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The Matter of Facts: Why our brains are vulnerable to disinformation

The Matter of Facts: Why our brains are vulnerable to disinformation

To celebrate Hamish Macdonald's new television series The Matter of Facts, we'll be taking a deep dive into the global ramifications of mis- and disinformation. First up is the world of AI deepfakes. Generative artificial intelligence has us questioning our own eyes and ears, and the rapid pace at which we're consuming information is quite literally changing our brains. How do we navigate this world without falling prey to manipulation? In this episode, “deep reading” expert Maryanne Wolf joins Hamish Macdonald and Geraldine Doogue to unpack what it means to engage critically with information. ----------- Guest: Maryanne Wolf -- Director of the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. And author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain. This is the first of Global Roaming's mini series on misinformation and disinformation. Hamish's documentary is called The Matter of Facts, and will be released on iView on Tuesday 24th March 2026. Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.

Global Roaming with Geraldine Doogue and Hamish Macdonald · Australian Broadcasting Corporation

March 23, 202629m 4s

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Show Notes

To celebrate Hamish Macdonald's new television series The Matter of Facts, we'll be taking a deep dive into the global ramifications of mis- and disinformation. First up is the world of AI deepfakes. 

Generative artificial intelligence has us questioning our own eyes and ears, and the rapid pace at which we're consuming information is quite literally changing our brains. How do we navigate this world without falling prey to manipulation?

In this episode, “deep reading” expert Maryanne Wolf joins Hamish Macdonald and Geraldine Doogue to unpack what it means to engage critically with information.

-----------

Guest: Maryanne Wolf -- Director of the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. And author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain.

This is the first of Global Roaming's mini series on misinformation and disinformation. Hamish's documentary is called The Matter of Facts, and will be released on iView on Tuesday 24th March 2026.

Get in touch:

We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Topics

AI disinformationmisinformation and fake newstrust in mediatruth in the digital ageinformation warfaremedia literacycritical thinking skillsdeep readingcognitive overloadattention economyhow we consume informationimpact of technology on the brainneuroscience of readingdigital distractionslow readingcritical engagement with newsalgorithmic feedssocial media influenceverification and fact‑checkingjournalism and truthnavigating online informationcontemporary media culturedeep fakesMaryanne WolfHamish MacdonaldGeraldine DoogueAIartificial intelligencemetaxai slop