Misleading news stories. Propaganda. Conspiracy theories. Misinformation has always been with us, but with the rise of social media it can spread farther and faster than ever. Sander van der Linden, PhD, of Cambridge University, talks about why we’re so vulnerable to misinformation, how much we’re really all exposed to, why misinformation spreads like a viru ... Show More
Oct 8
Dyslexia myths, misconceptions and facts, with Tim Odegard, PhD
Dyslexia is one of the most common learning differences, yet it’s still widely misunderstood. Tim Odegard, PhD, talks about how dyslexia is diagnosed and defined; his own experience growing up with dyslexia; how kids at risk can be identified early; what interventions work best; ... Show More
39m 5s
Oct 1
Lefties, righties and mixed-handers: The psychology of brain asymmetry, with Sebastian Ocklenburg, PhD
Left-handers make up about 10.6 percent of the world’s population. Sebastian Ocklenburg, PhD, talks about why handedness and other brain asymmetries exist; the genetic and environmental factors that influence handedness; whether there’s any truth to the stereotype that lefties ar ... Show More
36m 46s
Sep 24
Teens, AI and the science of risky decisions, with Valerie Reyna, PhD
You might think the best way to make decisions is to know all the facts. But psychologists’ research suggests that getting the “gist” – the core meaning behind the facts – is more important than focusing on every last detail. Valerie Reyna, PhD, talks about why gist matters; how ... Show More
34m 33s
Jan 2022
Ep 29: Why do people share false information — and what can we do about it?
Why do people share false information? In this episode, our presenters Ginny Smith and Jon Sutton explore the psychology of misinformation. They hear about the factors that make people more or less likely to share misinformation, discuss strategies to correct false information, a ... Show More
20m 45s
Apr 2023
How to battle misinformation with Sander van der Linden
In the latest episode of Nature hits the books, psychologist Sander van der Linden joins us to discuss his new book Foolproof, which focuses on misinformation and what can be done to prevent people being duped, particularly by the falsehoods found online.We discuss how misinforma ... Show More
24m 6s
Dec 2018
S1 Ep7: Has AI changed the way we find the truth?
Around the world, automated bot accounts have enabled some government agencies and political parties to exploit online platforms in dispersing messages, using keywords to game algorithms, and discrediting legitimate information on a mass scale. Through this they can spread junk ... Show More
1h 4m
Nov 2023
337. The Role of Critical Thinking in Resisting Misinformation - Sander van der Linden
In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, social psychologist and Director of the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab, Sander van der Linden, joins host Melina Palmer to discuss the role of critical thinking and emotions in resisting misinformation. Sander's extensive rese ... Show More
49m 19s
Oct 2021
The Evidence: When misinformation kills
A maelstrom of misinformation and its sinister cousin, disinformation, have been swirling all around us about Covid-19. The rumours and conspiracy theories have raced around the globe as fast as the virus itself.Untruths, half-truths, misunderstandings and deliberate mischief-mak ... Show More
50m 35s
Jul 2020
Hany Farid on Deep Fakes, Doctored Photos and Disinformation
This week on Lawfare's Arbiters of Truth series on disinformation, Evelyn Douek and Quinta Jurecic spoke with Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, whose work focuses on analyzing and identifying altered photo and video—what’s known as digital image f ... Show More
53m 1s
Aug 2022
How Covid changed science, part 2
In the second of our series How Covid Changed Science, Devi Sridhar, Professor of Global Health at Edinburgh University looks at the scientific messaging. Just how do you explain to both politicians and the public that a growing global pandemic is likely to kill many people, and ... Show More
27m 50s