At What Cost?

A jury recently ordered Alex Jones to pay nearly one billion dollars to the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting. On this week’s On the Media, a former Alex Jones staffer struggles with the damage his participation wrought. Plus, does social media really turn nice people into trolls?

1. Elizabeth Williamson [@NYTLiz], features writer for The New York Times, on the Sandy Hook defamation trials against Alex Jones and what the trials taught us about the spread of misinformation. Listen.

2. Josh Owens [@JoshuaHOwens ], a former InfoWars employee, on what can be done to help people who have become consumed by conspiracy theories. Listen.

3. Michael Bang Petersen [@M_B_Petersen], political science professor at Aarhus University, on the difference (or lack thereof) between on and offline behaviors, and how social media might not be affecting us in the ways we think. Listen.

Music:

The Artifact and Living by Michael Andrews
Cellar Door by Michael Andrews
Boy Moves the Sun by Michael Andrews
Exit Music (For A Film) by Brad Mehldau Trio
Eye Surgery by Thomas Newman
Hammer of Los by John Zorn