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Five Questions with Barb Mcquade

How Do We Push Back Against Disinformation?

Joyce Vance

Mar 29

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A reader named Bill in Buffalo, New York, wrote to me earlier this week with this question:

“I'm in a long, depressing conversation with my brother, who has every excuse for Trump and DOGE doing good. He recently sent me this YouTube video in which Trump and administration officials give examples of the mis-spending that DOGE is finding, and which reinforces my brother's belief in what Trump, Musk, and the Administration are doing to find waste and fraud in government. What do I do with this? Fact-check on Snopes.com. I don't believe any of it, but it seems real. And of course, it still wouldn't justify taking down the federal government and our democracy.”

Bill and I discussed how hard it is to combat situations like this, especially when a close friend or family member becomes committed to false narratives, or, as we should properly call them, lies, about what is taking place. It is not an easy thing to deal with.

I do think that with time, grit, and perseverance, we will come out okay on the other side of it, but in order to get there, we have to all be willing to do the hard work of democracy, and that means confronting the falsehoods. Fortunately, I have a good friend who is an expert in this area, so we are joined tonight for Five Questions with by Barb McQuade, whose book, Attack from Within: How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America, many of you read when it came out last year.

Barb & me in NYC last year to pick up a Webby Award for our podcast #SistersInLaw

Tonight, we turn to Barb for an update.

“Five Questions” is the one Civil Discourse column that is exclusively for paid subscribers, my way of thanking you all for your support for the newsletter. Your paid subscriptions help me devote the time and resources necessary to the newsletter. The rest of the columns that make up Civil Discourse are available to everyone—knowledge is power, and we all need as much of that as possible right now! Thank you for being here and for caring about the future of our democracy.