The Multiverse of Misinformation, Episode 1 - Scroll For Your Health

CCEP Podcasts - Exploring Policy and Ethics in California

Welcome to the Multiverse of Misinformation, a podcast about misinformation and the way it affects the many facets of our life, produced by the California Center for Ethics and Policy--or “CCEP” --at Cal Poly Pomona and generously supported by the Cal Poly Pomona Special Projects for Improving the Classroom Experience grant program.

This season, we will explore the many ways in which misinformation affects our everyday lives through influencing, distorting, or driving the discourse in our society. In the past few years, the idea of misinformation has entered the zeitgeist through the concept of “fake news,” or online conspiracy theories shared by your relatives on Facebook, which is probably what most listeners will think of when they hear the term. However, misinformation is neither a new, nor a specifically online problem. In these episodes, the CCEP student fellows use examples from our own class discussions as well as their own lived experience to illustrate the many ways in which misinformation influences what we think, how we act, and what we believe.

In this first episode, student fellows Katie Priest and Charlotte Hill examine the effects of misinformation specifically as it relates to health information in a post-COVID world. This kind of misinformation has spread rapidly via social media platforms such as TikTok and Reddit. Join Katie and Charlotte as they analyze perspectives from the student body about where their health information is coming from, before turning to the analysis of Dr. Gyasmine George-Williams, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology and Health Promotion at Cal Poly Pomona. Dr. George-Williams offers crucial insights as to what gathering information looks like in a technologically driven society and how we can use online spaces to our advantage.

We ask that if you like what you hear, if you care about these issues, please share our podcast with your friends, family, and colleagues.

Thanks for listening.