With Iran hitting embassies and residential areas around the Middle East, Americans scramble to escape the region. The Pentagon names the first U.S. troops killed in the Iran conflict. And senators grill Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Have you noticed that more and more of the world feels, well, fake?
Online there's a daily avalanche of dubious advice and information - about health, money, success, happiness - much of it delivered with total confidence and little regard for evidence.
There's the fabricated reviews, inflated metrics and synthetic content.
Influencers present themselves as authorities. The 'fake it till you make it' mantra has hardened into the business model.
Everything is now content. Performed for likes, not tested for truth.
Meanwhile, institutions once trusted to tell us what is true now compete for attention like everyone else - just as new technologies emerge that can generate convincing false information at scale.
How did we get here? What can we do about it? And, well, do we really care?
In this six-part series Jamie Bartlett sets out to understand how fakery stopped being a flaw and became the operating system of modern life.
This isn't a series about individual liars or shysters. It's about the cultural conditions that made modern fakery not just possible, but incentivised, rewarded, and often indistinguishable from success.
From the scripted spectacle of 1980s professional wrestling to the collapse of the global financial system, Jamie traces the incentives that normalised our fake world. Along the way, he's joined by his AI companion, Jimmy Botlett.
The series builds towards one urgent question: in a future shaped by generative AI and synthetic media, how will we tell fact from fakery - and will we even care enough to try?
Credits:
Presenter: Jamie Bartlett
Series Producer: Tom Pooley
Sound Design: Rob Speight
Production Coordinator: Neena Abdullah
Original music: Coach Conrad
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith
In this episode, Mary Katharine Ham and Vic Matus discuss the recent military strikes against Iran, exploring the intelligence and strategy behind the operation, the rationale for the strikes, and the varied domestic and international reactions. They also analyze media coverage and public perception of the events, concluding with thoughts on the future implications for US-Iran relations and American foreign policy.
1000. We made it to 1,000! To celebrate this massive milestone, Laura Adams is sticking with the "1,000" theme to help you make the most of your next windfall. Whether it’s a tax refund or a work bonus, discover seven high-impact ways to manage an extra $1,000—from building a bulletproof emergency fund to the power of a Roth IRA. Plus, stay tuned for special guest appearances and tips from long-time listeners and financial experts who have been part of the “Money Girl” journey!
E24 - Today on Vapid Response Wednesday: the story of a wealthy family that lost everything and the one son who had no choice but to try to defend his sister after she was convicted of abusing and trafficking minors with (and for) Jeffrey Epstein. For this special episode we read through Ian Maxwell’s entire body of published work for The Spectator and unseriously consider some of the many questions the tabloid heir raises about the arrest and conviction of his sister Ghislaine, the evils of the First Amendment, and of course a lengthy digression about some people named Todd.
The U.S.-Israeli war in Iran is sowing death and chaos, surely, but with ship traffic avoiding Iran’s shores, the war’s also threatening the global economy through higher oil prices. Miles Taylor explains why all this is happening. Taylor served as the chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security in the first Trump administration, where he made waves for writing an Op-ed in the New York Times headlined, “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration.”
And in headlines, the State Department scrambles to help thousands of Americans stuck in the Middle East, Iran continues to retaliate against the U.S.-Israeli attacks, and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem faces tough questions in the Senate.
On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Peter Boettke speaks with historian David T. Beito about his new biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt. They discuss FDR’s record on civil liberties, including government surveillance and efforts to police speech; the administration’s approach to refugees and antisemitism; and early-career episodes like the Newport Sex Scandal. The conversation also covers how progressive-era ideas shaped FDR’s political instincts, how New Deal programs like the NRA and AAA cartelized industries, and why key wartime choices, such as unconditional surrender and “rescue through victory,” may have prolonged World War II. They close with lessons for today: the dangers of malleable legal categories and the need for durable institutional guardrails against executive abuse.
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Check out our other podcast from the Hayek Program! Virtual Sentiments is a podcast in which political theorist Kristen Collins interviews scholars and practitioners grappling with pressing problems in political economy with an eye to the past. Subscribe today!
China will soon unveil its economic blueprint for the next five years, including a target for economic growth. This comes as consumption is down, wages aren’t rising, and property prices continue to drop. So what’s the plan? Today, we hear from NPR’s China correspondent Jennifer Pak about the challenges facing China’s economic policymakers.
FYI, we are going on a book tour! Planet Money’s first ever book comes out in April. We’ll be celebrating in about a dozen cities. There’s a limited edition tote bag included with your ticket, while supplies last. Details, dates and how to get your ticket at planetmoneybook.com.
How the attention economy, distrust of all authority, and an actual crime turned a suburban Arizona street into the place to be for certain content creators.
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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.