Lies and disinformation are as old as humanity itself.  But Steven Brill argues that the witches brew of 30-year-old legislative consequences; mixed with technological innovation; and bad actors threaten the lives of democratic institutions and truth itself. 

 Brill is an award-winning journalist, author, and the founder of Court TV, The American Lawyer Magazine, American Lawyer Media, Brill’s Content Magazine, Journalism Online and The Yale Journalism Initiative. He is also the co-founder and co-CEO of NewsGuard, a media platform that rates the reliability of news and information websites. His latest book, “The Death of Truth: How Social Media and the Internet Gave Snake Oil Salesmen and Demagogues the Weapons They Needed to Destroy Trust and Polarize the World – and What We Can Do About it” explores the threat of disinformation on society.  

Lies and disinformation are as old as humanity itself.  But Steven Brill argues that the witches brew of 30-year-old legislative consequences; mixed with technological innovation; and bad actors threaten the lives of democratic institutions and truth itself. 
 Brill is an award-winning journalist, author, and the founder of Court TV, The American Lawyer Magazine, American Lawyer Media, Brill’s Content Magazine, Journalism Online and The Yale Journalism Initiative. He is also the co-founder and co-CEO of NewsGuard, a media platform that rates the reliability of news and information websites. His latest book, “The Death of Truth: How Social Media and the Internet Gave Snake Oil Salesmen and Demagogues the Weapons They Needed to Destroy Trust and Polarize the World – and What We Can Do About it” explores the threat of disinformation on society.

Story in the Public Square is a weekly, 30-minute series that brings audiences to the intersection of storytelling and public affairs. Hosted by Jim Ludes and G. Wayne Miller, Story in the Public Square offers a spirited but respectful dialogue. Often funny, always provocative, each episode of Story in the Public Square
moves beyond traditional public affairs programming to consider the impact of narrative and storytelling on public life today.

Story in the Public Square is a weekly, 30-minute series that brings audiences to the intersection of storytelling and public affairs. Hosted by Jim Ludes and G. Wayne Miller, Story in the Public Square offers a spirited but respectful dialogue. Often funny, always provocative, each episode of Story in the Public Square moves beyond traditional public affairs programming to consider the impact of narrative and storytelling on public life today.

Story in the Public Square

Season 16

Steven Brill on Disinformation in the Modern Era and its Consequences

It may be a scarcity mindset that views plenty as better than a world where nations and people compete over limited, scarce resources.  But Francis Gavin explains that even in a world of plenty, there are vexing international challenges for which the United States is not prepared.  

Gavin is the Giovanni Agnelli Distinguished Professor and the inaugural director of the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins SAIS. He was the first Frank Stanton Chair in Nuclear Security Policy Studies at MIT and the Tom Slick Professor of International Affairs and the Director of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas. Gavin has had fellowships at Harvard University, the University of Texas, and at the Noble Institute. From 2005 until 2010, he directed The American Assembly’s multiyear, national initiative, The Next Generation Project: U.S. Global Policy and the Future of International Institutions. He currently serves on the CIA Historical Panel and is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Gavin is the Co-Founder, Co-Director and Principal Investigator, with James Steinberg, of the Carnegie International Policy Scholars Consortium and Network (IPSCON), and Founder and Director of the Nuclear Studies Research Initiative (NSRI). He’s also the author of a new Adelphi Paper from the International Institute of Strategic Studies: “The Taming of Scarcity and the Problems of Plenty: Rethinking International Relations and American Grand Strategy in a New Era.” 

It may be a scarcity mindset that views plenty as better than a world where nations and people compete over limited, scarce resources.  But Francis Gavin explains that even in a world of plenty, there are vexing international challenges for which the United States is not prepared.  
Gavin is the Giovanni Agnelli Distinguished Professor and the inaugural director of the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins SAIS. He was the first Frank Stanton Chair in Nuclear Security Policy Studies at MIT and the Tom Slick Professor of International Affairs and the Director of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas. Gavin has had fellowships at Harvard University, the University of Texas, and at the Noble Institute. From 2005 until 2010, he directed The American Assembly’s multiyear, national initiative, The Next Generation Project: U.S. Global Policy and the Future of International Institutions. He currently serves on the CIA Historical Panel and is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Gavin is the Co-Founder, Co-Director and Principal Investigator, with James Steinberg, of the Carnegie International Policy Scholars Consortium and Network (IPSCON), and Founder and Director of the Nuclear Studies Research Initiative (NSRI). He’s also the author of a new Adelphi Paper from the International Institute of Strategic Studies: “The Taming of Scarcity and the Problems of Plenty: Rethinking International Relations and American Grand Strategy in a New Era.”

Examining the Implications of International Scarcity and Plenty with Francis Gavin

The shear amount of media generated and consumed in the United States every day is simply staggering.  Eric Deggans reminds us that the stories we tell, tell us something about ourselves—whether those stories are about music, or politics, or race.

Deggans is NPR’s first full-time TV critic and media analyst, providing reviews, feature stories, commentary and guest hosting services for the network’s shows such as “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered,” along with writing for NPR.org and appearing on NPR podcasts such as “Consider This,” “Life Kit,” “Code Switch,” “Pop Culture Happy Hour” and “It’s Been a Minute.” Deggans is also an adjunct instructor at Duke University and Indiana University, a member of the National Advisory Board for the Poynter Institute for Media Studies and chair of the Media Monitoring Committee for the National Association of Black Journalists. From 2017 to 2021, he served as a contributor/media analyst for MSNBC and NBC News. In April 2021, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida gave him its Irene Miller Vigilance in Journalism Award.

The shear amount of media generated and consumed in the United States every day is simply staggering.  Eric Deggans reminds us that the stories we tell, tell us something about ourselves—whether those stories are about music, or politics, or race.
Deggans is NPR’s first full-time TV critic and media analyst, providing reviews, feature stories, commentary and guest hosting services for the network’s shows such as “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered,” along with writing for NPR.org and appearing on NPR podcasts such as “Consider This,” “Life Kit,” “Code Switch,” “Pop Culture Happy Hour” and “It’s Been a Minute.” Deggans is also an adjunct instructor at Duke University and Indiana University, a member of the National Advisory Board for the Poynter Institute for Media Studies and chair of the Media Monitoring Committee for the National Association of Black Journalists. From 2017 to 2021, he served as a contributor/media analyst for MSNBC and NBC News. In April 2021, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida gave him its Irene Miller Vigilance in Journalism Award.

Eric Deggans on The Stories We Tell and the Truths They Reflect About Our World Today

The impact of climate change on the world around us is there for everyone to see—from stronger and more frequent storms to the loss of Arctic Sea ice.  But Sherri Goodman says the threat isn’t just to crops or the polar bears, but to American national security.

Sherri Goodman, Senior Fellow at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program and Polar Institute, and Secretary General of the International Military Council on Climate & Security, is credited with educating a generation of US military and government officials about the nexus between climate change and national security, using her famous coinage, “threat multiplier,” to fundamentally reshape the national discourse on the topic. Sherri serves as Vice Chair of the Secretary of State’s International Security Advisory Board and on the EXIM Bank’s Council on Climate. A former first Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security) and staff member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Goodman has founded, led, or advised nearly a dozen research organizations on environmental and energy matters, national security, and public policy.

The impact of climate change on the world around us is there for everyone to see—from stronger and more frequent storms to the loss of Arctic Sea ice.  But Sherri Goodman says the threat isn’t just to crops or the polar bears, but to American national security.
Sherri Goodman, Senior Fellow at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program and Polar Institute, and Secretary General of the International Military Council on Climate &amp; Security, is credited with educating a generation of US military and government officials about the nexus between climate change and national security, using her famous coinage, “threat multiplier,” to fundamentally reshape the national discourse on the topic. Sherri serves as Vice Chair of the Secretary of State’s International Security Advisory Board and on the EXIM Bank’s Council on Climate. A former first Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security) and staff member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Goodman has founded, led, or advised nearly a dozen research organizations on environmental and energy matters, national security, and public policy.

Steven Brill on Disinformation in the Modern Era and its Consequences

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