Fighting Coronavirus | Stopping the Spread of Bad Information | 10

American Innovations

Wondery

Steven Johnson, History, Kids & Family, Education For Kids, Science

4.6 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 26 May 2020

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

According to the World Health Organization, we’re not just in the midst of a pandemic. We’re living through an “infodemic,” where misinformation is more readily available than facts.

On this episode, Steven talks to Joan Donovan, who studies misinformation in her role as the Director of the Technology and Social Change Research Project at Harvard Kennedy’s Shorenstein Center. Joan shares how conspiracy theories spread and how each of us can practice good information hygiene. It’s not as easy as wearing a mask … but it’s close.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to American Innovations,
0:03.6	Add Free on Amazon Music, download the app today.
0:08.0	From Wondry, I'm Stephen Johnson, and this is Fighting Coronavirus.
0:30.0	Bleach Baths Can Cure The Coronavirus. Bill Gates created the virus to sell vaccines and plant microchips into the general population.
0:49.0	The movie Plan Demix As Masks Can Reignite the Virus.
0:53.0	Since the earliest days of this pandemic, the internet has been a pipeline and an echo chamber for medical misinformation.
1:01.0	The World Health Organization warns that we're not just in the middle of a pandemic, but also an infodemic,
1:07.0	or bombarded all day by so much information that it's difficult to find trustworthy sources right when we need them the most.
1:15.0	We need to know what is true and what isn't, and we need to do all we can to get on the same page about the facts.
1:22.0	But how?
1:24.0	Platform companies like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter have started labeling and removing harmful misinformation.
1:30.0	But as quickly as they come up with ways to crack down on misinformation, users find new ways to slip past them.
1:37.0	Today's guest, Joan Donovan, is the director of the Technology and Social Change Research Project at Harvard's Kennedy-Shornstein Center,
1:45.0	where she tracks how misinformation, scams, and conspiracies about COVID-19 circulate online.
1:57.0	Since his death in 2009, the world has struggled with how Michael Jackson should be remembered, as the King of Pop or as a monster.
2:05.0	The new podcast Think Twice, Michael Jackson, offers a fresh perspective on the art and the artist, his life, his work, and his legacy.
2:13.0	Follow Think Twice, Michael Jackson, an audible or the Amazon Music app.
2:17.0	In a four-part series, The Generation Y Podcast unravels the story of Khalif Browder, a young boy falsely accused of stealing a backpack and held it Reiker's Island for three years without trial.
2:29.0	This is a story about a young life caught in the middle of the justice system.
2:33.0	Listen to Generation Y on Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
2:49.0	Joan Donovan, welcome to Fighting Coronavirus.
2:52.0	Thank you. It's great to be here.
	...

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