logo
episode-header-image
Jul 22
44m 6s

Weapons of Mass Distraction

Long Lead & PRX
About this episode

North Korea hacks a movie studio over a screwball comedy, inspiring America’s enemies to launch cyberattacks against the U.S. To roil an election, one even unleashes a network of trolls pitting ordinary Americans against each other, online and in the streets.

Up next
Aug 5
The Red Pill
A toxic army of trolls goes after women in the gaming industry, giving birth to an online movement of disaffected men. This "manosphere" contributes to the resurgence of Donald Trump and a constitutional crisis that holds American democracy in the balance. 
1h 4m
Jul 29
Going Viral
After the twin disasters of the massacre in Myanmar and the 2016 election, social media undergoes a reckoning in the halls of Congress… until a novel virus uncorks a global pandemic and a contagion of hoaxes, conspiracies, and lies online. 
55m 15s
Jul 15
Enragement Equals Engagement
With the dawn of the newsfeed, Facebook begins a mass experiment on the human psyche — what we like and hate, what makes us happy and angry. Over the course of a decade, its algorithm drives the world to like, comment, and eventually, kill. 
36m 40s
Recommended Episodes
May 2024
“The Message” | The Threat of Cultural Evil (Part 2)
Last week, we discussed the political and legal framework of McCarthyism, but far more important is how it impacted ordinary citizens who were not Soviet agents. McCarthy and HUAC regularly labeled Americans as threats simply for their political beliefs, which were often counterc ... Show More
17m 2s
Jun 2024
Supermajority: The Covenant Moms
In 2023, a mass shooter attacked The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, and three mothers were compelled to act. Their mission: help pass some kind of gun control in one of the reddest states in the country, a state where the Republican Party has ... Show More
48m 51s
Apr 2025
The Birth of the SS
April 4, 1925. Paranoid about rivals within the Nazi Party, Adolf Hitler establishes a personal bodyguard that answers to him alone. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.Go to HistoryDaily.com f ... Show More
15m 23s
Aug 2019
There Are the “Maybe” Factors, and Then There’s the Rifle Factor.
On The Gist, this weekend’s mass shooters had different motives. It won’t do to draw lessons from just one of them. In the interview, Amherst College professor Austin Sarat wants to enlist gun owners themselves in the fight for firearm regulation. “48 percent of gun owners favor ... Show More
28m 33s
Sep 19
The Camilla Massacre
September 19, 1868. White supremacists attack a peaceful march protesting the expulsion of Black legislators from the Georgia state legislature. This episode originally aired in 2023.Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more.History Daily is a co-producti ... Show More
16m 47s
Oct 2021
MEMES, Pt. 6: Call me... The Punisher
The Punisher has always been a complicated Marvel antihero: a man whose creator imagined him as a reaction to the failures of government at home and in the Vietnam War. So why is the Punisher’s trademark dripping skull insignia — a menacing image used throughout history to denote ... Show More
40m 32s
Oct 2024
John Birch vs. the PTA
In the 1960s, a right-wing organization led by a former candy tycoon rose to fame in America for their anti-communist campaigns. They called themselves the John Birch Society. Then, they tried to take over the Parent-Teacher Association. This week, what the battle between the two ... Show More
32m 39s
Feb 2025
PKK leader Ocalan calls for group to disband and Nvidia beats revenue forecasts
The leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, Abdullah Ocalan made a historic call for the group to lay down arms and disband. Meanwhile, escalating violence in Jenin and Tulkarm has displaced 40,000 Palestinians, recalling decades-old military operations and adding to Gaza' ... Show More
5m 22s
Oct 2024
John Birch vs. the PTA
In the 1960s, a right-wing organization led by a former candy tycoon rose to fame in America for their anti-communist campaigns. They called themselves the John Birch Society. Then, they tried to take over the Parent-Teacher Association. This week, what the battle between the two ... Show More
33m 8s
Mar 2025
The Trio
When a trio of men enter Cherokee National Forest but only two come out, law enforcement works fast to figure out what exactly happened that left so much bloodshed on the riverbanks.View source material and photos for this episode at: parkpredators.com/the-trio Park Predators is ... Show More
31m 5s