CAPTivated
Join political scientist Hanna Sistek, media historian Sage Goodwin, and communication scholar Julius Freeman at the Center for American Political History, Media, and Technology as they dig into two big questions: What’s wrong with our information environment? And what can we do to make it right?
From disinformation and polarization to algorithmic news feeds and attention traps, we explore the forces reshaping how we understand the world and each other. We pick the brains of researchers, journalists, technologists, and other experts to unpack the major problems with our digital public sphere today, how we got here, and what we should do about it.
Along with their insights guests share their own “media diets,” the good, the guilty, and how they hit reset when the noise becomes too much. Join us to cut through the chaos, find the signal, and rethink how we engage with the media that shapes our lives.
CAPTivated
Latest Episodes
EP 10 The Lost Art of Persuasion with Mary Kate Cary
In this episode, Hanna, Sage, and Julius sit down with Mary Kate Cary, former speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush and, until recently, Assistant Vice President, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President of the University of Virginia, and d...
EP 09 Selective Exposure and Motivated Reasoning with Josh Pasek
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 brea...
Ep 08 Battling Misinformation and AI Slop with Sree Sreenivasan
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 th...
EP 07 Digital Blackface and AI with Ryan Ken
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 con...
EP 06 The Democrats and Big Tech with Lily Geismer
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 Silic...
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