Misguided: The Podcast

How Does Journalism Earn Trust?

In this episode of Misguided: The Podcast, I’m joined by Dr. Patrick Johnson, a journalism scholar at Marquette University whose work focuses on news literacy, trust in journalism, and the relationship between media institutions and the communities they serve. Before entering academia, Patrick spent years teaching high school journalism, an experience that continues to shape how he thinks about journalism not simply as information delivery, but as a form of public education. We begin by discussing why trust in journalism has become so fractured, and why treating distrust as a single problem misses the bigger picture. Patrick explains how different communities experience journalism differently, from conservatives who feel misrepresented to marginalized groups whose distrust is rooted in histories of exclusion or harm. Rather than reducing trust to a survey metric, he argues that rebuilding it requires deeper engagement with communities and a rethinking of journalism’s role in public life. From there, we dig into Patrick’s research on what he calls metacognitive news literacy: the idea that journalists themselves must model transparency, reflection, and critical thinking if they want audiences to better understand how news is produced and evaluated. We also discuss the parallels between journalism and public health, why local news ecosystems matter so much, and how stronger relationships between institutions and communities can help rebuild trust. We close on a more hopeful note, discussing why Patrick remains optimistic about the future of journalism despite the challenges it faces. His answer ultimately comes back to people, the journalists trying to improve their craft, the students shaping the future, and the possibility that institutions can still grow into something better. You can listen to the full episode here or via the links below. As always, if you find my podcast useful or interesting, feel free to share it with someone who might also enjoy it. Patrick’s website [https://prjohnson.org/about/] TrustingNews.org [https://trustingnews.org] News Avoidance and LGBTQ+ Coverage [https://trustingnews.org/reflections-from-journalists-what-we-learned-talking-about-news-avoidance-and-lgbtq-coverage/] Follow Patrick on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickraymondjohnson/] Keywords: Patrick Johnson, media literacy, news literacy, journalism, science communication, health communication Misguided: The Podcast - Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/misguided-the-podcast/id1792074637] Misguided: The Podcast | Podcast on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/6EJnW3I0KCi17Zi1LmOISj] Misguided - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnNx_yioypqF9sA96aHyJdg] This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit matthewfacciani.substack.com/subscribe [https://matthewfacciani.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Reality in Ruins: How Conspiracy Theory Became an American Evangelical Crisis

In this episode of Misguided: The Podcast, I’m joined by Dr. Jared Stacy, a theologian and former pastor who studies how conspiracy theories take root within evangelical communities. Jared completed his PhD in ethics at the University of Aberdeen and is the author of the new book Reality in Ruins [https://www.amazon.com/Reality-Ruins-Conspiracy-American-Evangelical/dp/0063453754], which examines how disinformation becomes uniquely resistant to correction when it gets woven into religious belief. We start by talking about Jared’s concept of holy paranoia: the idea that conspiracy theory isn’t a bug in American evangelicalism but a feature. The core argument is that once conspiratorial thinking gets absorbed into a religious story, fact-checking alone can’t dislodge it. It’s not that people lack access to good information; it’s that the conspiracy has already been integrated into something that feels coherent, total, and true. From there, we dig into the media ecosystems that make this possible — the radio networks, podcasts, and influencers that create a seamlessly reinforcing reality for many evangelical Christians, one where conservative political content and worship music flow together without friction or distinction. We close by discussing what science communicators and public health professionals get wrong when trying to reach faith communities, and why Jared believes the most effective interventions will require theologians and scientists working together rather than talking past each other. You can listen to the full episode here or via the links below. As always, if you find my podcast useful or interesting, feel free to share it with someone who might also enjoy it. Buy Jared’s book: Reality In Ruins [https://www.amazon.com/Reality-Ruins-Conspiracy-American-Evangelical/dp/0063453754] Jared’s website [https://jaredstacy.com] Follow Jared on Threads [https://www.threads.com/@jaredmstacy] and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/jaredmstacy/] Keywords: Jared Stacy, disinformation, conspiracy theories, religion, Evangelicalism, media, science communication Misguided: The Podcast - Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/misguided-the-podcast/id1792074637] Misguided: The Podcast | Podcast on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/6EJnW3I0KCi17Zi1LmOISj] Misguided - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnNx_yioypqF9sA96aHyJdg] This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit matthewfacciani.substack.com/subscribe [https://matthewfacciani.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

The Hidden Social Forces Behind Misinformation

In this episode of Misguided: The Podcast, I’m joined by Dr. Cecilie Steenbuch-Traberg, a professor at the Copenhagen Business School who studies how social context shapes our susceptibility to misinformation, and what interventions actually work to counter it. Cecilie’s path into the field took a detour through marketing before she found her true passion: not trying to persuade people, but protecting them from being persuaded. We start by talking about how the classic pre-bunking games (like Bad News and Harmony Square) [https://matthewfacciani.substack.com/p/how-simple-games-can-teach-you-to] hold up when you test them in more realistic social conditions. The short answer is that they mostly work, but people are still vulnerable to the surrounding social cues: who’s sharing something, how many likes it has, whether the source feels politically similar to you. Even a handful of comments can make a fringe belief feel like consensus. That gap between individual-level learning and real-world social context is where Cecilie sees the biggest unmet need. From there, we dig into her new project, Solomon’s Secret: a murder mystery game designed to teach social influence literacy without ever announcing that it’s a misinformation game. The goal is to reach people who would never seek out a media literacy tool, by making the learning feel incidental to the fun. We also connect this to some of my own research comparing pre-bunking games across cultural contexts. We close by discussing how AI is reshaping both the threat and the opportunity. AI can certainly be used as a tool for scaling manipulation, but it can also help personalize interventions in ways that weren’t previously possible. You can listen to the full episode here or via the links below. As always, if you find it useful, feel free to share it with someone who might benefit from the conversation. Follow Cecilie on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/cecilie-steenbuch-traberg/] Cecilie’s website [https://www.cecilietraberg.com] Cecilie’s Google Scholar [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ophhOmYAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra] Solomon’s Secret [https://www.cecilietraberg.com/solomonssecret] Keywords: Cecilie Steenbuch Traberg, prebunking, media literacy, AI, social influence, psychological inoculation, social media, psychology Misguided: The Podcast - Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/misguided-the-podcast/id1792074637] Misguided: The Podcast | Podcast on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/6EJnW3I0KCi17Zi1LmOISj] Misguided - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnNx_yioypqF9sA96aHyJdg] This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit matthewfacciani.substack.com/subscribe [https://matthewfacciani.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Why We Believe Misinformation and How We Can Protect Ourselves Against it

Here is my live video chat with Mike Nellis [https://substack.com/profile/313054292-mike-nellis] as a bonus podcast episode. I really enjoyed our conversation about the social psychology of why we believe false information, and how we can strengthen our media literacy through strategies like critical ignoring. [https://matthewfacciani.substack.com/p/the-overlooked-skill-we-all-need] We also discussed the broader structural and platform-level challenges that make today’s information environment so difficult to navigate. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit matthewfacciani.substack.com/subscribe [https://matthewfacciani.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

The Psychology of Virality in the Age of AI

In this episode of Misguided: The Podcast, I’m joined by Dr. Steve Rathje, who is a social psychology postdoc at NYU, and a soon-to-be assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Steve’s work sits at the intersection of psychology, social media, and artificial intelligence. Steve studies how platform design, attention, and emerging technologies shape political polarization, belief formation, and online behavior. We begin by talking about Steve’s non-traditional path into psychology, which started in theater before turning into a research career focused on how people think, feel, and behave online. From there, we dig into some of his most influential work on social media, including why posts that target political outgroups are often the most likely to go viral, and what that reveals about algorithms that reward outrage, mockery, and conflict. We then explore more hopeful findings from Steve’s research on unfollowing hyper-partisan influencers, showing how small, targeted changes to people’s information diets can reduce out-party hostility over time without requiring users to leave social media altogether. Finally, we turn to AI chatbots and Steve’s recent experiments on “sycophancy”—when AI systems become overly agreeable. We discuss how affirming chatbots can quietly increase belief certainty and extremity while still being perceived as warm, competent, and unbiased, and what this means for confirmation bias, persuasion, and the future design of AI systems. You can listen to the full episode here or using the links below. As always, if you find it useful, feel free to share it with someone who might benefit from the conversation. Follow Sander on TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@stevepsychology], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/steverathje/?hl=en], Bluesky [https://web-cdn.bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4r6utvvtneqvydihehdagbzf]or LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/steverathje/] Steve’s website with links to his research papers [https://stevenrathje.com/publication/the-psychology-of-virality/] Keywords: Steve Rathje, virality, AI chatbots, polarization, social media, psychology, science communication, TikTok Misguided: The Podcast - Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/misguided-the-podcast/id1792074637] Misguided: The Podcast | Podcast on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/6EJnW3I0KCi17Zi1LmOISj] Misguided - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnNx_yioypqF9sA96aHyJdg] This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit matthewfacciani.substack.com/subscribe [https://matthewfacciani.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]