Episode

11/12 Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation & Radicalization in American Politics w/ Yochai Benkler

November 12, 2018

Yochai Benkler (@YBenkler), Berkman Professor of Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, joins us to discuss his new book, Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics.

On today’s show: Trump thanks WW2 veterans, says “you look so comfortable” under rain shelter. Macron denounces nationalism as “a betrayal of patriotism” in rebuke to Trump at WW2 remembrance.

Yochai Benkler (@YochaiBenkler), Berkman Professor of Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, joins us to discuss his new book, Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics. For this book, Benkler studied media coverage of American presidential politics from the start of the election cycle in April 2015 to the one year anniversary of the Trump presidency. He found the right wing media was largely cordoned off from the center and the left, that center-to-left people had a much more diverse media diet than the right, and that right wing media was not constrained by journalistic standards like “truth.” From technology to corporate monopolies, Benkler goes over the reasons for this divide, and posits some ideas for how to fix it. 50% of Republicans still trust the mainstream media, says Benkler, so maybe that’s a good place to start.

On the fun half: Cory Gardner defends his organization’s accusation that “AZ election officials are cooking the books.” Lou Dobbs says early voting leads to fraud, backs it up with nothing. Broflamingo from Las Vegas on racism and the right. MS GOP candidate says she’d attend a public hanging if her black opponent invited her. Danny in AZ discusses voting for the lesser evil as civic duty, not self expression. A caller tries to stump Jamie with a question on post-capitalist governance.

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