The Obamas' Lonely Walk on the High Road

Notes from America with Kai Wright

WNYC Studios

News Commentary, Politics, History, News

4.4 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 3 October 2022

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Anti-Obama conspiracy theories and lies about the 2020 election still shape post-truth politics. What, if anything, is to be done about these conspiracies?

It’s been more than a decade since Barack Obama moved into the White House and began his first term as U.S. President. But conspiracy theories about the history-making leader continue to influence today’s political landscape and polarize Americans. The theories run the gamut – from the familiar (Obama’s citizenship) to the familial (calling Michelle Obama’s gender into question). Folklorist and professor at University of California, Los Angeles, Patricia A. Turner Ph.D., has been researching what’s at the root of so many unfounded and unhinged rumors about America’s first Black president and studying why they persist. She joins host Kai Wright to discuss her new book is called Trash Talk: Anti-Obama Lore and Race in the Twenty-First Century, and the connections between these harmful narratives, current political divisions, and digital media.

Companion listening for this episode:

The Line Between Independence and Insurrection (8/4/2022)

Decoding the Jan. 6th Insurrection – what we should have learned from the past and what we must remember for the future.

“Notes from America” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on notesfromamerica.org or on WNYC’s YouTube channel.

We want to hear from you! Connect with us on Instagram and Twitter @noteswithkai or email us at notes@wnyc.org.

Transcript

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0:00.0	As a teacher, I had a unit on conspiracy theories to help teach critical thinking and it was
0:06.2	fun looking at aliens and mystical monsters, but now in the last few years with attacks
0:11.1	on the government and Russia, it's become more of a public service and education tool
0:16.4	to teach about misinformation and disinformation.
0:18.8	I am mother to a six-year-old autistic little girl, family and friends have shared with us
0:25.7	anecdotes.
0:26.7	They've heard of people that became autistic because of taking childhood vaccines.
0:33.1	I started making content on TikTok and was just flooded by this information conspiracy theories
0:39.7	and was chasing them down trying to get people who posted them to remove the content and
0:45.6	no one's really listening to me.
0:47.4	These sorts of things are very hurtful for us and they're very destructive.
0:55.7	It's notes from America, I'm Kai Wright and welcome to the show.
1:15.4	We are a newly national live show, a place to gather, share experiences and talk honestly
1:21.3	about the kind of society we want to create together.
1:24.9	And a special welcome to my people in the Chicago area who are joining us for the first
1:29.2	time this week.
1:30.2	That's my birth city, so I'm particularly glad to have you in the community.
1:34.4	We start this week with an iconic moment in U.S. political history.
1:38.9	The moment when much of the world outside of Chicago first met a new political star.
1:45.2	We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending
1:51.0	the United States of America.
1:56.7	This is of course Barack Obama, he's speaking at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and
	...

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