Truth in the Age of Disinformation, the Resilience of Black Voters, and Escaping into Fantasy

This week political contributor Errin Haines and host Farai Chideya reflect on the Presidential election and the role of Black women and women of color voters. Mutale Nkonde returns to talk about the actual impact of targeted voter suppression. Dr. Kimberly Moffitt gets into what it means to find truth in the information age, and a new ISPU study looks at how American Muslims build coalitions. Steven Thrasher applies the lessons learned from the AIDS epidemic to COVID. And science fiction author N.K Jemisin on how she finds inspiration in daily life. Plus, we hear from passionate voters on election day at polls across the country.

Episode Rundown

0:30 The origins of Our Body Politic, with host Farai Chideya. 

5:50 Voters from across the country tell us why they voted in this election. 

6:30 Errin Haines, regular contributor and Editor-at-large at The 19th, talks about the voters of color who turned out this election.

8:24 Haines explains trends we are seeing in Senate and House races.

10:51 The narratives around the role of white voters and Black voters and why that must change.

11:50 More voters talk about why they committed to their plan to vote. 

13:02 Mutale Nkonde, CEO of AI For The People, talks about the disinformation age and how to combat fake news.

16:02 Nkonde explains how the influx of people of color from progressive cities into the suburbs of southern states is turning some districts blue.

17:45 Farai and Nkonde ask: what lessons will politicians learn from the 2020 election?

20:32 Farai poses a question for our listeners to take part in our SPEAK segment.

21:17 The Covid update - record-breaking cases, the impacts of being pregnant with COVID-19, and what’s at stake in the SCOTUS case about the Affordable Care Act. 

22:23 Would a federal mask mandate work? Professor Steven Thrasher reflects on his time studying the AIDS epidemic and how we can apply lessons learned to the Covid pandemic. 

23:47 Is it helpful to prosecute individuals for a disease? According to Professor Thrasher, it does more harm than good.

26:30 A case study of how criminalizing disease creates bias and disincentivizes people from getting tested for disease.

32:10 How can we discern fake news from the true facts? Dr. Kimberly Moffitt explains why we are such impulsive media consumers, and how to change that.

33:24 Identity politics is a huge problem when seeking out the facts, Dr. Moffitt suggests.

37:23 A conversation with Dalia Mogahed and Meira Neggaz from the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding about their recent study on American Muslim voters.

40:06 Good news segment brings you good news from the entertainment world: Sharon Jones honored in her home state, Beyoncé lifting up young professionals, and Claire Zhao making impactful movies.

41:35 Fiction author N.K. Jemisin tells us about racism and bias in the literary world, and how fiction is based not on the past or the future, but the present. 

44:23 Jemisin talks about her Broken Earth trilogy and how it all started with an unexplainable dream.

47:00 Jemisin explains some of the conspiracies within the fantasy fandom community that prevent people of color from receiving awards.