Paranormal Pajama Party

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Episode 27: Hillary Clinton and the Lizard People

Stephanie Summar

Gender, Power, and Political Conspiracy Theories


Welcome to Season 3 of Paranormal Pajama Party! In the premiere episode, we're poking our noses into a conspiracy-ridden corner of American political discourse and what it reveals about our complicated relationship with power, particularly when wielded by women.

And it all starts with some very confused 19th-century scientists trying to figure out why lemurs live in Madagascar.

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The rise of reptilian conspiracies

The idea that our world leaders are actually reptilian aliens might sound like something from a badly-written sci-fi novel, but thanks to former sports commentator turned conspiracy theorist David Icke, millions of people genuinely believe that lizard-like beings from the fourth dimension are secretly running our planet.

According to Icke's theory, these creatures maintain their power by keeping humanity in a constant state of fear, which they apparently drink like some kind of cosmic energy smoothie.

From fiction to fatal consequences

While easy to dismiss as harmless nonsense, these theories have had deadly real-world impacts. The episode explores several tragic incidents, including a Christmas Day bombing targeting AT&T's 5G network and a father who killed his children believing they had inherited “snake DNA” from his wife. These conspiracies don't just live in the darker corners of the internet – they affect real lives.

Hillary Clinton: A case study in monstrous politics

What's particularly fascinating is how these reptilian conspiracy theories intersect with gender politics. Hillary Clinton, one of the most qualified presidential candidates in US history, found herself at the centre of these narratives.

Tonight’s episode explores how the portrayal of powerful women as inhuman – whether as robots, monsters, or yes, lizard people – reflects societal anxieties about female leadership and the double-bind of female power.

The episode also considers how those anxieties manifest in everything from conspiracy theories to Hollywood blockbusters. It's no coincidence that when female politicians start making serious runs at the highest offices, our screens suddenly fill with dystopian tales featuring calculating women in pantsuits controlling sinister futuristic societies.

The politics of power and gender

What's particularly fascinating is how these narratives of monstrousness evolve. The same qualities we might praise in male leaders – ambition, strategic thinking, assertiveness – become evidence of something unnatural or threatening when they appear in women. It's as if we're collectively saying, “Sure, women can be in charge... as long as they don't act too much like they're in charge.”

Hope in the horror

The real horror story here isn't about shape-shifting reptilians or interdimensional aliens. It's about how readily we transform powerful women into monsters rather than grappling with our own discomfort about changing power structures. Whether it's through conspiracy theories, media portrayals, or political cartoons, we keep finding new ways to tell the same old scary story about women and other marginalised community members who dare to seek power.

But maybe there's hope in the horror. After all, you can't have a monster without first having power worth fearing. Perhaps these monstrous portrayals are just the growing pains of a society learning to accept that leadership doesn't have to wear a tie – even if it sometimes wears a pantsuit.

Listen to the Season 3 premiere of Paranormal Pajama Party wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes release fortnightly.

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