Content by Matthew Sheffield
Ezra Taft Benson and the tangled history of Mormon and evangelical extremism
Historian Matthew L. Harris speaks about the critical role that Mormonism played in the development of right-wing American politics
Fighting disinformation is something everyone can do, and must do to protect our democracy
Fact-checker and rumor killer Brooke Binkowski talks about the history of falsehoods, and how to combat them
Why critical thinking is the long-term cure for disinformation
While combating specific false beliefs is important, in the long run, helping people learn to spot misinformation is the best way to counter it
How the ‘anger industrial complex’ works to monetize rage
Podcaster and former CNN reporter Michele Mitchell talks about how commercialized media and scheming politicians profit from making us upset and uninformed
Total recall: The California GOP’s plan to make democracy obsolete is coming to your state
California Republicans can’t win statewide elections, but that isn’t stopping them from staging a minoritarian recall strategy against Gov. Gavin Newsom
The ‘Southern Strategy’ changed the GOP just as much as it did white Southerners’ partisanship
Author Angie Maxwell talks about how conservative Republicans were changed as they reconfigured their political strategy to appeal to white Protestants’ politics of grievance
Democrats are in an identity crisis, do they know how to fix it?
Conservative policy ideas are very unpopular, but Democrats have not been able to close the deal with the public
Obsolete ‘both sides’ journalism has enabled far-right radicalism and enabled ‘faux left’ grifting
Media critic Eric Boehlert discusses how the mainstream press refuses to acknowledge that the Republican Party has turned against democracy
Misinformation epidemic: How conspiracy theorists and wannabe doctors confuse the public
#12: Richard Carpiano on medical misinformation and unqualified Covid-19 punditry
Pat Bagley on the conservative takeover of Mormonism and the GOP he once knew
Salt Lake Tribune editorial cartoonist Pat Bagley talks about his 43-year career observing politics, Utah, and Mormonism
How internet trolls from the late 90s and early 2000s created the ethos of American conservatism
Journalist Robyn Pennacchia discusses the rise of sexist trolling and how it merged with Christian nationalism to create today’s right-wing extremism
America’s for-profit media system has harmed our politics
Veteran media critic Parker Molloy discusses how media sensationalism and desire for access prevents ‘mainstream’ journalists from fully reporting what they know
Republicans are banking on a fusion of Trump autocracy and McConnell nihilism, but will it work for them?
As conservative elites have embraced a strategy of culture war manipulation, the rest of America is finally understanding how to respond
The Senate filibuster hasn’t just stopped progressive legislation, it’s also radicalized Republicans
Mitch McConnell’s filibuster abuses have enabled the GOP to avoid electoral consequences for its unpopular policies, and skewed the center of U.S. politics to the right
Beyond belief: The day I almost sold my soul to God
As a child brought up in Mormonism, I was taught to constantly worry about whether I’d survive the Second Coming of Jesus
Trump’s blog failure reminds us of the power of platforms, and their owners’ responsibilities
The ex-president’s rudimentary blog was a total failure, and provided a larger lesson in media.
Have Trump Republicans lost their grip on reality, or are they just lying to pollsters?
Surveys keep finding that GOP respondents believe falsehoods, but what if they’re just lying in support of the party?
Liz Cheney won’t be the last casualty of conservatism’s epistemic collapse
The intellectual destruction of Christian fundamentalism has caused the American right to believe that truth is entirely the product of social power
Joe Rogan and our epidemic of pseudo-expertise
Infotainment fandoms have convinced millions of people that blathering internet commentators are experts at everything
Together, we’re building the next generation of media
Flux is an ideas community where we explore why things are happening and who we are. Corporate media is broken, it’s time for a new approach.
Why do Republican elites keep talking about dying for Jesus?
Fighting losing battles valiantly has always been at the core of U.S. conservatism. But as the losses keep piling up, its tragic sense is turning into thanatos.
Trump accomplished little even when the GOP had total power, why?
Right-wing elites are so divided internally, they’ve settled on a de facto domestic policy: do nothing. It’s why Trump passed almost no legislation as president.
Far-right creationists are controlling Trump’s coronavirus response
Junk science central: The top officials in the Trump administration setting U.S. policy for handling the SARS2 coronavirus pandemic think evolution is a Satanic lie.
Editorial cartooning is under threat in the age of the meme
Nationally syndicated cartoonists Nick Anderson and Nate Beeler discuss how the rise of the web has the nation’s editorial artists banding together
Can we trust opinion polls? The Pew Research Center is trying to make sure
Election polls nationally were fairly accurate in 2016, but big errors at the state level indicate that conducting surveys is becoming more difficult in the future