DISINFORMATION

Disinformation is a powerful weapon. It forces your enemy to inflict damage upon themselves based upon lies that you've deliberately spread. How did a homeless man's corpse help win World War II? How does reality television function in Russia, given that the media is so tightly controlled?

Disinformation is a separate phenomenon from misinformation. Disinformation relies on spreading deliberately false information in the hopes that your enemy will make a decision based off a lie. In this episode, we explore the past, present, and future of disinformation. How did a carefully placed corpse — planted by a submarine off the coast of Spain — help the Allies win World War II? Who is behind the fake news farms in Macedonia? How does Russian reality television function given that the whole media ecosystem is based on state propaganda? Why did The Apprentice flop with a Russian audience? What did Anne Applebaum learn from being the target of a Russian disinformation campaign? And what are deep fakes, why are they so dangerous, and how long will it be until we can no longer trust what we can see with our own eyes when we’re watching a video of a world leader speaking? Listen now to find out.