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A group of brave people create a “peace startup” to build connections — and the mainstream media ignores them. This is the story of Sharaka, a group that should make everyone feel hopeful this holiday season. Today, Josh speaks with the director of this group building friendships between Israelis and people in Arab nations who have only heard lies about Jews and Israel.

Also, is there a new “axis of evil?” An Egyptian analyst provides insight that’s deeper, more insightful and more morally clear than anything that big news agencies are willing to share. (To hear from Bahraini athlete Fatema Alharbi, listen to the final section of Episode 30.)

And a note about Thanksgiving. These days, the media acknowledges that the myth is not the history. But what about the media’s role in spreading the myth for more than a century? Josh points to hypocrisy in the media acknowledging that myth while simultaneously spreading myths about indigeneity and colonization today.

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The media has been inundating you with alleged reasons for the election results. A lot of these reports conflict directly with each other, so it’s virtually impossible for news consumers to know which claims have any validity. Today, Josh shows you what’s factual and what’s just conjecture. For example, there’s no sign that voters focused on the economy or immigration gave Trump any kind of huge margin.

Josh also takes on a ludicrous op-ed in the New York Times that twists facts and figures in a desperate effort to blame Kamala’s loss on support for Israel. Plus, some listeners asked how much of a role the media itself played in this election. Josh looks into it and shares findings about lack of civic knowledge in America.

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It took major news outlets just minutes to begin pushing claims about how various demographic groups voted in the election. They created a mess of conflicting reports, any of which could easily turn out to be false. Today, Josh digs into this problem. He explores very different claims about how Black Americans voted, and explains how news agencies are even ignoring their own warnings. Also, why a myth about white women in the 2016 presidential election should have been a wakeup call.

Plus, Josh discusses the disastrous coverage of a violent antisemitic pogrom in Amsterdam. He explains that one media rule is at the core of both these failures. And he invites you to send in election-related news stories for next week’s episode.

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Josh has this brief, important message: Beware what you’re hearing about exit polls from the election. As people process the shock and trauma of an election loss, they look for explanations. The media jumps in to offer lots of explanations. That leads to conflicting reports and claims. For example, Josh shares three wildly different figures about how members of one demographic allegedly voted in the presidential race. 

He explains what he’s working on about the election coverage, and invites you to send in reports you want him to check.

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In this final episode before the election, a warning from Josh: Election Night coverage is largely designed to manipulate you. To take you on an emotional rollercoaster. He explains what you’d be better off doing during the first few hours, and why the early results sometimes suggest the opposite of what’s really happening.

But first, a fiasco as the billionaire owners of the L.A. Times and Washington Post block their editorial boards’ endorsements of Kamala Harris. Josh answers listeners’ questions and explains why this “matters big time, including for the fight against the forces of fascism on the right and on the far left.” He also shares what he’s hearing from the inside. And he discovers that at least one of these owners is apparently unaware of what his actual role is.

Plus, a bonus section! You’ll hear why. It’s something positive and hopeful that has nothing to do with the election: Meet Fatema Alharbi of Sharaka, a Bahraini athlete standing up to haters and building relationships with Israelis.

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We’re in the final weeks of the presidential race, which means millions of Americans are being subjected to a barrage of political messaging. Within all that messaging lies a huge story that the media is missing: In recent years, our politics, media, and culture have been overtaken by false victim narratives. 

Today, Josh explains how these come in very different forms on the right and far left, but can be equally dangerous and manipulative. Along the way, we’ll hear from Chris Rock and Dr. Phil.

Also, why Kamala Harris and her campaign seem to be sidestepping victim narratives. An expert weighs in on why this is a great move — and why Democrats in other races should draw a lesson from it. 

Plus the Associated Press breaks its own rule with a headline slamming Shai Davidai, a Columbia professor standing up to antisemitism. And Josh attempts to read some of your responses to his October 7 speech.

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It sounds like a farce. A hate monger writes a book in which he ignores the two central elements of truth: facts plus context. The media rolls out the red carpet for him, worshipping him. Finally one journalist challenges him — and that journalist gets in trouble with his own “news” network.

This is a story of CBS, author Ta-Nehisi Coates’ false anti-Israel screed, pathetic news executives and a corporation that fails to stand up for journalism. It’s also a story of perhaps the biggest gaping hole in the news and information ecosystem: “Nonfiction” books may be filled with fiction, and the publishers take no responsibility. 

Also in this episode, Josh answers a listener’s question about Tim Walz and fact checks a claim about dads and household work.

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Hurricane Helene brought more of a dangerous tradition: “journalists” standing outside, getting blown and battered around. Are they gathering and providing crucial information? Actually, no. They’re not getting information that they couldn’t get safely from inside. You might think, if people are choosing to do this, what’s the harm? There is harm — not just in the immediate sense, but in a much bigger sense. The same false thinking about news that drives these kinds of stunts also leads to the other kinds of problems this show has explored, like giving open mics to liars and failing to fact check. Today, Josh explains.

Plus, an expert in the psychology of marketing on why the media might be missing the biggest story of the presidential election. Josh shows that news agencies aren’t even looking into it. And Josh corrects the New York Times’ claim about “facts.” 

Josh’ open letter to the media, calling on news leaders to accurately cover the October 7 anniversary, is up. Share it widely! Sign up to receive the free newsletter.

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While the media fixates on one awful thing Trump and Vance are doing, it ignores lots of others. And that’s exactly how the Trump campaign wants it. Today, Josh explains the history of campaigns purposely fanning flames of controversy in the media so that their preferred issues dominate the news cycle.

Meanwhile, will that same gullibility lead the media to fall for anti-Israel protests scheduled on October 7, when they should be reporting on what happened in the most evil terrorist attack of modern times? Josh has a plan to push the media to avoid this, and you can help.

Plus, Trump is now claiming that if he loses, Jewish people will “have a lot to do” with it. Josh explains why this is so dangerous. He also wrote an op-ed about it for the biggest paper in a crucial swing state.

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Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are trying desperately to get the media to declare something — anything — involving Kamala Harris and Tim Walz a “scandal.” Today, Josh shows how transparent the effort is, with one of them even trying twice in a single televised interview. Will the media fall for it, as it did in 2016 with Hillary Clinton’s emails? Josh invites listeners to come up with an acronym for Trump’s scandals, which may need to be as long as supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

Meanwhile, a scandal at the world’s largest broadcaster. A new study shows the extent of the BBC’s institutional, antisemitic bias against Israel. Josh speaks with the man who oversaw the research, which involved a massive amount of reporting and both human and A.I. analyses.

Plus, an announcement. Josh is going on the road together with a pivotal figure in U.S. history: America’s first Black spymaster in the CIA! His story was secret until now.

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Media pundits heaped praise on the moderators of the presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Why? Because amid Trump’s onslaught of lies, they offered a few brief moments of fact checking. Today, Josh explains that this proves the incredibly low bar for “journalism” at these spectacles — which are, as he has said before, “arson for truth.” Also, he highlights a moment in which a host said something false in the process of asking Kamala Harris a question.

Meanwhile, listeners have sent in lots of questions about the media’s failure to accurately describe the slaughter of hostages in Gaza, including a U.S. citizen. Josh shares something surprising: for a brief period, the language that upset people was actually accurate. But the critics are right too.

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When Tim Walz’s teenage son Gus teared up in pride over his father, right-wing talking heads bullied him. It brought a major issue into focus: battles over “masculinity.” The head of a top polling agency says it’s the only thing helping Trump keep the race close. Today, Josh shows that the media is caught between two superficial visions of masculinity, while ignoring reality. Through hard data, he shows that Trump is nothing like the overwhelming majority of today’s American men — and Tim Walz is.

Also, Josh shows that the media misuses the term “toxic masculinity,” and that people who support it are not only on the far right, but also the far left. He shares the sound of a Palestinian terrorist’s call to his father, who cries in pride over his son’s evil murder spree.