S01E21 | The Boston Massacre: Propaganda, Trials, and John Adams

The Pitch: Before there was the United States, there was a "glitch" in how the truth was told. In this episode of The Glitched Gavel, we dive into the 1770 Boston Massacre—an event that was as much a trial of public opinion as it was a legal proceeding. While Paul Revere was busy printing "fake news" propaganda to stir up a revolution, a future Founding Father, John Adams, was doing something unthinkable: defending the enemy.

What We Uncover:

• The Propaganda Machine: How a single woodcut engraving became the 18th-century equivalent of a viral, misleading tweet.
• The Adams Anomaly: Why John Adams risked his reputation to prove that even the most hated defendants deserve a fair trial—and how he won.
• The Modern Glitch: We trace the line from the Boston courtroom to today’s high-profile "trials by social media." How does 250-year-old legal precedent protect the truth in an era of deepfakes and instant outrage?

The Bottom Line: The gavel strikes on the fine line between "Justice," "Evidence," and "Propaganda". If Adams hadn't stepped up, our modern right to a fair defense might look very different today.