Full Show: Fact In Fiction
How does new tech really impact our politics? Why did abolitionist Frederick Douglass think photography would pull the nation together? And why do we care so much about what happens in Casablanca or Stranger Things or Raiders of the Lost Ark?
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Show Notes
First, whether it’s FDR reassuring the nation through radio or Trump talking about hamburgers on Twitter, new technologies have always impacted American politics. Historian Jill Lepore walks us through the interactions between the machine of government and the tech we think can make that machine run better. Hint: it rarely works out as we anticipate.
Then, if you really, absolutely, can’t wait to know who’s going to end up on the Iron Throne… well, there’s a scientific reason you care so much about fictional characters. Scholar William Flesch explains what makes us so involved in shows like The Wire, All In The Family, and yes, Game of Thrones.
And finally, we hear from you. We got a lot of responses to our recent segment about the surge in extracurricular math programs for K-12 students. And we’ll hear why math is too often a stumbling block for students hoping to get college degrees.