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Feb 2022
28m 21s

A Movement to Fight Misinformation... Wi...

The New York Times
About this episode

Birds Aren’t Real, a conspiracy theory with an apparently absurd premise, has become surprisingly popular in the past few years.

But its followers were in on the joke: The movement’s aim was to poke fun at misinformation … by creating misinformation.

Has it been successful?

Guest: Taylor Lorenz, a former technology reporter for The New York Times.

Have you lost a loved one during the pandemic? The Daily is working on a special episode memorializing those we have lost to the coronavirus. If you would like to share their name on the episode, please RECORD A VOICE MEMO and send it to us at thedaily@nytimes.com. You can find more information and specific instructions here.

Background reading: 

  • Among the outlandish claims of the Birds Aren’t Real movement: Our feathered friends are really U.S. government drones used to spy on Americans.

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For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

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