The Anatomy of Misinformation: Who Wins When Truth Loses

What's the difference between an honest mistake and a deliberate lie? In this episode of the Public Health Insight Podcast, Dr. Stephen Barnard breaks down the spectrum of problematic information and the psychological vulnerabilities that make us susceptible to false information—from echo chambers and political identity to our eroding trust in institutions. This conversation episode examines how misinformation spreads accidentally while disinformation campaigns deliberately exploit our biases for profit and power. Through examples ranging from pharmaceutical marketing disguised as news to the viral spread of COVID conspiracy theories, we uncover the human psychology behind our information crisis and why public health misinformation can literally be a matter of life and death.References for Our Discussion◼️ The new science of prebunking: how to inoculate against the spread of misinformation◼️Psychological inoculation improves resilience against misinformation on social media◼️STEPHEN R. BARNARD WebsiteGuest◼️Dr. Stephen BarnardHost(s) & Producer(s)◼️ Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP®Production Notes◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music RoomSubscribe to the NewsletterSubscribe to The Insight newsletter so you don’t miss out on the latest podcast episodes, live events, job skills, learning opportunities, and other engaging professional development content here.Leave Us Some FeedbackIf you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think.Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.