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Character Assassination and Reputation Politics Lab
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The official podcast of George Mason University's Character Assassination and Reputation Politics Research Lab. Every month, we bring on new guests to explore the science of scandal and how individuals and organizations can protect themselves against attack. Learn more about our mission at https://carpresearchlab.org.
Available episodes
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Mar 21, 2023
Fake News, Real Money: How the Adtech Industry Monetizes Misinformation (with Dr. Joshua Braun)
Advertising: whether on- or offline, it’s everywhere. However, twenty-first advertisers no longer just operate out of Madison Avenue boardrooms. Today's "mad men" are part of the adtech industry, the complex network of advertisers, platforms, and publishers that operates just below the Internet's surface. In online auction houses known as ad exchanges, the biggest companies in the world bid on a valuable commodity- our attention.
Like the adtech industry, online disinformation is big business. In 2020, websites promoting COVID-19 conspiracy theories and disinformation raked in over 25 million dollars in ad revenue in just five months. They hosted ads from some of the world’s biggest brands and organizations, including Pepsi, Comcast, and even the CDC. So how could something like this happen? In this interview with CARP's Deirdre Jane Prigge, digital media scholar Dr. Josh Braun explains how “normal accidents” rooted in the design of the digital world allow bad actors to profit off fake news, spread junk information, and even destroy local journalism.
Show Notes
Joshua Braun is an associate professor of journalism at the University of Massachusetts Amherst whose work examines sociological questions surrounding online media distribution. Josh's papers have appeared have appeared in Communication Theory, Communication, Culture & Critique, Journalism, Digital Journalism, and Journalism Practice. His book on the digital distribution of TV news, “This program is brought to you by… : Distributing television news online" was published in 2015 by Yale University Press. Josh is also co-editor of Distribution Matters, a series of books on media distribution from The MIT Press. In recent years, Josh has begun a second line of research into the ways problems with the digital advertising ecosystem affect the health of news media. He is currently working on a new book for MIT Press about the civic impacts of media distribution. For updates on Josh's work, check out his website.
Josh received his Ph.D. and M.S. in Communication from Cornell University. He also holds a master's in Bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania and an individual-concentration bachelor's degree in "Sciences in the Media" from the University of California Santa Barbara Josh is an affiliated fellow of the Information Society Project at Yale Law School, a former graduate fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, and a founding member of the "Culture Digitally" NSF working group.
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Feb 23, 2023
The Delusion of Power: A Critical Media Literacy Education with Nolan Higdon
Whether they call it misinformation, disinformation, or fake news, most keen observers of contemporary politics understand that the power to rapidly spread large volumes of false information has had seismic effects on our politics, relationships, families, and communities. Today's guest offers a provocative counterpoint to these claims, arguing that much of the current discourse over disinformation has become a “moral panic" in which accusations of fake news are used as reputational attacks to silence outsiders and reify old hegemonies.
In this interview with CARP's Deirdre Jane Prigge, critical media literacy scholar Dr. Nolan Higdon offers an alternative diagnosis of what's wrong with our media landscape, pinning the blame on an economic system that misleads consumers about how much power they really hold. Higdon explains what critical media literacy is, how it differs from conventional “acritical” approaches, and what thoughtful media consumers should look out for when trying to determine whether the latest eye-catching scoop is just more fake news. Nolan and Deirdre also chat about the importance of empathy, especially when trying to communicate productively with people who have been misinformed.
If you liked this episode, comment, subscribe, leave us a 5-star rating, and share it with your friends and family. We really appreciate it.
Show Notes
Nolan Higdon, EdD, is an author and university lecturer at Merrill College and the Education Department at University of California, Santa Cruz. Higdon’s areas of concentration include podcasting, digital culture, news media history, and critical media literacy. Higdon is a regular contributor to Savage Minds and a Project Censored National Judge. He is the author of The Anatomy of Fake News: A Critical News Literacy Education (University of California Press, 2020). His most recent publications include Let’s Agree to Disagree: A Critical Thinking Guide to Communication, Conflict Management, and Critical Media Literacy (Routledge, 2022) with Mickey Huff, The Podcaster’s Dilemma: Decolonizing Podcasters in the Era of Surveillance Capitalism (Wiley, 2021) with Nicholas Baham III, and "Being on the Outside of the Inside of the Ivory Tower: Nontenured Part-Time Faculty’s Attitudes Toward Their Colleagues and Management," an qualitative investigation of elitism in higher education (University of Toronto Press, 2023). Higdon has been a source of expertise for CBS, NBC, The New York Times, and The San Francisco Chronicle.
To keep up with Higdon’s latest work and upcoming projects, subscribe to his Substack and follow his Twitter @nolan_higdon.
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Jan 5, 2022
The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Reputation, with Martin Gurri
In 1962, media theorist Marshall McLuhan predicted that new communication technologies would transform the world into a “global village” in which the movement of ideas would no longer be constrained by geography. More pessimistically, McLuhan also said that the global village would “absolutely [ensure] maximal disagreement on all points.” 60 years later, the global village has become a reality- and the public is more divided and distrustful than ever.
In this episode, CARP media outreach director Deirdre Jane Prigge speaks with former CIA media analyst Martin Gurri, whose 2014 book The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium details how a “tsunami of information” has stripped institutions of the authority they once took for granted. He joins us on the podcast to explain who the public and the elite are, why the public is so receptive to character assassination attempts, and how "old-fashioned virtues" like humility and courage can help individuals and organizations protect their reputations in a media environment hungry for scandal. Martin and Deirdre also discuss why prophecy is useless, the greatness of Leonard Bernstein, and how Martin became a hero in France.
If you liked this episode, comment, subscribe, leave us a 5-star rating, and share it with your friends and family. We really appreciate it.
Show Notes Martin Gurri is an author specializing in the relationship of politics and global media who has been praised for foreshadowing the political shocks of Brexit and the rise of Donald Trump. Mr. Gurri has published numerous articles, studies, and opinion pieces on geopolitical- and media-related topics. His blog, The Fifth Wave, pursues the themes first elaborated in The Revolt of the Public. He is also a George Mason alum and visiting research fellow at the Mercatus Center.
For more updates about the CARP Lab's work, check out our website. We're also on Twitter @CARP_Lab.
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Oct 13, 2021
The Power (and Pain) of Silence, with Dr. Kipling D. Williams
This year, the CARP Lab’s annual conference was dedicated to cancel culture, which we define as the practice of expelling people from their social or professional circles due to real or alleged offensive behavior. Those who are “canceled” may be scapegoated, stigmatized, and publicly shamed. Whether rightly or wrongly, canceled people often feel that they have been silenced and are unable to speak up for themselves.
Although cancel culture is often associated with the rise of social media, social exclusion and ostracism are much older phenomena. That's why we were so lucky to speak with Dr. Kipling D. Williams, a Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Purdue University who is widely recognized as the world’s leading authority on ostracism and social rejection.
In this episode, Deirdre Jane Prigge and Dr. Williams discuss ostracism’s evolutionary roots, how it works, and why no one is immune to its effects. He also explains how a chance encounter with two Frisbee players led to the development of his ball toss and Cyberball experiments, innovative methods to study how ostracism works in the lab. Finally, Dr. Williams shares why some people recover from ostracism more quickly than others, what we can learn from the stories of amazing people who survived and thrived after experiencing ostracism and exclusion, and how you can help others cope with its effects.
We truly hope that this episode can be of help to anyone who feels isolated, ignored, or excluded. Ostracism is incredibly painful, but it can be overcome. Finally, if someone you know is dealing with ostracism, don’t be afraid to reach out and form a connection. Even one smile or kind word can make a huge difference.
If you liked this episode, comment, subscribe, leave us a 5-star rating, and share it with your friends and family. We really appreciate it.
Show Notes
Dr. Williams is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Purdue University. His work primarily addresses social influence, which he calls the heart of social psychology. Dr. Williams has conducted research into many areas of social psychology, including ostracism, social loafing and social compensation, internet research, stealing thunder, and psychology and law. You can read more of his work here.
For more updates about the CARP Lab's work, check out our website. We're also on Twitter @CARP_Lab.
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Sep 1, 2021
Political Communications 101 with Sarah Isgur
On shows like Scandal and House of Cards, political consultants are all-powerful masterminds able to spin any scandal, hide any indiscretion, and transform small-time politicians into big-name front-runners. However, this “spin doctor” image owes more to media myth-making than real-life political communications.
In this episode, CARP media outreach director Deirdre Jane Prigge speaks with Sarah Isgur, former Justice Department spokeswoman and legal podcaster par excellence. Sarah draws from her experience on three presidential campaigns and in all three branches of government to explain what political communications professionals really do, why some character attacks work and others fail, and why Olympic curling is the best metaphor for political communications. She also shares what it was like to prepare Carly Fiorina for the 2016 Republican primary debates, her experiences as a target of character assassination, and her tips for aspiring communications professionals.
Finally, Sarah reveals a few things you won’t hear anywhere else, like which Republican primary candidate was always lonely in the greenroom, the difficulties of finding a woman’s bathroom in the Ronald Reagan Building, and what it's like to get a voicemail from the National Enquirer.
If you liked this episode, comment, subscribe, leave us a 5-star rating, and share it with your friends and family. We really appreciate it.
Show Notes
Sarah Isgur is a staff writer for the Dispatch. She writes about political campaigns for her weekly newsletter, the Sweep, and discusses the courts with her co-host David French on the Advisory Opinions podcast. You can also find her on Twitter @Whignewtons.
For more updates about the CARP Lab's work, check out our website. We're also on Twitter @CARP_Lab.
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Jul 6, 2021
The Art and Science of Psychological Profiling, with Dr. Ekaterina Egorova
With packs of reporters following the campaign trail and an endless stream of media dedicated to Beltway gossip, it's tempting to think we know everything about modern political campaigns work. However, political consultants still have a few tricks up their sleeves.
In this interview, Dr. Sergei Samoilenko talks to Ekaterina Egorova. Dr Egorova is the founder and president of Niccolo M Strategic Communications Agency, Russia's leading political consulting and public relations firm. She's also the founder of Political Profiler, an American company specializing in psychological profiles of political leaders. Dr. Egorova goes all the way back to the Russian Empire to discuss the history of psychological profiling, how her firm develops profiles of political leaders, and who benefits from this method of understanding and forecasting leaders' behavior in wartime and peacetime alike. She also shares what we can learn from studying politicians’ posture, tone of voice, and even their childhood drawings.
If you liked this podcast, comment, subscribe, leave us a 5-star rating, and share it with your friends and family.
Show Notes
The original interview (with photos!) is on Youtube (and check out our other videos while you're there.)
Check out the CARP Research Lab website here. We're also on Twitter @CARP_Lab.
Follow Dr. Sergei on Twitter @sergeitheprguy.
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Jun 27, 2021
The Savage Mirror: Political Humor, Caricature, and Saturday Night Live, with Dr. Chris Gilbert
Saturday Night Live has been lampooning politicians since its debut in 1975. In recent years, Tina Fey as vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and Larry David as presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders were SNL performances par excellence. What can those interested in character assassination learn from studying Saturday Night Live? In this interview, recorded before the 2020 presidential campaign, Jennifer Keohane talks with rhetorician and political humor expert Christopher J. Gilbert about what made Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump such a comedic tour de force. They also discuss the relationship between democracy and comedy, what caricatures say about character, and whether politicians should go on late-night TV.
If you liked this podcast, comment, subscribe, leave us a 5-star rating, and share it with your friends and family.
Show Notes
The original interview (with photos!) is on Youtube (and check out our other videos while you're there.)
Check out the CARP Research Lab website here. We're also on Twitter @CARP_Lab.
Follow Dr. Keohane on Twitter @KeohaneJA.
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Jun 19, 2021
Toppling Statues and the Damnation of Memory, with Martijn Icks and Eric Shiraev
In recent years, statues of historical figures across the world have become the focus of fierce discussion. However, this debate is hardly a new phenomenon. From ancient Rome to downtown Prague, monuments to the high and mighty have always been contested, defaced and removed. In this episode originally recorded in June of 2020, historian Martijn Icks and political psychologist Eric Shiraev travel to ancient Egypt, the Roman Empire, and Eastern Europe to put the toppling of statues in historical perspective. They explore the history of what the Romans called "the damnation of memory," the many reasons why people destroy, deface, and remove monumental art, and how this form of iconoclasm has changed over time. Finally, they offer their own modest suggestions on how we might reconcile the past and present.
If you liked this podcast, comment, subscribe, leave us a 5-star rating, and share it with your friends and family.
Show Notes
To see the photos that Eric and Martijn discuss in the episode, watch the interview on Youtube (and check out our other videos while you're there.)
Check out the CARP Research Lab website here. We're also on Twitter @CARP_Lab.
Follow Dr. Shiraev on Twitter @EricShiraev and Dr. Icks @Martijn_Icks.
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Jun 17, 2021
Talking Character Assassination and Political Campaigns with Jason Jay Smart
In this throwback episode from the 2020 presidential campaign, Dr. Eric Shiraev interviews Jason Jay Smart, an international political strategist and campaign manager who has worked in Ukraine, Moldova, and Kyrgyzstan. Smart is also a graduate of George Mason University. Here, Eric and Jason discuss the reasons why some character attacks work and others don't (hint- it's all about culture), the real difference between the United States and Kyrgyzstan, and why dictators should tolerate a little protest.
If you liked this podcast, comment, subscribe, leave us a 5-star rating, and share it with your friends and family.
Show Notes
Watch the interview on Youtube, and check out our other videos while you're there.
Check out the CARP Research Lab website here. We're also on Twitter @CARP_Lab.
Follow Dr. Shiraev on Twitter @EricShiraev and Dr. Keohane @keohaneja.
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Jun 14, 2021
Villains or Minions? An Interview with Author and Sociologist James Jasper
In this episode, Dr. Sergei Samoilenko interviews James M. Jasper, professor of sociology at the City University of New York. Jasper is the author of multiple books, including "Public Characters: the Politics of Reputation and Blame" and "The Emotions of Protest." Here, James and Serge discuss the difference between character and characters, how character assassins transform minions into villains, and why sociologists should study rhetoric.
If you liked this podcast, comment, subscribe, leave us a 5-star rating, and share it with your friends and family.
Show Notes
Watch the interview on Youtube, and check out our other videos while you're there.
Check out the CARP Research Lab website here. We're also on Twitter @CARP_Lab.
Follow Dr. Sergei on Twitter @sergeitheprguy and Dr. Keohane @keohaneja.
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Jun 7, 2021
An Interview with Eric Dezenhall, Author and Crisis Management Guru
In this episode originally posted on the CARP Lab Youtube channel, Dr. Sergei Samoilenko interviews Eric Dezenhall, CEO of Washington, D.C.-based PR firm Dezenhall Resources. Dezenhall is also a prolific author. His books include Glass Jaw: A Manifesto for Defending Fragile Reputations in an Age of Instant Scandal and False Light, a novel based on his experiences in crisis communications. Here, Serge and Eric discuss the many myths of crisis management, why crises are definitely not opportunities, and why entertainers don't make good clients.
If you liked this podcast, comment, subscribe, leave us a 5-star rating, and share it with your friends and family.
Show Notes
Watch the interview on Youtube, and check out our other videos while you're there.
Check out the CARP Research Lab website here. We're also on Twitter @CARP_Lab.
Follow Dr. Sergei on Twitter @sergeitheprguy and Dr. Keohane @keohaneja.
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