Ali Breland is a reporter at Mother Jones who covers online disinformation. He joins the podcast this week to talk about two of his recent essays that confront the flaws and shortcomings of conversations around disinformation, extremism, violence and other harms. Ali discusses why terms like “echo chamber” don’t adequately capture the dynamic social media platforms play in shaping political ideology. Then we talk about the infinite cycle of doom that Americans face in public life. This episode isn’t a feel-good one but we hope you’ll agree that conversations like these are important to have—and especially so when they are unpleasant.

Follow Ali on Twitter: @alibreland

Read Ali’s recent writing at Mother Jones:

Who Exactly Is Trapped in an “Echo Chamber”?

Mass Shootings and Our Never-ending Doomcycle

Ali’s favorite things online: hyper-niche meme accounts and Musical artist Bo Daddy Harris

Theme music via DJ Danarchy: https://hearthis.at/danarchy/

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