When it comes to political movements, students and other young people are useful allies. In this episode, Dr. Sturg and author Kyle Spencer talk about Spencer's book, Raising them Right. Plus, friend of the show Israel Balderas breaks down the law on campaigns using songs the artist wishes they wouldn't. 

Follow journalist Kyle Spencer

Twitter - @KyleYSpencer

Website - Kyle Spencer

Twitter - @jisraelbalderas

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Twitter -Prof. Amanda Sturgill (@DrSturg) / X
Websites -Sturg says|Unspun’s Substack

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Dr. Sturg’s Books

Detecting Deception: Tools to Fight Fake News

We are #AltGov 

List of journalists jailed for refusing to reveal sources

One thing that separates professional journalists from content creators is their code of ethics. In this episode, Dr. Sturg breaks down what you should be able to expect from someone who calls themselves a journalist. But, adhering to this code is a lot harder than it used to me, and she tells you why. 

We close out with a fun game where you can guess if Dr. Sturg made the ethical choice back when she was a reporter. 

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Twitter -Prof. Amanda Sturgill (@DrSturg) / X
Websites -Sturg says|Unspun’s Substack

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Dr. Sturg’s Books

Detecting Deception: Tools to Fight Fake News

We are #AltGov 

List of journalists jailed for refusing to reveal sources

Radicalized extremism led to Taylor Swift having to cancel Eras Tour concerts in Austria and continues to be a threat worldwide. And some people say social media is to blame. In this week's UnSpun minisode, Dr. Sturg looks at the most recent research on how social media algorithms can bathe users in ever more extreme views. 

BBC article on radicalization and boys

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Twitter -Prof. Amanda Sturgill (@DrSturg) / X
Websites -Sturg says|Unspun’s Substack

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Dr. Sturg’s Books

Detecting Deception: Tools to Fight Fake News

We are #AltGov 

Sometimes to get to the truth, a reporter just has to start knocking on doors. In this week's UnSpun, DrSturg talks to award-winning journalist Joe Bruno about his work uncovering a voter fraud scheme in North Carolina. Plus, warm up is back with several examples of the fallacy of authority for you to try your skills. 

Learn more about the scheme and the reporters in The Vote Collectors. 

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Websites -Sturg says|Unspun’s Substack

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Dr. Sturg’s Books

Detecting Deception: Tools to Fight Fake News

We are #AltGov 

Why do people do and say the things they do? Whether it's running a red light or asking to talk to the manager, when you observe people's actions, there's a risk of misunderstanding that can make the world even more divided. Dr. Sturg breaks down the research on a common thinking error that can give you trouble in making interpersonal judgements. 

Follow Dr. Sturg

Twitter -Prof. Amanda Sturgill (@DrSturg) / X
Websites -Sturg says|Unspun’s Substack

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Dr. Sturg’s Books

Detecting Deception: Tools to Fight Fake News

We are #AltGov 

As a tireless producer of information, including disinformation, AI poses real risks to elections going forward. As we find ourselves at a crossroad with machines that seem like they can think, Lee Rainie, director of the Imagining the Digital Future Center and Dr. Sturg talk about several AI-related issues on the horizon. 

Plus, Dr. Sturg talks about obfuscation - using fancy or empty words to avoid taking controversial positions. 

The Imagining the Digital Future website has results from surveys and some position statements about the likely affects of AI on society. It's interesting stuff!

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Websites - Sturg says | Unspun’s Substack

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We are #AltGov

https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538162095/We-Are-#ALTGOV-Social-Media-Resistance-from-the-Inside

Detecting Deception: Tools to Fight Fake News

https://www.amazon.com/Detecting-Deception-Tools-Fight-Fake/dp/1538141027

If you are getting most of your news from evening cable shows or podcasts, you're not alone. But you're also probably not as well-informed as you think you are. In this episode, Dr. Sturg breaks down curation of news and how it affects your knowledge about what's going on. 

Letting other people decide what stories are important can be useful or even necessary sometimes. But especially for things you care about a lot, it's important to look for first-hand reports. Learn how to create your own curated news feed in this week's UnSpun. 

Do high-profile debates truly shift opinions or votes? On this episode, Dr. Sturg gets into the studies to see if debates produce real changes. From Kennedy-Nixon to Romney-Obama, she looks at famous debates and explores what the research says about impacts on voters.

She also looks the logical flaw of hasty generalization, using debate slip-ups as case studies. See how speakers and listeners both frequently overgeneralize from single examples.

Plus, she talks about polling with political scientist, Dr. Ken Fernandez. Can polls be trusted after 2016? We separate polling facts from fiction on topics like margin of error. Ken shares his insider take on how campaigns use polls and why solid polling matters for a functioning democracy.

Find out whether debates live up to the hype. Learn how to catch hasty generalizations. Get an expert take on improving polling for future elections. Get UnSpun.

Why did it seem like everyone in the media thought Biden's debate performance concerned democrats? And how does telling a good story get in the way of the truth? In this episode, Dr. Sturg goes over the cozy relationship between politicians and the journalists who cover and explains the narrative bias. 

It's a tendency to fit facts into a story, and this bias explains why early accounts of breaking news are often wrong. 

Link to the article from Poynter. 

Follow Dr. Sturg

Twitter - Prof. Amanda Sturgill (@DrSturg) / X
Websites - Sturg says | Unspun’s Substack

Questions and Tips

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We are #AltGov

https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538162095/We-Are-#ALTGOV-Social-Media-Resistance-from-the-Inside

Detecting Deception: Tools to Fight Fake News

https://www.amazon.com/Detecting-Deception-Tools-Fight-Fake/dp/1538141027

UnSpun Rewind in honor of the political convention in the US this week. Are things as bad as the politicians say? Are they the only ones who can save us? Dr. Sturg breaks down the Appeal to Fear trick and guest Dr. Seth Norrholm talks about what being made afraid does to your thinking and judgment. 

"Nothing happened" doesn't make for much of a headline, and newsmakers know it. When they want to get your attention or get you to do something, sometimes they deliberately use fear. Dr. Sturg talks about how how the powerful use fear deceptively to keep their followers engaged. 

Then, she and Dr. Seth Norrhom, a psychiatry professor and fear researcher, discuss how your brain interacts with the news that you get, both from media and from social media. 

Follow Dr. Norrholm:

On Slate.com

Seth Norrholm  on Twitter

Follow Dr. Sturg

Twitter - Prof. Amanda Sturgill (@DrSturg) / X
Websites - Sturg says | Unspun’s Substack

Questions and Tips

[email protected]

We are #AltGov

https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538162095/We-Are-#ALTGOV-Social-Media-Resistance-from-the-Inside

Detecting Deception: Tools to Fight Fake News

https://www.amazon.com/Detecting-Deception-Tools-Fight-Fake/dp/1538141027