Episode Details

Episode 1021 exposes a $6 million Republican ad campaign that manipulated grieving parents of murder victims into unknowingly slandering North Carolina Senate candidate Roy Cooper with lies their own children's killers had nothing to do with. Driftglass and Blue Gal trace how this fits a decades-old pattern — Fox News and Hate Radio building a toxic "coal ash pond" of propaganda so complete that facts bounce off true believers, illustrated by journalist Barton Gellman's failed attempt to fact-check a January 6th supporter into reality. The episode contrasts that with Illinois' actual record — credit rating upgrades, record tourism, real economic gains — that MAGA voters refuse to acknowledge no matter how much evidence piles up. It's about what happens when lies become load-bearing walls in people's minds, and why no amount of truth can dislodge them once they're structural.

Links for this episode:  

Question Everything Link:  https://www.kcrw.com/shows/question-everything/stories/3-the-journalist-and-the-firefighter

Gellman Atlantic Link: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/01/january-6-insurrection-trump-coup-2024-election/620843/

News and Observer Link:  https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article317086926.html

Capitol News Link: https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/sp-global-upgrades-illinois-credit-rating/

Links for this episode: 

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