In 1980s, In 1985, Martin Amos reported on all the confusion and the misconceptions,

today we'd call it all misinformation, surrounding the AIDS outbreak. Amos relayed the story of a New York TV crew

that walked off a set rather than affix a microphone to an AIDS sufferer's clothing. No one has

ever caught AIDS through casual contact, he then reminded his readers in all italics.

Going the other way, Amos also talked about understandable resistance among social workers

and the gay community to the idea that AIDS is spread by promiscuous unprotected sex.

One vein of paranoia, he wrote, extends to the view that the epidemic was initiated by the CIA as a form of biological warfare. Amos clearly

had a point when he wondered back in 1985 if AIDS was one of those topics about which society actively resists

enlightenment. Just a couple months ago, Brett Weinstein and Joe Rogan were discussing on

Rogan's podcast the long discredited theory that AIDS is caused by using party drugs.

But I digress.

Why have I brought up Amos' mid-80s article?

Because it predates the commercial internet.

These days, we have to remind ourselves on occasion of the obvious point that misinformation and conspiracy theories and crackpot thinking have always been with us and have always, in fact,

been quote, unquote, rampant.

Welcome back to the Tech Policy Podcast.

I'm Corbyn Barthold.

On our next show, I will be joined by Renee Duresta, who will be discussing her new book,

Invisible Rulers, the People Who Turn Lies into Reality.

Renee has a balanced and nuanced view of the effect the Internet is having on people's beliefs.

She does a good job of contextualizing the Internet's impact within a bunch of other societal phenomena.

And she does not romanticize our mass media past. But she does think the internet is having an effect,

...