Dannagal Goldthwaite Young is a professor of communication and political science at the University of Delaware. In addition to being an award winning scholar, she has also been an improvisational comedian. Her 2020 TED Talk (link below) explaining how our psychology shapes our politics and how media exploit these relationships has been viewed over 2 Million times. She publishes extensively in the popular press with essays and Op-eds in outlets including Vox.com, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic. Her earlier book is Irony and Outrage: The Polarized Landscape of Rage, Fear, and Laughter in the United States.

Her book, WRONG: HOW MEDIA, POLITICS, AND IDENTITY DRIVE OUR APPETITE FOR MISINFORMATION, was just published by Johns Hopkins University Press.

As Jaime Settle, author of FRENEMIES: HOW SOCIAL MEDIA POLARIZES AMERICA, writes of it ‘Powerful, distinctive, and utterly compelling, Wrong argues that the way we satisfy our needs for comprehension, control, and community is shaped by our social identities, which are at the core of both the supply and demand for misinformation. Because politicians and the media know this fact, they behave strategically in order to structure politics through this perspective.”

We spoke with Dr. Young on November 7, 2023 via Skype.

Links to articles/videos pertinent to this interview:

The psychological traits that shape your political beliefs Dannagal G. Young https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSJzPB4qrxU

Republicans Have Chosen Nihilism https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/06/opinion/trump-allan-bloom-republicans.html

We can’t fight the Republican party’s ‘big lie’ with facts alone https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2023/oct/29/you-cant-fight-the-republican-partys-big-lie-with-facts-alone

Trump’s Recipe for a Shockingly Raw Power Grab https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/11/07/mag-shafer-trump-dictator-00125767

City Summons Reporter to Court After He Asked Too Many Questions https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/06/us/chicago-reporter-officals-calumet-citation.html

Online Christian group petitions to condemn Mike Johnson as a false prophet https://www.salon.com/2023/11/05/online-christian-group-petitions-to-condemn-mike-johnson-as-a-false-prophet/?in_brief=true

“Apocalypticism”: Polling expert reveals the root of “panic among conservative White Christians https://www.salon.com/2023/11/06/apocalypticism-polling-expert-reveals-the-root-of-panic-among-conservative-christians/

Conversations are essential to our well-being. Psychologists are exploring the science of why they’re so powerful https://www.apa.org/monitor/2023/11/conversations-key-to-wellbeing