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In this episode, April debunks some common misconceptions and discusses why they are so "sticky" in our brains.

Episode 45 Show Notes

Definition of "factoid"--https://www.oed.com/dictionary/factoid_n?tab=meaning_and_use#4942990

Drs Carroll and Vreeman's great book debunking lots of health myths: https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Cross-Your-Theyll-Stuck/dp/0312681879

AOA's article discussing strabismus (crossed eyes): https://www.aoa.org/healthy-eyes/eye-and-vision-conditions/strabismus

Great article debunking several misconceptions your parents probably believed were true: https://www.uchealth.org/today/10-myths-you-may-have-heard-from-your-parents/

The five-second rule, explained: https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/the-origin-of-the-five-second-rule/

The Cleveland Clinic's article setting the record straight about body heat loss: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/body-heat-loss

The truth about chastity belts: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/medieval-chastity-belts-are-myth-180956341/

Why you should be more afraid of your tray table making you sick than the air on an airplane: https://www.aarp.org/travel/travel-tips/safety/avoid-airplane-germs/#:~:text=%7C%20An%20airplane%20offers%20the%20perfect,soggy%20tissues%20and%20dirty%20diapers

What "vomitorium" really means: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/purging-the-myth-of-the-vomitorium/

An in depth-discussion of the term "Xmas:" https://eu.news-journalonline.com/story/news/2023/12/06/xmas-vs-christmas-why-offensive-origins-history-greek-chi-means-christ/71810050007/

https://www.yourdictionary.com/articles/xmas-origin

An extremely deep dive into the psychology behind misconceptions: https://philpapers.org/rec/DELIMA-3

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While it's always been the case that "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting its boots on," it's exponentially more true since the rise of the internet, particularly social media. In this episode, April looks at how and why misinformation and disinformation (which are not the same thing, btw) travel so quickly around our media landscape and affect the way we view the world.

Episode 44 Show Notes

(I have so many sources I can't put descriptions on them because I would go over the character limit, but they're generally in the order they are found in the episode):

https://theonion.com/planned-parenthood-opens-8-billion-abortionplex-1819572640/

https://www.freedomforum.org/misinformation-vs-disinformation/#:~:text=Misinformation%20is%20false%20information%20disseminated,intentional%2C%20whereas%20misinformation%20is%20unintentional.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/north-carolina-man-sentenced-four-year-prison-term-armed-assault-northwest-washington

https://campaignlegal.org/results-lawsuits-regarding-2020-elections

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/14/alex-jones-sandy-hook-settlement-supreme-court-appeal-00607361

https://shorensteincenter.org/research-initiative/the-hks-misinformation-review/

https://news.mit.edu/2018/study-twitter-false-news-travels-faster-true-stories-0308

https://som.yale.edu/story/2023/reimagining-social-media-news-sharing-research-finds-users-habits-key-safer-and-more#:~:text=One%20important%20aspect%20that%20contributes,professor%20of%20psychology%20and%20business.

https://www.imperva.com/resources/resource-library/reports/2024-bad-bot-report/

https://www.clrn.org/how-much-of-the-internet-is-ai-generated/

https://theconversation.com/how-ai-bots-spread-misinformation-online-and-undermine-democratic-politics-234915

https://www.heinz.cmu.edu/media/2018/October/troll-farms-and-fake-news-social-media-weaponization#:~:text=Russian%20%E2%80%9Ctroll%20farms%E2%80%9D%E2%80%94groups,%E2%80%94literally%E2%80%94divide%20and%20conquer.

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/

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In this episode, April explains that ignorance and stupidity are not the same thing. But when doubt is deliberately created as a strategic ploy by powerful entities, the ignorance that results can be not only stupid, but dangerous.

Episode 43 Show Notes

Definition of "epistomology:" https://www.britannica.com/topic/epistemology

Good explanation of agnotology by Dr Mark Crislip: https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/agnotology-the-study-of-ignorance/

Dr Robert Proctor on Alie Ward: https://www.alieward.com/ologies/agnotology

The post-truth world: https://theconversation.com/scientists-have-a-word-for-studying-the-post-truth-world-agnotology-71542

Medium article https://medium.com/@porlando_84392/agnotology-the-study-of-ignorance-351ba8ae432d

Find out about, and buy, Merchants of Doubt here: https://www.merchantsofdoubt.org/

Great article on "the science of spin: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7996119/

Michael Facciani's website: https://www.matthewfacciani.com/

Agnotology explains why social media platforms don’t investigate the negative impacts of their messaging: https://www.cigionline.org/articles/social-media-platforms-and-upside-ignorance/

Changes to social media sites involving previously banned content: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/everything-to-know-about-meta-political-content-update/737123/

Yes, scientists do agree on climate change: https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/faq/do-scientists-agree-on-climate-change/

Jake Scott's Senate testimony: https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Scott-Testimony.pdf

Here are a few good sources I didn't have time to discuss:

How scientists deal with what they don’t know https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/evan.21303?msockid=1e22d990d6c764bc2523cc64d77d65db

How agnotology might work to fight disinformation https://www.wired.com/story/agnotology-misinformation-opinion/

Agnotology and political rhetoric https://www.aaronhuertas.com/invisible-messaging-the-power-of-agnotology-in-political-rhetoric/