"Big, If True" is a webinar series from the Technology and Social Change Research Project at the Shorenstein Center. Hosted by Dr. Joan Donovan, the series focuses on media manipulation, disinformation, and the future of democracy during a pandemic. In this special episode, Dr. Donovan talks with Jesse Bender, a manager for Steak-umms' Twitter account, about the brand's recent success with viral messaging combating misinformation around the COVID-19 pandemic. What roles are brand social media accounts playing in today's information ecosystem? How does a sliced frozen meat product become a trusted voice of reason and leader of an online community (and what, exactly, is the Steak-umms community)? Listen in to find out!

Big, If True: Disappointingly, Steak-umm is Not a Talking Steak.

The Shorenstein Center Media and Politics Podcast features insight and expertise from leading voices at the intersection of media, politics and public policy. Prominent journalists, editors and academics address topics such as the media industry, campaigns and politics, foreign policy, race and gender, and technology.

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Hosts: Erica Licht and Nikhil Raghuveera Featuring: Mari Halbutta (Chickasaw Nation) and Talia Landry (Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe)  The Untying Knots Podcast explores how people and organizations are untying knots of systems of oppression and working towards a more equitable future. In this episode of Untying Knots, Erica Licht and Nikhil Raguveera focus on Native land rights and sovereignty. Through interviews with key members of the Chickasaw Nation and the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, we explore how two Tribes are fighting in the US legal system for their land and rightful recognition. Mari Halbutta and Talia Landry put into perspective recent litigation amidst a broader history of political oppression and violence. The cases reveal renewed attempts at erasure and termination of Native people, and in turn, unwavering Native organizing and resistance. Untying Knots is supported by the Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center, the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project, and the Atlantic Council GeoTech Center. Thanks to Mari Halbutta, Talia Landry, and Eric Henson.   Learn More: Chickasaw Nation: https://chickasaw.net/ Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe: https://mashpeewampanoagtribe-nsn.gov/ Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin MacLeod Link:  https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5025-beauty-flow License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ She Gives Me by Moby courtesy of mobygratis.com

Untying Knots: Episode 3 - Native Land Rights and the Ongoing Fight for Justice

Hosts: Nikhil Raghuveera and Erica Licht Featuring: Karla Nicholson (Haymarket People’s Fund) and Lucas Turner-Owens (Boston Ujima Project) Hundreds of years of racist institutional policies have denied wealth to Black, Indigenous, and communities of color. In this current period of uprising, resistance, and crisis on racial injustice, organizational leaders are asking: what does it look like to make structural change for racial justice? Two organizations in Boston, the Haymarket People’s Fund and the Boston Ujima Project, provide a critical model for applying an anti-racist lens to operations, mission, ongoing learning, and accountability. In the first episode of Untying Knots, recent Harvard Kennedy School MPA graduates and hosts Nikhil Raghuveera and Erica Licht (of the IARA Project Team at the Shorenstein Center) take a closer look at the history of institutional racism in lending, and efforts locally to re-think radical redistribution of power and resources. Interviews with key staff at both organizations reveal how they translate their mission to anti-racist funding mechanisms. Haymarket’s story demonstrates a twenty year organizational journey of working towards anti-racist change, and Ujima provides a model for equitable community lending. The Untying Knots Podcast explores how people and organizations are reimagining society and dismantling systems of oppression.   Notes: Untying Knots is a collaboration between Nikhil Raghuveera and Erica Licht. It is supported by Dr. Megan Ming Francis. Thanks to Karla Nicholson, Lucas Turner- Owens, Carolyn Chou and Alex Papali. Learn More: Haymarket People’s Fund: https://www.haymarket.org/ Boston Ujima Project: https://www.ujimaboston.com/ People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond: https://www.pisab.org/ Asian American Resource Workshop: https://www.aarw.org/ Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5025-beauty-flow License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Untying Knots: Episode 1 - Transforming Wealth Inequity Through Anti-Racist Funding

Magazines that cover American public affairs, culture, and life have long held an important place in American journalism. But the magazine industry, like the rest of journalism, has struggled in recent years.  This special edition of our podcast is an audio version of Heidi Legg's new Shorenstein Center Paper "Preserving America's Thought Leader Magazines." https://shorensteincenter.org/preserving-americas-thought-leader-magazines The paper starts with a brief history of the thought leader magazine with an emphasis on how they built trust, which is key to attracting loyal readers. The discussion then turns to  brand affinity, as it relates to trust and affects revenue streams. Finally, the paper examines how six leading thought leader magazines – New York Magazine, Mother Jones, Wired, The Information, The Atlantic, and Rolling Stone – are all responding to changing public demand and delivery.  Thanks to Harvard College student Andrew Zucker for producing this audio paper.

Preserving America's Thought Leader Magazines

How does news and truth survive, when trust in what is fact has suffered and people live in bubbles of isolated realities fed by polarized and fragmented media sources? What is the role of narrative storytelling in this new media landscape?  Thomas Patterson is the Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press at Harvard Kennedy School, and the author of the recent book "How America Lost Its Mind: The Assault on Reason that is Crippling America." He talks with former Shorenstein Center Fellow and Filmmaker-in-Residence Gabriel London, whose paper titled "Hanging by a Thread: Serialized Narratives in a Post-Factual Era" was just published at ShorensteinCenter.org. 

Big, If True: Disappointingly, Steak-umm is Not a Talking Steak.

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