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Podcast: Making outrage addictive

Podcast: Making outrage addictive

Social media has become a part of our daily lives, as we scroll endlessly through curated feeds. But it’s clear that these platforms are having a negative impact on our lives and our society in ways we never imagined.

Platforms that were once a way to connect people have become a place where disinformation flows freely, controversy and division turns a profit, and people are pushed into echo chambers where everyone believes the same things and get fed disinformation that amps up their views.


In episode 39, Weston unpacks social media’s psychological and cultural ramifications, but also its impact on our democracy and politics — looking at where we can go from here and discussing the need for increased transparency and accountability.

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A U.S. flag flying before congress. Visual representation of technology, a glitch, artificial intelligence
As AI reshapes jobs and politics, America faces a choice: resist automation or embrace innovation. The path to prosperity lies in AI literacy and adaptability.
Getty Images, Douglas Rissing

Why Should I Be Worried About AI?

For many people, the current anxiety about artificial intelligence feels overblown. They say, “We’ve been here before.” Every generation has its technological scare story. In the early days of automation, factories threatened jobs. Television was supposed to rot our brains. The internet was going to end serious thinking. Kurt Vonnegut’s Player Piano, published in 1952, imagined a world run by machines and technocrats, leaving ordinary humans purposeless and sidelined. We survived all of that.

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AI-generated “nudification” is no longer a distant threat—it’s harming students now. As deepfake pornography spreads in schools nationwide, educators are left to confront a growing crisis that outpaces laws, platforms, and parental awareness.

Getty Images, d3sign

How AI Deepfakes in Classrooms Expose a Crisis of Accountability and Civic Trust

While public outrage flares when AI tools like Elon Musk’s Grok generate sexualized images of adults on X—often without consent—schools have been dealing with this harm for years. For school-aged children, AI-generated “nudification” is not a future threat or an abstract tech concern; it is already shaping their daily lives.

Last month, that reality became impossible to ignore in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana. A father sued the school district after several middle school boys circulated AI-generated pornographic images of eight female classmates, including his 13-year-old daughter. When the girl confronted one of the boys and punched him on a school bus, she was expelled. The boy who helped create and spread the images faced no formal consequences.

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Democracies Don’t Collapse in Silence; They Collapse When Truth Is Distorted or Denied
a remote control sitting in front of a television
Photo by Pinho . on Unsplash

Democracies Don’t Collapse in Silence; They Collapse When Truth Is Distorted or Denied

Even with the full protection of the First Amendment, the free press in America is at risk. When a president works tirelessly to silence journalists, the question becomes unavoidable: What truth is he trying to keep the country from seeing? What is he covering up or trying to hide?

Democracies rarely fall in a single moment; they erode through a thousand small silences that go unchallenged. When citizens can no longer see or hear the truth — or when leaders manipulate what the public is allowed to know — the foundation of self‑government begins to crack long before the structure falls. When truth becomes negotiable, democracy becomes vulnerable — not because citizens stop caring, but because they stop receiving the information they need to act.

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As AI reshapes the labor market, workers must think like entrepreneurs. Explore skills gaps, apprenticeships, and policy reforms shaping the future of work.

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We’re All Entrepreneurs Now: Learning, Pivoting, and Thriving the Age of AI

What do a recent grad, a disenchanted employee, and a parent returning to the workforce all have in common? They’re each trying to determine which skills are in demand and how they can convince employers that they are competent in those fields. This is easier said than done.

Recent grads point to transcripts lined with As to persuade firms that they can add value. Firms, well aware of grade inflation, may scoff.

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