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What can we know and what should we believe about today's world? What to Believe Now: Applying Epistemology to Contemporary Issues applies the concerns and techniques of epistemology to a wide variety of contemporary issues. Coady calls for an "applied turn" in epistemology, a process he likens to the applied turn that transformed the study of ethics in the early 1970s. Subjects dealt with include: * Experts: how can we recognize them and when should we trust them? * Rumors: should they ever be believed, and can they, in fact, be a source of knowledge? * Conspiracy theories: when, if ever, should they be believed, and can they be known to be true? * The blogosphere: how does it compare with traditional media as a source of knowledge and justified belief? * Wikipedia: how does it compare with traditional encyclopedias as a source of knowledge and justified belief? Timely, thought-provoking, and controversial, What to Believe Now offers a wealth of insights into applied epistemology, a branch of philosophy of growing importance - and increasing relevance - in the twenty-first century.