Podcast | Digging Deeper- The Real World of Fake News

Fake news - the phrase of the times we live in. So much so, it is the one dominant phrase even in the limited vocabulary of a sitting American President. At a recent rally in Montana, Donald Trump said even Honest Abe (Abraham Lincoln) was a victim of fake news.

What is truth? Why do we believe in the things we do? Whom do we believe and why? When faced with questions like these, it is prudent to ask ourselves another question - What would Foucault say?

Michel Foucault is one of the most cited and influential thinkers and philosophers of the 20th century, and his work seems particularly relevant now. Unlike some Major Names in philosophy who believed in all-embracing theories to explain the world, Foucault believed that life and the world around us were far too complex and nuanced, and argued that language and the structures that underpin it help shape the way we see things.

Words matter - they frame the debate and how we understand the world. He once said, “Not everything is bad, but everything is dangerous. The choice we have to make every day is to determine which the main danger is.” That is the question we are going to address today. When it comes to news and fake news, when do we know which is which and how do we know which is a greater danger.