Yesterday

Arsenic and Lace: The Trial of the Yorkshire Witch - with Maddy Pelling

Mary Bateman lived in Yorkshire in the late 18th Century, an age that prized rational thought. Many people still longed to believe in the old ways and Bateman used this to her advantage, selling spells and enchantments to the desperate. Dr Maddy Pelling, co-host of the After Dark ... Show More

43m 31s

Jul 24

The Doors of Death: The Herald of Free Enterprise

The Herald of Free Enterprise is a new class of ferry that allows cars to drive directly into the ship. The doors must be closed before every departure, or the ship sails with a gaping hole at one end. One black night in 1987, on the freezing waters off Zebrugge, Belgium, a singl ... Show More

37m 48s

Jul 17

"What a Bloody Mess we're in" - Britain's [REDACTED] Accident

Windscale is supposed to be Britain's big leap into the nuclear age, bringing science fiction to life in 1950s Northern England. But in the race to catch up with America's nuclear program, scientists are tinkering with forces they don't fully understand. When the reactor catches ... Show More

40m 32s

Feb 2021

Why we believe what isn't true

We're no stranger to stories about misinformation or deliberate disinformation. We live in a world where now more than ever, you have to be skeptical. That skepticism can be healthy, but it also can be used to cast more doubt and misinformation on data and statistics that are ver ... Show More

10m 26s

Jan 2023

How To Be A Skeptic

There's a lot of information out there these days -- and, unfortunately, a lot of it isn't true. But how can we learn to discern fact from fiction? In today's episode, Ben, Matt and Noel explore the basis of critical thought and skepticism, and how your own brain can conspire aga ... Show More

1h 1m

Jul 2021

The Truth about Fake News, with Marcus Gilroy-Ware and Richard Seymour

We are supposed to have more information at our disposal now than at any time in history. So why, in a world of rising sea levels, populist leaders and a global pandemic, do so many people believe bizarre and untrue things? In this week's episode Marcus Gilroy-Ware speaks to Ri ... Show More

45m 41s

Jun 2017

Why do people believe things that aren’t true?

In the face of our "post-truth" era of politics, it's hard to know what to believe. According to psychology research, whether we know it or not, most of us harbor false beliefs. Do you?

8m 17s

Jul 2024

Where Truth Lies

<p>When we think about misinformation, we often focus on blatant errors or deliberate attempts to deceive us. But in recent years, social scientists have found that misinformation comes in many flavors — many of which are far more subtle than obvious falsehoods. These forms of mi ... Show More

51m 16s

Dec 2019

How we can protect truth in the age of misinformation | Sinan Aral

Fake news can sway elections, tank economies and sow discord in everyday life. Data scientist Sinan Aral demystifies how and why it spreads so quickly -- citing one of the largest studies on misinformation -- and identifies five strategies to help us unweave the tangled web betwe ... Show More

15m 6s

Apr 2024

Perception vs Reality

As with last week, we are doing something a little different. Jemar Tisby & EP Beau York are talking about the importance of understanding history and combating prevalent fictitious narratives, especially in the era of AI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adc ... Show More

31m 22s

Nov 2020

EP 3: Why do we believe lies?

Honesty is a core value in most cultures. But humanity has always been obsessed with untruths, from little white lies to vast conspiracy theories. Bill and Rashida are joined by Sapiens author and historian Yuval Noah Harari to talk about why we’re so willing to believe falsehood ... Show More

45m 29s

Sep 2018

WS: More or Less - How well do you understand your world?

Tim Harford talks to Bobby Duffy about why we are often wrong about a lot of basic facts

8m 58s

Bonus: Why We Believe What Isn't True (w...