From COVID to presidential sex scandals, newsmakers use distraction to tell the story they want and take your attention from the story you *need*. In this episode of UnSpun, Dr. Sturg gives some examples of political distraction and she and award-winning journalist Ben Welsh talk about data journalism.

How does the news decide who to interview, and what do they do with people who just don't want to answer the questions? Dr. Sturg breaks it down in this week's mini-sode of UnSpun.

Do attorneys plan for media coverage as a part of a trial? Do reporters covering courts do a good job, or are they missing things. Asha Rangappa and Renato Mariotti answer questions about the intersection between the courts and the media in this episode of UnSpun.

They are name-calling in congressional committees and judges don't like it when witnesses roll their eyes. It's summer travel time in North America, and as we get ready to go see those relatives we really disagree with, we're re-airing an episode on getting along across difference.

Headlines are an evolving art, as the pressures of digital algorithms are forcing news makers to emphasize the popular over the important. In this minisode of UnSpun, Dr. Sturg explains how headlines come to be and shares the latest research on how that affects you, the audience.

Boys crying wolf aside, sometimes repeating a bold lie makes people more likely to believe it. In this week's Unspun, Dr. Sturg breaks down the big lie and guest Dr. Jennifer Mercieca talks about how politicians with no accountability to the truth are bad for democracy.

In this minisode of UnSpun, Dr. Sturg breaks down how press conferences work and how they are used to shape the public's view of what a newsmaker is doing.

In an MSW Media podcast crossover, the funny and insightful Frances Callier and Angela V. Shelton, aka Frangela, join Dr. Sturg to discuss the lives of content creators and why you might find a comedian house party very strange. Plus, Dr. Sturg breaks down false analogies - bad comparisons of things that aren't really comparable at all.

It is always fair for journalists to include both sides? Dr. Sturg breaks down the history and future of objectivity in this miniepisode of UnSpun. Plus, test yourself with some newsmakers in a little logic review.

Both news media and news makers can do more to protect democracy. Dr. Sturg talks about the research on how elections get covered and the appeal to nature fallacy. Our guest: author, professor and NBC contributor Barbara McQuade talks about her new book and the ways that lawmakers could act to help audiences protect themselves from disinformation.

What's even worse for carrying disinformation than social media? Messaging apps! In this episode, Dr. Sturg reviews a deceptive tactic with some new clips and goes over the research on how apps like WhatsApp and Telegram make it very hard to stop Fake News from spreading.

Do search engines like Google give you the best information? Dr. Sturg and digital marketer Matt Diamanté from Canada's Hey Tony agency break it down. Plus, composition: the Fallacy when the whole isn't actually as good as the sum of the parts.

Learn what it means when a journalist lets a source go off the record, what a false authority is and some tips so you can spot misinformation from Mike Caulfield, co-author of Verified.

Someone's need to feel validated and important can affect how they view the news, politics and even their own family. In this episode, Dr. Sturg talks with psychotherapist Nick Carmody about the interplay between emotions, beliefs and actions.

One way newsmakers to get people to agree with them is to limit their choices so they look like the reasonable one. But they may not be reasonable at all. Learn about false choice this week, and then Dr. Sturg talks with author Teri Kanefield about her upcoming graphic novel "Firehose of Falsehood."

Public records are just that – public – but they can be hard to get. Dr. Sturg breaks down the deception of cherry picking and then she and American Oversight’s Katie Anthony talk about how FOIA and other records laws can help keep the government accountable and save democracy. Plus, AltFDA talks about a time the actual FDA commissioner talked to an anonymous guy on Twitter DM.

Do debates matter? How about polls? And what do newsmakers do to convince you that there's a big problem, when they don't even know that there is? In this episode of UnSpun, learn how polls work with Dr. Ken Fernandez and Dr. Sturg runs down the research on debates.

It's the holidays, and that means visits with those challenging relatives and chance encounters when you travel. In this episode, Dr. Sturg reviews some ideas from communication studies about how to have productive conversations with people you disagree with.

Free speech is on the menu this week as guest Israel Balderas and Dr. Sturg talk about the First Amendment and the ways newsmakers misrepresent it. The first word is Congress, and that word matters a lot. Plus! Listener questions and the time the ACLU and the New York Times defended the rights of American Nazi wannabes.

People rely on some bad cues for how to make choices, and sometimes newsmakers don't help. In this episode, learn why "we've always done it this way" can be a bad thing. Then, Dr. Sturg talks with Dr. Ben Rein, a neuroscientist and social media star who myth busts and explains science for everyone.

What does Jan. 6 have to do with cherry picking? A lot, it turns out. Find out how. Plus Dr. Sturg tells what the research says about Thanksgiving dinner with the relatives. Can you change Aunt Gladys's mind?

When happens when the government can't get its act together? Politicians try to distract by throwing out a red herrings - talking about completely different topics. But ultimately, whether you pay attention or not, it can lead to a federal government shutdown. Learn about them with my #AltGov guest, @AltSpaceForce1 reading an excerpt from my book about the last one.

Fear has an important relationship to the news. In this episode, learn how newsmakers use fear to get people to do what they want. My guest, professor Dr. Seth Norrholm has studied fear and anxiety for more than 20 years. We discuss how people process information from the media and social media and how fear plays a role in what you pay attention to and understand.

What about what HE did? If there’s one thing politicians love, it’s calling an opponent a hypocrite. But two things can both be bad. In this episode of UnSpun, see how newsmakers try to distract from their own bad deeds by pointing out problems with others.  Then, Dr. Sturg talks with analytics expert William Moner about how and why companies track your online behavior and what they do with that data.