starting with the British theory that Princess Diana was assassinated by MI6 to prevent her from marrying Dodi Al-Fayed.
- 6 (29:00) **Operation Gladio and the Olof Palme Murder** - Continuing the global tour, the group discusses Italy's "stay-behind" NATO armies and Sweden's unsolved prime minister assassination.
- 7 (32:56) **The 1999 Russian Apartment Bombings** - A deep dive into one of the most consequential modern conspiracies: the bombings that helped launch Vladimir Putin to power.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Cohost of Midnight Boys Jomi Adeniran joins to crack open the star-spangled mailbag and answer the questions lighting up our inbox this Fourth of July.
In this episode:
(00:00) Intro
(4:42) What makes a good conspiracy?
(12:37) Favorite sports conspiracies
(23:47) Princess Diana and international intrigue
(46:49) The Doomscroll: Ukrainian catfishing
(49:39) Russian hackers
Hosts: Jason Concepcion and Tyler Parker
Guest: Jomi Adeniran
Producers: Donnie Beacham and Justin Sayles
Art direction: David Shoemaker
Motion graphics and animations: Chris Calleton
Engineering: Sarah Reddy
Set design: Hannah Leiken and Jonathan Ratliff
Additional support: Dae Shik Kim
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
More from this podcast
Wait a Second... →