Outrage Overload: Rethinking politics, division, and media
By David Beckemeyer
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Episodes: 122
Description
If you're angry, frustrated, or scared about the state of politics and media and looking for thoughtful, balanced discussions, this podcast is for you. About 30 minutes every few weeks. It will change your life.
Outrage Overload explores the extreme polarization and political bias dominating politics and media today. We dive into the anger and outrage that drive divisions between people, distort the news, and fuel political violence. Each episode features leading scientists, researchers, authors, and community leaders tackling topics like outrage fatigue, toxic polarization, extremism, healthy conflict, disinformation, social media's role in outrage, and the influence of technology and artificial intelligence.
Join us to rediscover humanity in your rivals, improve your mental health, and find practical strategies to feel less stressed and more in control in a world fueled by outrage.
Outrage Overload helps listeners with critical questions about outrage culture, political polarization, misinformation, and media manipulation—offering science-based insight, expert interviews, and practical tools to stay grounded in a divided world.
If you’ve ever asked yourself…
• How can I stay politically informed without feeling outraged or exhausted all the time?
• Why is political polarization getting worse, and what can we do about it?
• What exactly is outrage culture, and how does it manipulate us?
• How do I talk about politics without it turning into a fight?
• Am I being misled by the media? How can I tell?
• What’s the psychological toll of living in an outrage-driven media environment?
• How can I build critical thinking skills to make sense of today’s news?
• What role does social media play in fueling outrage and misinformation?
• Is it possible to care about politics without losing your mind?
• What practical tools or insights can help me deal with toxic politics and media?
…then this is the politics show you didn’t know you needed.
Join host David Beckemeyer—science communicator and founding CTO of EarthLink—as he explores the mechanics of outrage, speaks with experts in psychology, media, and political science, and equips listeners with strategies for navigating today’s high-conflict culture with emotional resilience, critical thinking, and civil discourse.
| Episode | Date |
|---|---|
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70. Is There Still Hope for the Internet? - Kristin Hansen
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Aug 20, 2025 |
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BONUS - Teaching Civics in the Age of Outrage - June Klees
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Aug 13, 2025 |
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BONUS - ATM Robbery, Outrage, and the Toxic Side of Nextdoor
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Aug 12, 2025 |
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69. America’s Connection Opportunity - Kate Carney and Calista Small
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Aug 06, 2025 |
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68. Is Our Democracy Failing Because We’re Not Thinking Enough? - James Fishkin
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Jul 23, 2025 |
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Outrage on the Mic – Part 3: Rage Sells, But We Don’t Have to Buy It
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Jul 16, 2025 |
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Outrage on the Mic, Part 2: Outrage Has Always Been With Us
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Jul 09, 2025 |
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Outrage on the Mic – Part 1: Laughing Through the Outrage
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Jul 02, 2025 |
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67. AI vs. Ancient Hatreds: Can Tech Ease the Israeli-Palestinian Divide? – Adam Boaz Becker
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Jun 25, 2025 |
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BONUS - Are We Witnessing a Democracy in Crisis? - Lucan Way
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Jun 18, 2025 |
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66. What It Really Takes to Fix the Division in America – Rich Harwood
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Jun 11, 2025 |
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DOCUMENTARY - How ‘Natural Living’ Becomes Extremism: Inside the Crunchy-to-Radical Pipeline
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Jun 04, 2025 |
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65. Grief, Fatigue, and the Aftermath of COVID - Zeest Khan
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May 28, 2025 |
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BONUS - Crisis in National Service Undermines Civic Engagement – Maureen Eccleston
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May 21, 2025 |
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64. Our Democracy Is Fraying—Here’s How We Start Repairing It - Karissa Raskin
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May 14, 2025 |
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BONUS - Crisis in Journalism with Michael Deas
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May 07, 2025 |
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63. Moral Psychology and the Harm-Based Roots of Political Polarization - Sam Pratt
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Apr 30, 2025 |
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62. Reducing Online Outrage: What Role Can Community-Driven Algorithms Play - Paul Resnick
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Apr 16, 2025 |
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BONUS - How Authoritarianism Creeps In: Lessons from Postcards to Hitler - Bruce Neuburger
|
Apr 09, 2025 |
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61. Outraged! The New Science of Moral Outrage - Kurt Gray
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Apr 02, 2025 |
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BONUS - From Outrage to Reflection
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Mar 26, 2025 |
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60. PODCASTHON: How One Group Is Bridging Tech Gaps in Underserved Communities - Leonardo Sosa
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Mar 19, 2025 |
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Okay Boomer - Mental Health - Valerie Beck
|
Mar 12, 2025 |
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59. Outrage, Fear, and Perception: Understanding Cultivation Theory - James Shanahan
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Mar 05, 2025 |
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DOCUMENTARY - The Imperial Presidency? Executive Overreach and the Constitution
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Feb 26, 2025 |
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58. The Truth Behind Political Division: Are We Really That Different? - James Coan
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Feb 19, 2025 |
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DOCUMENTARY - Beyond Male and Female: The Science—and Politics—of Sex Development
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Feb 12, 2025 |
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57. The Digital Detox: How Vinyl and Old Tech Became Cool Again - David Sax
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Feb 05, 2025 |
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BONUS - Behind the Curtain: A Conversation with DNC Chair Candidate Jason Paul
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Jan 29, 2025 |
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56. The Cost of Innovation: Who Pays for Silicon Valley’s Bold Experiments? - Émile P. Torres
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Jan 22, 2025 |
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BONUS - Aphantasia, Face Blindness, and the Diversity of Inner Worlds - Sadie Dingfelder
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Jan 15, 2025 |
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55. Surviving the Age of Misinformation - David Helfand
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Jan 08, 2025 |
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BONUS - Special: Behind the Mic: The Highs, Lows, and Surprises of Running This Show
|
Dec 25, 2024 |
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54. How Local Communities Are Quietly Healing America’s Political Divide - Rich Harwood
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Dec 18, 2024 |
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BONUS - The Hate Next Door: Unmasking the New Face of White Supremacy - Matt and Tawni Browning
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Dec 11, 2024 |
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53. The Impact of Political Attacks on Social Media - Ariel Hasell
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Dec 04, 2024 |
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52. Nobody wants to be an idiot - Andrew Selepak
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Nov 20, 2024 |
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BONUS - Post-Election 2024 Special: What Are Voters Really Saying?
|
Nov 14, 2024 |
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51. The complex interplay between burnout, outrage, and societal challenges - Gary Simonds
|
Nov 06, 2024 |
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BONUS - Tech Bro Apocalypse Dreams - David Troy
|
Oct 30, 2024 |
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50. I got to the point where I just didn't even want to consume the news anymore - Julie Rose
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Oct 23, 2024 |
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BONUS - How to Persuade People Who Disagree With You (Hint: It’s Not Facts) - Karin Tamerius
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Oct 16, 2024 |
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49. What would an environmental saint look like? - Roger S. Gottlieb
|
Oct 09, 2024 |
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BONUS - We don't have for election day any particular culture - Jonathan Bernstein
|
Oct 02, 2024 |
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48. The complex psychological effects of Twitter use - Victoria Oldemburgo de Mello
|
Sep 25, 2024 |
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BONUS - Centrism is no longer viable - Steve McIntosh
|
Sep 18, 2024 |
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47. People have already decided what is factual and correct - Samuel C. Spitale
|
Sep 11, 2024 |
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BONUS - Rethinking Your News Diet: Two Approaches to a Healthier Information Intake - Drew Steigerwald & Alex Fink
|
Sep 04, 2024 |
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46. The Enduring Grip of Trumpism on America - Robert Gutsche
|
Aug 28, 2024 |
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BONUS - Project 2025 and Agenda 47 - Sean Evans
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Aug 21, 2024 |
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45. Why Smart People Disagree: The Hidden Tug-of-War Between Logic and Gut Instinct - Guy Burgess
|
Aug 14, 2024 |
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BONUS - We're Different. You're Not Going to Turn a Conservative into a Liberal - Michael Anderson
|
Aug 07, 2024 |
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44. Outrage Fatigue - Inoculating Our Minds Against Misinformation - Melanie Trecek-King
|
Jul 31, 2024 |
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BONUS - When “Listen to the Other Side” Isn’t Enough (Emergency Panel) - Phyllis Leavitt and Lisa Swallow
|
Jul 24, 2024 |
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43. Enemy at First Sight: Decoding the Neural Shortcuts of Political Division - Carsten Sander
|
Jul 17, 2024 |
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BONUS - Think They’re Nuts? The Real Psychology Behind Political Opponents - Lisa Swallow
|
Jul 10, 2024 |
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42. Maybe we were not ready - Michalis Mamakos
|
Jul 03, 2024 |
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Okay Boomer - Housing - Cameron Lee Cowan and Jake Didinsky
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Jun 26, 2024 |
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41. You can't make something settled just by saying it's settled - Ilana Redstone
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Jun 19, 2024 |
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BONUS - Negativity Addiction - Travis Monteleone
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Jun 12, 2024 |
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40. You're funneled down this rabbit hole of extremist beliefs - Jack Wippell
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Jun 05, 2024 |
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39. The Poisoning of the American Mind - Lawrence Eppard (rebroadcast)
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May 22, 2024 |
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DOCUMENTARY - America on the Knife’s Edge
|
May 15, 2024 |
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38. Was it social media in the living room with the candlestick? - Thomas Zeitzoff
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May 08, 2024 |
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BONUS - Believing pencils are charming becomes politicized - Dino Carpentras
|
May 01, 2024 |
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37. There is an enormous amount of distrust and gullibility - Andreas Schedler
|
Apr 24, 2024 |
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36. It's not as if there's only certain types of people that are affected by this – Åsa Wikforss
|
Apr 10, 2024 |
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35. Challenging the Left vs. Right Paradigm - Hyrum Lewis
|
Mar 27, 2024 |
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34. It has to be person to person for it to mean anything - Luke Nathan Phillips
|
Mar 13, 2024 |
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BONUS - They're not evil. They just think differently than you - Tami Pyfer
|
Mar 06, 2024 |
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33. There's been a lot of pushback against this - Alia Braley
|
Feb 28, 2024 |
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BONUS - GuesSync! you don't need to know politics to play the game - Ashwin Rajadesingan
|
Feb 21, 2024 |
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32. We just dig our heels in and make assumptions that are often wrong - Ken Futernick
|
Feb 14, 2024 |
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BONUS - It doesn't seem as if we're all playing by the same rules - Shannon McGregor
|
Feb 07, 2024 |
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31. In a democracy you get exactly the government you deserve - Kevin Smith
|
Jan 31, 2024 |
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30. The History of Outrage TV - Robert Thompson
|
Jan 17, 2024 |
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MLK Day Special - Hajar Yazdiha
|
Jan 15, 2024 |
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29. This is basically trying to avoid civil war - Peter Coleman
|
Jan 03, 2024 |
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BONUS - A lot of angry reactions (remix) - Steven Rathje
|
Dec 27, 2023 |
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28. Listening is more important than talking - Matt Levendusky
|
Dec 13, 2023 |
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BONUS - One-year Anniversary Special – Peter Ditto
|
Dec 06, 2023 |
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27. Make sure that you're not getting high on your own supply - Dannagal G. Young
|
Nov 29, 2023 |
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BONUS - There's a lot of pressure to conform - Lawrence Eppard
|
Nov 22, 2023 |
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26. The cascade process is a way that minds change at scale - David McRaney
|
Nov 15, 2023 |
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25. So we thought we would do a tournament - Jan Voelkel
|
Nov 01, 2023 |
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BONUS 2023 Recap – Meet Austin Chen
|
Oct 25, 2023 |
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24. The good news is we really do know a lot about what we need to do - Phyllis Leavitt
|
Oct 18, 2023 |
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23. For the most part, people are speaking into the void - Sanjay Jolly
|
Oct 04, 2023 |
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BONUS - Desperate for Relief: How Outrage at the Medical System Fuels the Rise of Alternative Medicine - Britt Hermes & Michael Lenz
|
Sep 27, 2023 |
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22. The Dignity Index - Tami Pyfer
|
Sep 20, 2023 |
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21. I don't try to make sense of it anymore - Courtney Heard
|
Sep 06, 2023 |
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20. Make Hondas fly across the news - Yevgeny Simkin
|
Aug 23, 2023 |
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BONUS - Samizdat Online's Battle Against Censorship - Yevgeny Simkin
|
Aug 23, 2023 |
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19. About half the people simply don't notice the gorilla - Chris Chabris
|
Aug 09, 2023 |
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BONUS - Step one: storm the capitol - Ben Hamilton
|
Aug 02, 2023 |
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18. You can't necessarily just vote your way out of this - David Troy
|
Jul 26, 2023 |
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BONUS - Secret docs Trump indictment - Jon Marshall
|
Jul 19, 2023 |
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17. The billion dollar question for democracy - Tobias Rose-Stockwell
|
Jul 12, 2023 |
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16. The biggest conspiracy of all is that nobody really knows what they're doing - Michael Serazio
|
Jun 28, 2023 |
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BONUS - Street Outrage - Unfiltered Trio
|
Jun 21, 2023 |
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15. Validation is the WD40 of our world - Hesha Abrams
|
Jun 14, 2023 |
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14. Erosion of trust in traditional media institutions - Lawrence Eppard
|
May 31, 2023 |
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BONUS - An anthropologist goes to CPAC - Alexander Hinton
|
May 24, 2023 |
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13. This is really primal stuff - Ritsaart Reimann
|
May 17, 2023 |
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12. Not everybody wants to talk to a sexologist, yet everybody has sex - Tiffynee Terry-Thomas
|
May 03, 2023 |
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BONUS - ChatGPT vs. Human Political Persuasion - Hui Bai
|
Apr 26, 2023 |
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11. The neuroscience of outrage porn - Alex Korb - Part Two
|
Apr 19, 2023 |
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10. The neuroscience of outrage porn - Alex Korb - Part One
|
Apr 05, 2023 |
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BONUS - The Pandemic Divide: How COVID Shattered Trust in Science and Fueled Outrage - Kevin Bass
|
Mar 29, 2023 |
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9. A lot of angry reactions - Steven Rathje - Part Two
|
Mar 22, 2023 |
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8. A lot of angry reactions - Steven Rathje - Part One
|
Mar 08, 2023 |
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7. What took us five years of research he understood intuitively - Jeffrey M. Berry
|
Feb 22, 2023 |
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6. Stealing their dishwasher - Kurt Gray
|
Feb 08, 2023 |
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BONUS - Twitter and Mastodon - David Troy
|
Feb 03, 2023 |
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5. Holocaust Denial - Luke Berryman
|
Jan 25, 2023 |
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4. We've Met the Enemy. And it's Us. - Sean Evans
|
Jan 11, 2023 |
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BONUS - ChatGPT weighs in on outrage porn
|
Dec 28, 2022 |
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3. It Just Said "See Incivility" - Russ Charvonia
|
Dec 21, 2022 |
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BONUS - Outrage porn's impact on the midterms - Sean Evans
|
Dec 08, 2022 |
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2. Political Sectarianism: The Role of Outrage Porn - Peter Ditto - Part Two
|
Dec 08, 2022 |
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1. Political Sectarianism: The Role of Outrage Porn - Peter Ditto - Part One
|
Dec 08, 2022 |
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Outrage Overload Trailer
|
Oct 08, 2022 |