Hi, this is Katio Rogers, executive producer of On the Media.

This holiday week we're featuring a series of conversations about an alarming loss of trust, faith and devotion by Americans for American democracy.

This mini-series is part of a month-long campaign called The Purple Project for Democracy,

a strictly non-partisan apolitical effort.

Our very own Bob Garfield is one of the Purple Project organizers.

We recommend that you listen to this series in order.

This is episode two in which Bob looks into misinformation, disinformation,

and the toll of civic illiteracy.

This is Pizza Gate.

It is absolutely possible that Hillary Clinton, Bull Clinton, Barack Obama, John Podesta,

James Elephantas and Jeffrey Epstein could be involved in a child trafficking ring.

The Pizza Gate pedophile conspiracy, crisis actors at Sandy Hook, the flat earthers, and on and on and on.

All absolute baloney, handled by the cynical and naive and eagerly

lapped up by the gullible. Misinformation is a problem that Brendan Nihann, a professor of government

at Dartmouth College, has studied for years. Brendan, welcome back to the show.

It's great to be here. There have always been so-called low-information voters.

Even when every school kid knew the branches of government and the justices of the Supreme Court, it's been like that.

But something has changed.

What has changed?

What I worry about is that the combination of a more partisan time and new communication media,

making it possible for misinformation to move faster and to reach more receptive audiences,

perhaps than ever before.

...