The Lie Detectives — Part 1

For the full and ad-free version of this episode, subscribe to Politicology+ at https://politicology.com/plus

How do you win campaigns in a world awash with lies? And why do candidates and campaigns struggle to “use their normal brains” when those lies happen start online? 

In this two-part conversation, join host Ron Steslow, Mike Madrid, and Sasha Issemberg to discuss the way Democratic political campaigns are adjusting to the challenges of the new information landscape, as Sasha’s reveals in his new book The Lie Detectives: In Search of a Playbook for Winning Elections in the Disinformation Age.

In part 1:

(02:01) Why Sasha wrote The Lie Detectives

(03:33) The evolution of campaign tactics in the early 2000s

(04:43) The focus on “disinformation” after the 2016 election 

(7:10) The Trump campaign’s strategy to depress turnout in 2016, and the difference between “suppression” and “depression.”

(10:36) Strategies for discouraging turnout in 2020 

(14:30) How campaigns should decide what wrong information to respond to online

(20:31) The generational shift in campaign decision makers

(30:18) The shift to calling opponents “liars”

Read The Lie Detectives: https://www.sashaissenberg.com/the-lie-detectives

Read The Victory Lab: https://www.sashaissenberg.com/the-victory-lab

Follow Ron, Sasha, and Mike on X (formerly Twitter):

https://twitter.com/RonSteslow

https://twitter.com/sissenberg

https://twitter.com/madrid_mike

Email your questions to podcast@politicology.com or leave us a voicemail at ‪(202) 455-4558‬ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices