Keynote Speakers
In 2024, we are faced with a variety of existential threats: disease, conflict, climate change, state violence, and the zombie-like return of many of the 20th century's worst political tendencies. The psychological impact of these threats is considerable. This is not the first time we have been faced with such threats, of course. The stand-off of the Cold War trapped millions in the crosshairs of nuclear warheads and raised the possibility that any random moment on any unremarkable day could be their last. Because intercepting ICBMs was an impossibility at the time, there were two main responses from American and Canadian governments. First, there was a public push towards the exercising of emotional management. Second, massive bunkers were dug into the ground to try to ensure the survival of senior government officials and gold.
In 2023, the hosts of The Uncover Up and My Nuclear Life podcasts conducted a thought experiment. What would happen if a nuclear war broke out? Would emotional management techniques be effective? Was civil defence possible? What would it be like to survive the first wave of destruction in a bunker? To answer these questions, they filmed a documentary in the bowels of the "Diefenbunker" outside of Ottawa, Ontario, which will premiere at this year’s conference.
Professor Nathan Radke, MA
Nathan Radke has degrees in philosophy and sociology, and is a professor, author, podcaster, and television and radio analyst. He has been studying conspiracy theories as a social phenomenon since before the world ended in 2012.
Alongside his partner in crime Dr. Lee Kuhnle, Professor Radke has designed and taught several courses that provide students the cognitive toolkit with which they can more safely navigate through the new information ecosystem that they inhabit. Their podcast “The Uncover Up” will soon pass 300,000 listens, and in 2025 the book they have co-authored will be published.
As a distraction from sifting through thousands of pages of redacted CIA documents, badgering the Canadian government with freedom of information requests, and his field work amongst apocalyptic sects, Nathan rebuilds Soviet-era electric guitars and is a gentleman shrimp farmer.
Dr. Lee Kuhnle, PhD
Humber College professor and Co-host of The Uncover Up podcast and the Conspiracy Roundtable radio show.
Lee Kuhnle received his Ph.D. from York University’s program in Social and Political Thought. He holds an M.A. from York University’s Humanities Department, as well as a graduate diploma in German and European Studies. His research focuses broadly on the role of ideology in contemporary political culture. Over the last decade this research has led to his intense engagement with the sociology, history and ideology of conspiracy theories. Together with Professor Nathan Radke, Dr. Kuhnle has designed and teaches courses about conspiracy theories. Dr. Kuhnle also engages in ‘public scholarship’ by co-hosting “The Uncover Up” podcast with Professor Radke, which aims to bring a well-researched and evidence-based lens to all things related to conspiracies. Beyond the podcast, Dr. Kuhnle has also made numerous guest appearances on radio, television and other podcasts.
Dr. Shelly Lesher
Shelly Lesher graduated with a PhD from the University of Kentucky in 2005 and then accepted a Postdoctoral position at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium where she was involved in experiments at CERN, GSI, and other European labs. Returning to the US she worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory studying surrogate reactions. This year she joined the faculty at North Carolina A&T State University as Professor and Chair of the Physics Department after 15 years at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse. Dr. Lesher’s research interest is in experimental nuclear physics investigating vibrational structure in rare-earth nuclei which has resulted in over 60 publications. In the last 10 years, she has mentored over 30 students in research, many of whom have continued onto advanced degrees in nuclear science, and all have become active members of the STEM workforce. In 2019, Dr. Lesher was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society. Since 2020 she has hosted the podcast, My Nuclear Life, which discusses the intersection of nuclear science and society.
