The election of Donald Trump has ignited talk that we’re now living in a “post-truth” era. But are we? Where does the idea that the truth no longer exists come from? Or the notion that the truth doesn’t matter anymore? Host Paul Kennedy talks to thinkers who argue that the story began years earlier, with a kind of collective identity crisis: authoritarianism can become attractive when you no longer remember who you are.
“‘Post-truth’ is often understood as involving people’s emotions rather than their critical abilities to make distinctions. And I think that might be true but i think it’s important to keep in mind that emotion and truth are not two different things. Emotion has to do with what we care about and truths have to do with things that are the case. The two have to work together.” — Kathleen Higgins
People from all over are asking the question: how did we get here? In a world where technological advances spread to the masses at astonishing speed; in a time when we can be instantly connected to one another; in an era when information can travel around the globe in a flash, have we become less concerned with the verifiability of what we believe as long as it conforms to our point of view?
And if the truth is atomized to the point where I can have my truth and you can have yours, then how can any of us actually have a conversation? Without a basic set of assumptions about what’s true, we have no starting point for the debates we engage in. But maybe this is simply, as they say, the “new normal” — that when it comes to the truth, where you stand depends on where you sit.
Guests in this episode:
- Henry Giroux is a professor of English and cultural studies at McMaster University.
- Jason Stanley is a professor of philosophy at Yale University.
- Kathleen Higgins is a professor of philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin.
Further reading:
- America at War with Itself by Henry Giroux, published by City Lights Books, 2015.
- How Propaganda Works by Jason Stanley, published by Princeton University Press, 2015.
- Post-Truth: A Guide for the Perplexed by Kathleen Higgins, Nature, November 28, 2016.
- Post-Truth Pluralism by Kathleen Higgins.
- On Bullshit by Harry Frankfurt.
- Politics and the English Language by George Orwell.
- Misinformation and How to Correct It, Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioral Sciences by John Cook, Ulrich Ecker, and Stephan Lewandowsky.
- The Price of Denialism by Lee McIntyre, New York Times, November 7, 2015.
- Consequences: In a Post-Truth World, Scientific Progress Goes Boink by Stewart Lyman, January 17, 2017.
**This episode was produced by Naheed Mustafa.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
Last week, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy