In this episode, Julius, Sage, and Hanna talk to University of Michigan professor of Communication and Media and Political Science Josh Pasek about how people process political information in today’s digital public sphere. The conversation breaks down selective exposure and motivated reasoning, why we seek confirming news, reject dissonant facts, and rely on mental shortcuts shaped by our social circles, prior beliefs, and media algorithms. Josh explains how fragmented online information environments and viral extreme content fuel polarization, erode trust, and make democratic deliberation and compromise harder, even when most people aren’t acting maliciously. The episode also explores the need for civic effort, better context in news coverage, and potential system-level fixes—from platform incentives to public media—plus practical habits for intentional media consumption, including adding “friction” to screens and curating a healthier media diet.

Key Takeaways from Josh:

1. Democratic citizenship is not supposed to be easy. Being a citizen in a democracy requires a significant amount of individual effort and hard work to stay informed. Care about the polity as a whole, and look beyond your own narrow group interest.
2. Writing off those who disagree with you as "bad actors" is highly dangerous. Falling into the trap of assuming anyone with an opposing viewpoint is malicious is damaging. It fragments communities and undermines society as a whole.
3. No one else is going to do the work for you. You cannot wait for media platforms or a system-level fix to solve the current information crisis. Individuals have to take personal responsibility, practice intentionality, and put in the legwork to better engage with the information in front of them.

Find out more about Josh on:

• Josh’s website
• His LinkedIn, and Bluesky

Josh’s Media Diet

Meat and potatoes: 

Outlets: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Wired, ProPublica, The Guardian, Bluesky 

Junk Food: Josh is a news junkie, the news is his junk food.

Palate cleanser: 

• Improv classes and curating quality content for his kids: Monty Python, Doctor Who, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

This podcast is part of CAPT’s efforts to encourage open and diverse intellectual exchange. The ideas presented by individuals on the podcast are their own and do not represent Purdue University, which adheres to a policy of institutional neutrality.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this episode! Send us feedback to [email protected]

In this episode Julius, Sage, and Hanna talk to tech journalist, former Chief Digital Officer of New York City, Columbia University, and the Met, and founder of Digimentors, Sree Sreenivasan to discuss misinformation. The conversation traces the problem from email scams and WhatsApp forwards all the way to AI-generated "slop," it's global ramifications, and examines why Silicon Valley's tech moguls are to blame. Yet Sree remains a techno-optimist. He makes the case that improving your media literacy is now a fundamental civic duty. 

Key Takeaways from Sree:

1. Own your role. Every time you doom scroll or share without thinking, you are part of the problem. Every time you put the phone down, read a local newspaper, or correct a bad forward in a group chat, you are making a difference.
2. Stay literate about new technology. The speed of change is only accelerating. Experiment with new tools, test AI by asking it about things you know well, and stay curious about what's coming next.
3. Participate. A handful of Silicon Valley oligarchs are betting that your vote doesn't matter — prove them wrong. The damage being done right now flows from an election margin of 1.5%. Your vote, your voice, and your willingness to make "good trouble" matter more than you think.

Find out more about Sree on:

• Sree’s Substack (sreenet.substack.com)
• His X, YouTube,LinkedIn, and Instagram
• His digital media consultancy, DigiMentors
• New York Times Read Along — his show reading the print paper aloud on social media

Some of the texts, and resources we refer to in this episode:

• The 2009 NYT article How the Media Wrestle with the Web
• Wonder Tools by Jeremy Caplan — breaking down AI and tech for non-experts
• Journalist's Toolbox by Mike Riley — useful for anyone who wants to be a more informed news consumer
• Liza Donnelly — New Yorker cartoonist and Substack writer on media and culture

Sree’s Media Diet

Meat and potatoes: 

Outlets: X, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal

Junk Food: YouTube shorts

This podcast is part of CAPT’s efforts to encourage open and diverse intellectual exchange. The ideas presented by individuals on the podcast are their own and do not represent Purdue University, which adheres to a policy of institutional neutrality.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this episode! Send us feedback to [email protected]

In this episode Julius, Sage, and Hanna sit down with Emmy-winning writer, actor, and comedian Ryan Ken to discuss “digital Blackface,” the use of online Black images, expressions, and likenesses for non-Black self-expression or profit. The conversation dives deep into the complex history of Blackface, from its roots in 19th-century minstrelsy to its insidious modern evolution into reaction memes and a dangerous new era of AI deepfakes. Ryan explores how new technologies are being used to "supercharge" centuries-old racist tropes, the political utility of "rage bait" AI, and how power operates through comedy. Ryan also points out the broader philosophical risk of losing human connection in art to artificial intelligence and highlights that critical thinking means having the humility to admit you can be wrong.

Want to hear more from Ryan? Join them and CAPT for the first annual Summit on Information, Technology, and American Democracy in Indianapolis on April 30th. Register here.

Key Takeaways from Ryan:

1. Be suspicious of video.
2. Don't believe you're too smart to be tricked. 
3. Seek out real, human creativity. 

Find out more about Ryan on:

TikTok (@ryan_ken_acts) 

Instagram (@ryan_ken_acts)

Bluesky (@ryankenacts.bsky.social) 

X (@Ryan_Ken_Acts)

Some of the texts we refer to in this episode:

• Joshua Lumpkin Green’s 2006 article coining the term Blackface: Digital Blackface: The Repackaging of the Black Masculine Image 
• Birth of an Industry: Blackface Minstrelsy and the Rise of American Animation by Nicholas Sammond
• Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism by Dr. Safiya Umoja Noble 
• The Code Switch Podcast’s episode The Evolution of Blackface in the Age of AI
• Jeremy Carrasco’s page devoted to tips for spotting AI @jeremyfindsai
• YK Hong’s page on tech justice and liberatory strategy @ykreborn
• Timnit Gebru’s work on AI and ethics

Ryan’s Media Diet

Meat and potatoes :

Outlets: BlueSky, Democracy Now!, Al Jazeera, NPR, PBS

Individuals: 

Karen Attiah – journalist

Erin in the Morning – trans rights reporting

Vinny Thomas

Caitlin Reilly

Jay Jurdin

This podcast is part of CAPT’s efforts to encourage open and diverse intellectual exchange. The ideas presented by individuals on the podcast are their own and do not represent Purdue University, which adheres to a policy of institutional neutrality.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this episode! Send us feedback to [email protected]

In this episode, Sage, Julius, and Hanna hear from political historian Lily Geismer about the Democratic Party’s decades-long relationship to the tech industry. From the Atari Democrats of the 1970s to Al Gore's dinner-party pipeline with Silicon Valley executives, Lily explains how market-based thinking gradually replaced the social safety net as the party's organizing logic. Lily digs into what that ideological shift produced: derulation that allowed companies like Amazon, Google, and Meta to consolidate into the monopolies we know today. Lily breaks down what that consolidation actually costs the average American — in jobs, in prices, and in access to information — and why the promise that deregulation would help consumers largely never materialized. Her solutions include the enduring case for government regulation and supporting public media.

Key Takeaways from Lily:

1. Big Tech monopolies were built, not born.

2. Doing well and doing good are not the same thing. 

3. Democracy needs a public sector, in media not just in politics. 

Find out more about:

• Dr. Lily Geismer 
• Her X @LGeismer and Bluesky @lilygeismer.bsky.social 
• Her books Left Behind: The Democrats' Failed Attempt to Solve Inequality and Don't Blame Us: Suburban Liberals and the Transformation of the Democratic Party
• The essay collections she’s co-edited: Shaped by the State: Toward a New Political History of the Twentieth Century and Mastery and Drift: Professional-Class Liberals Since the 1960s
• Lily’s episodes of The Dig podcast Race and Class in the Liberal Suburbs and The New Democrats
• Lily’s writing for Jacobin and the Boston Review

Lily’s Media Diet:

• Meat & potatoes: NYT, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, LA Times, NPR, Eastsider LA, The Daily , The Ezra Klein Show , The Dig
• Palate Cleanser:  Borgen, The West Wing, Heated Rivalry (check the full transcript for more)

This podcast is part of CAPT’s efforts to encourage open and diverse intellectual exchange. The ideas presented by individuals on the podcast are their own and do not represent Purdue University, which adheres to a policy of institutional neutrality.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this episode! Send us feedback to [email protected]

In this episode, Sage, Julius, and Hanna sit down with Purdue sociology professor Marcus Mann to discuss why polarization is the wrong framework for understanding our news media. Marcus explains that there are qualitative differences between right-wing and center-left news ecosystems. He argues that where center-left news reporting is largely focused on information dissemination, we can better understand right-wing media if we view it as a quasi-religious phenomenon marked by personality-centered programming, community-building, and defining in-groups and out-groups. Marcus gets into the reasons behind these differences in epistemologies between news reporting and opinion programming, suggests evaluating media by function and funding, and urges seeking social connection beyond political media.

Key Takeaways from Marcus:

1. Media ecosystems on the right and left are different. 
2. The "left needs to find a Joe Rogan" argument misses the point. 
3. Think about function and funding when evaluating media sources. 

Find out more about:

• Dr. Marcus Mann 
• His article with Dan Winchester: Beyond Polarization: RIght-Wing Media as a Quasi-Religious Phenomenon
• His other articles
• His BlueSky

Some of the texts we refer to in this episode:

• The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins 
• Asymmetric Politics: Ideological Republicans and Coalition Democrats by Matt Grossmann & David Hopkins
• Outrage Media by Sarah Sobieraj & Jeffrey Berry
• Irony and Outrage by Dannagal Young
• AllSides Perceived Political Bias Ratings Company
• The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathon Haidt

Marcus’ Media Diet:

Meat and potatoes: New York Times, Associated Press, Reuters, and NPR

Junk Food/Palate Cleanser: Barstool Sports

This podcast is part of CAPT’s efforts to encourage open and diverse intellectual exchange. The ideas presented by individuals on the podcast are their own and do not represent Purdue University, which adheres to a policy of institutional neutrality.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this episode! Send us feedback to [email protected]

In this episode Hanna, Julius, and Sage talk to Dr. Alice Marwick, Director of Research at nonprofit research institute, Data & Society. Alice discusses the rapid expansion of AI. She explains how AI is dangerously concentrated in a handful of powerful companies whose interests are increasingly aligned with the current US administration, and how people are being pushed into using AI involuntarily in their workplaces, schools, and apps. She also raises concerns about people using chatbots for mental health support, highlighting the safety risks of “private vibes” versus real privacy. Alice argues that AI adoption is far from inevitable and society still has the power to shape its development, making the case for meaningful regulation built around broad principles rather than specific technologies. 

Key Takeaways from Alice:

1. AI is not inevitable. The real problem is power and political economy, not technology
2. “Private vibes” aren’t the same as privacy. Chatbots may feel safe and confidential, but unlike therapy, there are no legal protections governing what happens to what you share.
3. Regulation should be built on broad principles, not specific technologies. Grounding laws in ideas like data privacy and worker dignity means they stay relevant no matter what new tools come along.

Find out more about:

• Dr. Alice Marwick 
• Her book The Private is Political: Networked Privacy and Social Media
• Data & Society 
• The Center for Information Technology in Public Life Alice helped found at UNC Chapel Hill
• Her X - @‌alicetiara 
• Her LinkedIn

Some of the texts we refer to in this episode:

• "Danger Sound Claxon" by Matthew F. Jordan
• Rebecca Lewis’s dissertation Tech's Right Turn : the Rise of Reactionary Politics in Silicon Valley and Online
• Emil Torres’s How Effective Accelerationism Divides Silicon Valley
• Joe Lato’s Critical computational social science researcher

Alice’s Media Diet:

Meat and potatoes: BlueSky, New York Times, Reddit

Palate Cleanser: Rosalía's Lux album, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Chappell Roan, Silo, Severance, Better Call Saul, Naomi Novik, Who? Weekly

This podcast is part of CAPT’s efforts to encourage open and diverse intellectual exchange. The ideas presented by individuals on the podcast are their own and do not represent Purdue University, which adheres to a policy of institutional neutrality.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this episode! Send us feedback to [email protected]

In this episode Sage, Hanna, and Julius sit down with Dave Bangert, a veteran local journalist who spent over three decades covering Lafayette, Indiana, first at the Lafayette Journal and Courier, and now through his independent Substack: Based in Lafayette, Indiana. Dave talks about what happens when newsrooms shrink from 45 people to seven, why those "boring" school board meetings actually matter, and how he's built a subscriber base of over 8,000 people who are hungry for local coverage.

He shares stories about getting called out in the grocery store, why fairness doesn't mean being soft, and what gets lost when there's no one left to cover the community stories that end up clipped and saved on refrigerators. Dave makes the case that supporting local journalism isn't just about staying informed. It's about maintaining the accountability that keeps democracy functioning at the level where it actually touches people's lives.

Three Key Takeaways from Dave:

1. Support local journalism and subscribe to anybody who is doing the work
2. Put in the legwork to read enough that you can tell which reporters you trust and which you don't 
3. As a journalist, make sure that you're able to walk in the grocery store, and people can hold you accountable.

Find out more about:

• Dave Bangert’s Substack: Based in Lafayette, Indiana 
• His website 
• Recent study about the death of American local newspapers

Some of the texts we refer to in this episode:

Dave’s Journal & Courier article about The Time Johnny Cash stopped in Lafayette to go Fishing

Dave’s Media Diet:

• Main: Journal & Courier, Indy Star, Indiana Capital Chronicle, Mirror Indy, Axios, WaPo, NYT
• Junk Food: Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Athletic Pulse, Greg Kot’s music reviews, 30 for 30 documentaries

This podcast is part of CAPT’s efforts to encourage open and diverse intellectual exchange. The ideas presented by individuals on the podcast are their own and do not represent Purdue University, which adheres to a policy of institutional neutrality.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this episode! Send us feedback to [email protected]

In this episode, Sage, Hanna and Julius hear from Stanford Professor Fred Turner about how personalization and commercial platforms have corrupted the “public sphere.” Fred traces the historical roots of the fantasy of a global connected conversation system back to post-WWII scientists, critiques the techno-utopianism of Silicon Valley, and underscores the importance of institutions and regulation for breaking up companies that would otherwise destroy public goods. He reminds us of the power of in-person organizing and solidarity to resist authoritarianism.

Key Takeaways from Fred:

1. Personalization and profit-driven platforms killed the public sphere - When debate is about who you are as a person not how to distribute resources, rational deliberation becomes impossible
2. Tech companies are terrified of regulation for a reason - Their fear is a measure of our power. We've broken up extractive industries before, and legislated safety. We can build seat belts.
3. Online attention is not action - Stop circulating “misery porn.” Hard, dull in-person work builds the solidarity, trust, and friendships that create change

Find out more about:

• Fred Turner
• His books: Echoes of Combat, From Counterculture to Cyberculture, Seeing Silicon Valley, The Democratic Surround
• His Texan Ideology article 

Some of this episode's texts :

• Habermas, Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere
• Murrow “Wires and Lights in a Box”
• Mcluhan The Global Village
• Barthe's “exnomination” Mythologies used by Stuart Hall 
• Benkler Wealth of Networks
• Sharp and Jenkin Fighting Tyranny
• hooks' Oppositional Gaze 

Fred’s Media Diet:

• Main: Times, Post, Guardian, Fox News, CNN, WSJ, Portland Press Herald, MDI

This podcast is part of CAPT’s efforts to encourage open and diverse intellectual exchange. The ideas presented by individuals on the podcast are their own and do not represent Purdue University, which adheres to a policy of institutional neutrality.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this episode! Send us feedback to [email protected]

Welcome to the very first episode of the CAPTivated Podcast! Hosts Hanna, Julius and Sage sit down with Dr. Nicole Hemmer, Associate Professor of History and Director of the Rogers Center for the American Presidency at Vanderbilt University, to explore the history and power of conservative media in American politics. From William F. Buckley Jr. and Rush Limbaugh to Ben Shapiro and Charlie Kirk, this episode traces how and why right-wing media evolved into a dominant force in the digital age. Nicole also breaks down what’s different about contemporary conservative influencers, why fact-checking fails and media literacy isn’t enough, and how strong local communities matter more than perfect information systems.

Three Key Takeaways from Nicole

1. Politics and media are inextricable - You can't fix one without addressing the other
2. 20th-century solutions don't solve 21st-century problems - We need forward-looking approaches, not nostalgia for a media "golden age"
3. Touch grass with others - Strong local communities and real-world connections are essential foundations for both better media consumption and democratic health

Find out more about:

• Prof. Nicole Hemmer
• Her books Messengers of the Right and Partisans
• Her Radiotopia podcast This Day
• Made By History the historical analysis column Nicole helped found at the Washington Post which has now moved to TIME
• Her instagram @‌pastpundit
• Her Bluesky @‌pastpunditry.bsky.social 

Some of the texts we refer to in this episode:

• Nicholas Buccola, The Fire Is Upon Us

Nicole’s Media Diet:

• Meat and Potatoes:  The Daily, 5-4, Strict Scrutiny, New York Times, Boston Review, The New Yorker, The Tennessean
• Junk Food/Palate Cleanser: If Books Could Kill, Taskmaster, Bridgerton, Love Is Blind

This podcast is part of CAPT’s efforts to encourage open and diverse intellectual exchange. The ideas presented by individuals on the podcast are their own and do not represent Purdue University, which adheres to a policy of institutional neutrality.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this episode! Send us feedback to [email protected]

Welcome to CAPTivated! In this teaser episode hosts Hanna Sistek, Sage Goodwin, and Julius Freeman at Purdue University’s Center for American Political History, Media, and Technology (CAPT) are joined by CAPT Director Professor Kathryn Cramer Brownell, to introduce their new podcast. They chat briefly about who they are, what they do, and why they’re making this podcast: to help listeners understand what’s wrong with our media, how we got here, and what we can do about it.

In upcoming episodes they’ll pick the brains of researchers, journalists, technologists, and other experts to provide listeners with tools and insights to help rethink how we engage with the media that shapes our lives. They’ll explore everything from disinformation and polarization to AI and the death of local journalism. Tune in every other week for new episodes!

Find out more about:

• CAPT
• Kathryn Cramer Brownell
• Made By History
• Sage Goodwin
• Hanna Sistek
• Julius Freeman

Some texts we refer to in this episode:

• A piece Sage wrote for Made By History
• A piece Kathryn wrote for Made By History

Thanks to Meibel Dabodabo for production help!

This podcast is part of CAPT’s efforts to encourage open and diverse intellectual exchange. The ideas presented by individuals on the podcast are their own and do not represent Purdue University, which adheres to a policy of institutional neutrality.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this episode! Send us feedback to [email protected]