How To Correct Misinformation

Short Wave

NPR

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4.7 • 6.6K Ratings

🗓️ 5 August 2021

⏱️ 14 minutes

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Summary

(Encore episode) The World Health Organization has called the spread of misinformation around the coronavirus an "infodemic." So what do you do when it's somebody you love spreading the misinformation? In this episode, Maddie talks with Invisibilia's Yowei Shaw about one man's very unusual approach to correcting his family. And we hear from experts about what actually works when trying to combat misinformation.

For more on how to do science communication right, check out our earlier episode How To Talk About The Coronavirus With Friends And Family.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Combating misinformation in this pandemic is just as relevant now as it was when we first
0:05.5	put out this episode more than a year ago, especially as we try to get as many people vaccinated as
0:11.7	possible. So we're re-upping this episode today. It's got some really useful strategies to fight
0:17.9	misinformation. Okay, here's the show. You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
0:25.1	Matty Sifai here today with Yoay Shah from Invisibilia, NPR's sister pod about human behavior,
0:32.9	Hey, Yoay. Hey, Matty. What do you got? Okay, so you know how one of the big problems right now
0:40.4	seems to be like all the misinformation flying around. Some public health officials are calling
0:46.8	an infodem. Journalists find themselves debunking wild claims of false tweets. Right, and it's like
0:54.4	especially tricky right now because there's so much we don't know yet. Yeah, which makes it
0:59.8	easier for misinformation to flourish, unfortunately. Right. And I've been thinking about one particular
1:06.6	drama in all this. Like, what do you do when it's somebody you love who's spreading the misinformation?
1:14.4	Right, right. Which is why I was so excited to come across this guy in London named Kush Unadkat
1:21.2	and his misinformation problem. It starts back in March in the form of a WhatsApp message from
1:27.2	his dad who lives back in Kenya. It was some natural remedy for coronavirus like boiling lemons and
1:34.4	orange and black pepper for some reason. It was just really odd. And Kush, he just ignores the
1:40.3	message, brushes it off. But a few days later, his dad sends another message about a false coronavirus
1:46.9	remedy. And this time, Kush decides to say something on the phone when they're catching up.
1:52.4	Dad, like this is nonsense. I don't know why you're saying this crap. It's like, okay fine, I'll stop.
1:57.7	Oh, that was easy. Well, not so fast. Because a few days later, the very same cycle happens again.
2:06.5	Dad, can you just stop fooling me this crap? He'd be like, yeah, but I just thought you'd find it
2:10.0	interesting. Over and over, rinse and repeat. Dad, there's no source. I don't really need to read
2:15.4	this. You know, it's quite a... Come on, Dad, seriously. Okay, cool.
	...

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