Creative Folkestone: Michael Taylor: The Original Conspiracy Theory
Create a free account to applyHistorian Michael Taylor traces how an eighteenth-century secret society became a blueprint for modern conspiracy culture. Explore its links to misinformation and online extremism in conversation with BAFTA-winning writer Jolyon Rubinstein. The event ends with a book signing in The Clearing.
In this Folkestone Book Festival event, historian Michael Taylor explores the origins of modern conspiracy culture through the story of the Illuminati. He looks at how an eighteenth-century secret society became a lasting blueprint for paranoia, misinformation and ideas about hidden power, connecting that history to later movements and contemporary online extremism.
The conversation is chaired by Jolyon Rubinstein, a BAFTA-winning writer, broadcaster and comedian with a long-standing interest in politics, misinformation and the blurred boundary between fact and fiction. Together they unpack why conspiracy theories endure, how they evolve across history, and why they remain so influential today.
The event is part of Creative Folkestone’s annual festival of ideas, with a book signing afterwards in The Clearing.
Michael Taylor, chaired by Jolyon Rubinstein
16 November 2026, 20:00 – 21:00
Location
- No age restriction.
£5 Cost of Living Ticket available with no questions asked. Standard tickets are £12 plus £1.50 booking fee, and concession tickets are £10 plus £1.50 booking fee. Concessionary rates apply to under 21s, full-time students, registered unemployed and registered disabled with proof of status.
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