How to Be a Citizen in the Information War (And Stay Sane)

Galaxy Brain

The Atlantic

Technology

4.5 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 30 January 2026

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On this week’s Galaxy Brain, Charlie Warzel opens with what it means to live in 2026, when our phones can drop us into graphic, real-time violence without warning—and when documenting that violence can be both traumatizing and politically consequential. Using recent footage out of Minneapolis as a lens, he explores the uneasy collision of algorithmic feeds, misinformation, and the moral weight of witnessing. Charlie also traces how viral documentation can puncture official narratives, pushing stories beyond political circles and into unexpectedly “apolitical” corners of the internet, even as platform-ownership shifts and suspected censorship (or outages that look like censorship) deepen public paranoia about who controls what we see. Then, Charlie is joined by Amanda Litman, a political digital strategist and the co-founder of Run for Something. They discuss how to be a good citizen in the information war without losing your mind. Specifically: In an age of algorithmic fragmentation and billionaire-owned platforms, does sharing that devastating image or news article actually accomplish anything? Or is it just performative activism? Together they explore how nonpolitical creators and everyday people can be especially persuasive messengers, and how to pair online engagement with offline activism. It’s an episode about how to stay engaged without surrendering your nervous system and how to use the internet as a tool for connection, clarity, and action, not just despair. Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at theAtlantic.com/listener. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:47.7	I think there's like a hesitation that some people have,
0:52.6	especially after the last five years,
0:59.1	I don't just want to post and have like performative activism. I don't just want to do virtue signaling.
1:04.2	I think virtue signaling is good. I think it is good to want to show people you're a good person.
1:14.4	I'm Charlie Worsett, and this is GalaxyBrin.
1:21.9	For the last few weeks, I've been obsessing over a question, the answer to which may be impossible to know.
1:27.0	What do we do with this window we have to the world?
1:47.0	We're living in this moment of genuine chaos in a decade that's already been full of global conflicts at botched insurrection, a pandemic, political dysfunction, all of that colliding on an internet full of conspiracy theorizing, synthetic AI slop, endless memes.
1:55.2	Our phones bring us delights and numbing distractions, but also fresh horrors every day.
2:01.9	Maybe you, like me, woke up last week and found yourself faced with a series of auto-playing videos of agents mobbing Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Maybe you watched as an agent shot him while he lay on his
2:07.4	knees on the street. Or maybe a few weeks ago your phone showed you the amateur video,
	...

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