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CARP Radio

By Character Assassination and Reputation Politics Lab

The official podcast of George Mason University's Character Assassination and Reputation Politics Research Lab. Every month, we bring on new guests to explore the science of scandal and how individuals and organizations can protect themselves against attack. Learn more about our mission at carpresearchlab.org.
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The Art and Science of Psychological Profiling, with Dr. Ekaterina Egorova

CARP Radio Jul 06, 2021

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54:11
Fake News, Real Money: How the Adtech Industry Monetizes Misinformation (with Dr. Joshua Braun)

Fake News, Real Money: How the Adtech Industry Monetizes Misinformation (with Dr. Joshua Braun)

Advertising: whether on- or offline, it’s everywhere. However, twenty-first advertisers no longer just operate out of Madison Avenue boardrooms. Today's "mad men" are part of the adtech industry, the complex network of advertisers, platforms, and publishers that operates just below the Internet's surface. In online auction houses known as ad exchanges, the biggest companies in the world bid on a valuable commodity- our attention.

Like the adtech industry, online disinformation is big business. In 2020, websites promoting COVID-19 conspiracy theories and disinformation raked in over 25 million dollars in ad revenue in just five months. They hosted ads from some of the world’s biggest brands and organizations, including Pepsi, Comcast, and even the CDC. So how could something like this happen? In this interview with CARP's Deirdre Jane Prigge, digital media scholar Dr. Josh Braun explains how “normal accidents” rooted in the design of the digital world allow bad actors to profit off fake news, spread junk information, and even destroy local journalism.

Show Notes

Joshua Braun is an associate professor of journalism at the University of Massachusetts Amherst whose work examines sociological questions surrounding online media distribution. Josh's papers have appeared have appeared in Communication Theory, Communication, Culture & Critique, JournalismDigital Journalism, and Journalism Practice. His book on the digital distribution of TV news, “This program is brought to you by… : Distributing television news online" was published in 2015 by Yale University Press. Josh is also co-editor of ⁠Distribution Matters⁠, a series of books on media distribution from The MIT Press. In recent years, Josh has begun a second line of research into the ways problems with the digital advertising ecosystem affect the health of news media. He is currently working on a new book for MIT Press about the civic impacts of media distribution. For updates on Josh's work, check out his website.

Josh received his Ph.D. and M.S. in Communication from Cornell University. He also holds a master's in Bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania and an individual-concentration bachelor's degree in "Sciences in the Media" from the University of California Santa Barbara Josh is an affiliated fellow of the Information Society Project at Yale Law School, a former graduate fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, and a founding member of the "Culture Digitally" NSF working group.




 

Mar 21, 202301:20:27
The Delusion of Power: A Critical Media Literacy Education with Nolan Higdon

The Delusion of Power: A Critical Media Literacy Education with Nolan Higdon

Whether they call it misinformation, disinformation, or fake news, most keen observers of contemporary politics understand that the power to rapidly spread large volumes of false information has had seismic effects on our politics, relationships, families, and communities. Today's guest offers a provocative counterpoint to these claims, arguing that much of the current discourse over disinformation has become a “moral panic" in which accusations of fake news are used as reputational attacks to silence outsiders and reify old hegemonies.

In this interview with CARP's Deirdre Jane Prigge, critical media literacy scholar Dr. Nolan Higdon offers an alternative diagnosis of what's wrong with our media landscape, pinning the blame on an economic system that misleads consumers about how much power they really hold. Higdon explains what critical media literacy is, how it differs from conventional “acritical” approaches, and what thoughtful media consumers should look out for when trying to determine whether the latest eye-catching scoop is just more fake news. Nolan and Deirdre also chat about the importance of empathy, especially when trying to communicate productively with people who have been misinformed.

If you liked this episode, comment, subscribe, leave us a 5-star rating,  and share it with your friends and family. We really appreciate it.

Show Notes

Nolan Higdon, EdD, is an author and university lecturer at Merrill College and the Education Department at University of California, Santa Cruz. Higdon’s areas of concentration include podcasting, digital culture, news media history, and critical media literacy. Higdon is a regular contributor to Savage Minds and a Project Censored National Judge. He is the author of The Anatomy of Fake News: A Critical News Literacy Education (University of California Press, 2020). His most recent publications include Let’s Agree to Disagree: A Critical Thinking Guide to Communication, Conflict Management, and Critical Media Literacy (Routledge, 2022) with Mickey Huff, The Podcaster’s Dilemma: Decolonizing Podcasters in the Era of Surveillance Capitalism (Wiley, 2021) with Nicholas Baham III, and "Being on the Outside of the Inside of the Ivory Tower: Nontenured Part-Time Faculty’s Attitudes Toward Their Colleagues and Management," an qualitative investigation of elitism in higher education (University of Toronto Press, 2023). Higdon has been a source of expertise for CBS, NBC, The New York Times, and The San Francisco Chronicle.

To keep up with Higdon’s latest work and upcoming projects, subscribe to his Substack and follow his Twitter @nolan_higdon.

Feb 23, 202301:28:34
The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Reputation, with Martin Gurri

The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Reputation, with Martin Gurri

In 1962, media theorist Marshall McLuhan predicted that new communication technologies would transform the world into a “global village” in which the movement of ideas would no longer be constrained by geography. More pessimistically, McLuhan also said that the global village would “absolutely [ensure] maximal disagreement on all points.” 60 years later, the global village has become a reality- and the public is more divided and distrustful than ever.
In this episode, CARP media outreach director Deirdre Jane Prigge speaks with former CIA media analyst Martin Gurri, whose 2014 book
The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium details how a “tsunami of information” has stripped institutions of the authority they once took for granted. He joins us on the podcast to explain who the public and the elite are, why the public is so receptive to character assassination attempts, and how "old-fashioned virtues" like humility and courage can help individuals and organizations protect their reputations in a media environment hungry for scandal. Martin and Deirdre also discuss why prophecy is useless, the greatness of Leonard Bernstein, and how Martin became a hero in France.
If you liked this episode, comment, subscribe, leave us a 5-star rating, and share it with your friends and family. We really appreciate it.
Show Notes Martin Gurri is an author specializing in the relationship of politics and global media who has been praised for foreshadowing the political shocks of Brexit and the rise of Donald Trump. Mr. Gurri has published numerous articles, studies, and opinion pieces on geopolitical- and media-related topics. His blog, The Fifth Wave, pursues the themes first elaborated in The Revolt of the Public. He is also a George Mason alum and visiting research fellow at the Mercatus Center.
For more updates about the CARP Lab's work, check out our website. We're also on Twitter @CARP_Lab.

Jan 05, 202201:01:49
The Power (and Pain) of Silence, with Dr. Kipling D. Williams

The Power (and Pain) of Silence, with Dr. Kipling D. Williams

This year, the CARP Lab’s annual conference was dedicated to cancel culture, which we define as the practice of expelling people from their social or professional circles due to real or alleged offensive behavior. Those who are “canceled” may be scapegoated, stigmatized, and publicly shamed. Whether rightly or wrongly, canceled people often feel that they have been silenced and are unable to speak up for themselves. 

Although cancel culture is often associated with the rise of social media, social exclusion and ostracism are much older phenomena. That's why we were so lucky to speak with Dr. Kipling D. Williams, a Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Purdue University who is widely recognized as the world’s leading authority on ostracism and social rejection.

In this episode, Deirdre Jane Prigge and Dr. Williams discuss ostracism’s evolutionary roots, how it works, and why no one is immune to its effects. He also explains how a chance encounter with two Frisbee players led to the development of his ball toss and Cyberball experiments, innovative methods to study how ostracism works in the lab. Finally, Dr. Williams shares why some people recover from ostracism more quickly than others, what we can learn from the stories of amazing people who survived and thrived after experiencing ostracism and exclusion, and how you can help others cope with its effects. 

We truly hope that this episode can be of help to anyone who feels isolated, ignored, or excluded. Ostracism is incredibly painful, but it can be overcome. Finally, if someone you know is dealing with ostracism, don’t be afraid to reach out and form a connection. Even one smile or kind word can make a huge difference. 

If you liked this episode, comment, subscribe, leave us a 5-star rating, and share it with your friends and family. We really appreciate it.

Show Notes

Dr. Williams is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Purdue University. His work primarily addresses social influence, which he calls the heart of social psychology. Dr. Williams has conducted research into many areas of social psychology, including ostracism, social loafing and social compensation, internet research, stealing thunder, and psychology and law. You can read more of his work here.

For more updates about the CARP Lab's work, check out our website. We're also on Twitter @CARP_Lab.

Oct 13, 202101:08:53
Political Communications 101 with Sarah Isgur

Political Communications 101 with Sarah Isgur

On shows like Scandal and House of Cards, political consultants are all-powerful masterminds able to spin any scandal, hide any indiscretion, and transform small-time politicians into big-name front-runners. However, this “spin doctor” image owes more to media myth-making than real-life political communications.

In this episode, CARP media outreach director Deirdre Jane Prigge speaks with Sarah Isgur, former Justice Department spokeswoman and legal podcaster par excellence. Sarah draws from her experience on three presidential campaigns and in all three branches of government to explain what political communications professionals really do, why some character attacks work and others fail, and why Olympic curling is the best metaphor for political communications. She also shares what it was like to prepare Carly Fiorina for the 2016 Republican primary debates, her experiences as a target of character assassination, and her tips for aspiring communications professionals. 

Finally, Sarah reveals a few things you won’t hear anywhere else, like which Republican primary candidate was always lonely in the greenroom, the difficulties of finding a woman’s bathroom in the Ronald Reagan Building, and what it's like to get a voicemail from the National Enquirer. 

If you liked this episode, comment, subscribe, leave us a 5-star rating, and share it with your friends and family. We really appreciate it.

Show Notes

Sarah Isgur is a staff writer for the Dispatch. She writes about political campaigns for her weekly newsletter, the Sweep, and discusses the courts with her co-host David French on the Advisory Opinions podcast. You can also find her on Twitter @Whignewtons.

For more updates about the CARP Lab's work, check out our website. We're also on Twitter @CARP_Lab.

Sep 01, 202101:02:40
The Art and Science of Psychological Profiling, with Dr. Ekaterina Egorova
Jul 06, 202154:11
The Savage Mirror: Political Humor, Caricature, and Saturday Night Live, with Dr. Chris Gilbert
Jun 27, 202150:13
Toppling Statues and the Damnation of Memory, with Martijn Icks and Eric Shiraev
Jun 19, 202151:55
Talking Character Assassination and Political Campaigns with Jason Jay Smart
Jun 17, 202153:31
Villains or Minions? An Interview with Author and Sociologist James Jasper
Jun 14, 202157:23
An Interview with Eric Dezenhall, Author and Crisis Management Guru
Jun 07, 202151:01