Is that a fact?

In this special episode of “Is that a fact?” we explore why some people remain hesitant to get one of the COVID-19 vaccines, despite growing evidence that inoculation is the key to getting our lives and the economy back on track, and we consider how much misinformation is to blame.

In our season finale, Enrique Acevedo of CBS’ “60 in 6,” Dr. Joan Donovan of the Shorenstein Center and Jane Lytvynenko of BuzzFeed News discuss how misinformation impacted the 2020 elections and what the near future of misinformation might look like.

In our penultimate episode of the season, we speak to Jennifer Kavanagh, senior political scientist at RAND corporation, who describes a growing phenomenon she and her colleagues call “Truth Decay” and why Americans are rejecting formally trusted institutions.

In this episode, Cindy Otis, a former CIA analyst who is now the vice president for analysis for Alethea Group, where she leads disinformation investigations in the private sector explains why conspiracy theories have become more mainstream, what’s lending them such currency and what we can do to inoculate ourselves against them.

We speak to Gilbert Bailon, the editor-in-chief of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, about the importance of local news to American democracy and why we all should care about the loss of local newspapers across the country.

Rebecca Aguilar, a multiple Emmy award-winning reporter who recently became the first Latina president-elect of the Society of Professional Journalists, talks about how the gatekeeping role of journalists has been altered by the internet and social media, what’s been lost, but also what’s been gained.

Deen Freelon, associate professor at the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at UNC, Chapel Hill talks about how foreign adversaries, and particularly the Internet Research Agency in Russia, are using social media platforms against us.

In this episode, our guest is Kara Swisher, one of the premiere tech columnists in the country, who talked about how social media platforms have affected our ability to talk to one another.

In this episode, we speak to Filipina journalist Maria Ressa about the rise of misinformation, the role of tech in misinformation and her battles with President Duterte.

In this episode, we speak to Michael Luo, editor of the newyorker.com, about a piece he wrote on The Hutchins Commission which was formed during World War II to decide how the press could serve democracy during a period of intense political strife and distrust in the media.

In our premiere episode of this first season of our podcast, we talk to Dartmouth government professor Brendan Nyhan about the state of American democracy today.