Spencer Critchley

Communication and Change

It Isn’t Just Trump: The Roots Of Democracy’s Crisis Are Many and Deep

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Tiny American flag in crowd at political rally

[Also published at Huffington Post.] I’ll soon be taking part in a panel discussion on the crisis of democracy. In preparation, I started a list of answers to the question, “How did we get here?” I was amazed at how fast that list grew. Many … [Continue reading] about It Isn’t Just Trump: The Roots Of Democracy’s Crisis Are Many and Deep

A Prison Of Lies: How Misinformation Became a Multi-Billion Dollar Industry and Broke Democracy

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[Also published at Huffington Post.] Imagine if counterfeiting suddenly became legal. Say we asked people not to do it — but there would be no penalty if they did. What would happen? Simple: There would be an explosion of fake money. If people … [Continue reading] about A Prison Of Lies: How Misinformation Became a Multi-Billion Dollar Industry and Broke Democracy

Here’s the Scam That Makes Conservatives Believe the Mainstream Media Is Lying

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Welfare fraud Google results

[Also published at Huffington Post.]  Recently a Facebook friend shared this outrage-inducing headline: BREAKING: Massive Illegal Immigrant Welfare Fraud Discovered. My first reaction was, “Obviously fake news.” The source was something called … [Continue reading] about Here’s the Scam That Makes Conservatives Believe the Mainstream Media Is Lying

Americans Fear Refugees Because We’re Bad At Math

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Lightning bolt over nighttime desert scene

Add this to the list of disturbing reasons for America’s panic over refugees: fewer and fewer of us can do the basic math of calculating the true risk. But really, it’s not that hard — and understanding it is crucial to avoiding being … [Continue reading] about Americans Fear Refugees Because We’re Bad At Math