Truth is not what is, but what persuades

This episode examines how truth recedes when appearance becomes the measure of influence. It follows the long history of leaders, institutions, and media systems that learned how spectacle can command belief even when the substance behind it is thin, and it traces the evolution of persuasion from Renaissance courts to modern broadcasting, showing how fear, performance, and repetition organize the stories people treat as real. The psychological need for coherence makes whole societies receptive to crafted narratives that feel stable even when they distort the world. Join us as we investigate why public conviction often forms around symbols rather than facts, and how this tendency reshapes political life, culture, and identity. In other words, truth is not what is, but what persuades.