Why Do Politicians Lie?

Reflector

Longview

Society & Culture, Documentary

4.6 • 577 Ratings

🗓️ 16 September 2024

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We are hard at work on several stories that we hope to share with you soon, but today we’re trying something a bit different. We're bringing you a roundtable discussion with Sarah Isgur and Mike Pesca on why politicians and world leaders lie—and what those lies reveal about the state of our society. Sarah Isgur is a lawyer, senior editor at The Dispatch, host of the legal podcast Advisory Opinions, and co-host of Left, Right & Center. She’s previously worked in all three branches of the federal government, including a few years in the Trump Administration, and has been involved with three different presidential campaigns. Mike Pesca, a veteran of NPR, is the host of The Gist, the longest-running daily news podcast, and has covered presidential campaigns and politics for over two decades. We dive deep into whether we’re living in an era of especially egregious lies, the incentives for politicians to lie, how we classify and fact-check lies, and much more. I’ll also add that by the end, we wind up in a place I didn’t expect. LINKS: Listen to Mike Pesca on The Gist Listen to Sarah Isgor on Advisory Opinions, Left, Right & Center and follow her writing at The Dispatch. Thank you to our sponsor Ground News. You can visit them here to learn more: GROUND.NEWS To support our work please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I've always wanted to be on a podcast.
0:04.9	You've always wanted to be on a podcast?
0:06.6	Yes.
0:07.5	Can you say Reflector?
0:09.4	Reflector.
0:12.5	Reflector.
0:13.1	Reflector.
0:14.2	Reflector.
0:14.9	I'm Mandy Mills, and you're listening to Reflector.
0:23.1	Right now, Matt and I are busy working away on several different reported stories that we hope to have ready for you soon.
0:29.7	But in the meantime, for today, we thought we would try something different.
0:33.7	The following is a roundtable discussion about why politicians lie.
0:38.9	And what those lies, or accusations of lies, reveal about our society more broadly.
0:44.6	Our guests are Mike Peska, a fellow alumni of public radio, host of the longest-running daily news podcast, The Gist, and someone who's covered presidential elections and
0:55.6	political campaigns for over two decades. And also Sarah Isger, a lawyer, a senior editor at the
1:02.2	dispatch, host of the legal podcast advisory opinions, and someone with real inside experience
1:08.0	in the world of politics and governing. She has worked in all three branches
1:12.5	of the federal government, including for a few years under the Trump administration, and she
1:17.5	has worked on three different presidential campaigns. And in full disclosure, they're also both my pals.
1:26.9	In our conversation, we get into the complicated incentives for lying, whether or not we are
1:32.6	living through an era of lie inflation, issues with fact-checking, and honestly, by the
1:37.9	end of it, we ended up in a very different place than I expected.
	...

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