This week on Matter of Fact, separating fact from fiction. We speak with Angie Holan of Politifact. Then, how our partisan biases filter which facts we accept. Soledad O’Brien speaks with Whitney Phillips from Syracuse University about how the combination of our own biases and social media can shape what we believe. Then, the West Coast is facing a deadly and record-breaking wildfire season. We document the families trying to piece their lives back together after Paradise, CA was destroying in the 2018 wildfires. Plus, former Olympic gymnast Chellsie Memmel shows us you’re never too old to chase your dreams.
Simone Biles, with a total of 30 Olympic and World Championship medals, is widely considered the best gymnast in the world. At age 23, she’s also considered old. Now, gymnast Chellsie Memmel could shatter that narrative by returning to the sport at 32 years old. She’s a three-time World champion and won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, despite breaking her foot three days into training. Now, 12 years later, Memmel is shooting for a spot in the Tokyo Olympics and is looking to show her two children you’re never too old to follow your dreams.
Firefighters on the West Coast are facing the worst wildfire season yet. Across California, Oregon and Washington State, at least 35 people have died and some residents are left choking through the worst air on the planet right now. The Golden State is once again setting a record this year with millions of acres scorched. And there are still two months left before the wildfire season ends. Recovery will take years, as the residents of Paradise, California know all too well, after 85 people were killed and their town was burnt to the ground in 2018.
As we get closer to the November 2020 election, attempts to mislead voters are ramping up. And we are partly to blame, as our partisan biases lead us to accept the facts we agree with and dismiss the ones we don’t. Add in social media, and the bias bubble can become even more isolated. Whitney Phillips is an assistant professor at Syracuse University who teaches media literacy, misinformation and disinformation and political communication. Soledad O’Brien speaks with her about how the combination of our own biases and social media can shape what we believe.
It’s another election year and as our technology gets more advanced, so do the attempts to mislead voters. Social media sites have promised to crack down on false information, in part by using fact checkers. But now, even the fact checking process has become the target of disinformation campaigns. We talk to Angie Holan to get the facts on fact checkers.
This week on Matter of Fact, should you pay to defend the president in court? Law Professor Stephen Saltzburg tells Soledad O’Brien government lawyers have no business getting involved in the president’s personal legal battles. Plus, how did Washington, D.C. become the U.S. capital? As Special Contributor Joie Chen shows us, it’s a story about slavery and the people who cast the monuments to a freedom they did not share. Plus, what does it mean to be an American?
When our founding fathers established the U.S. capitol in Washington, D.C., it wasn’t the only city being considered. New York and Philadelphia were also contenders in the race to be the seat of the federal government. So how was the District of Columbia created? As Special Contributor Joie Chen shows us, it’s a story about slavery and the people who cast the monuments to a freedom they did not share.
This week on Matter of Fact, Soledad O’Brien speaks with attorney and former State Rep. Bakari Sellers about his new memoir, “My Vanishing Country.” His father, a civil rights activist, was shot and charged with inciting a riot 16 years before Sellers was born. He says it was the most important day of his life. Then, in the aftermath of ongoing police shootings, Soledad talks with sociologist Dr. Rashawn Ray about whether this could mark a turning point in the fight against systemic racism. Plus, Correspondent Jessica Gomez reports from a small Florida town of mostly migrant workers who are facing a severe coronavirus outbreak but can’t afford to stay home.
President Trump is asking the Department of Justice to defend him a defamation case brought by a woman who accused him of rape. The president has denied knowing her and called her a liar. George Washington University Law Professor Stephen Saltzburg served the Justice Department under current Attorney General William Barr during the first Bush Administration. He tells Soledad O’Brien government lawyers have no business getting involved in the president’s personal legal battles.
This week on Matter of Fact, are both major parties missing the largest minority voting group? Antonio Arellano is the Interim Director of JOLT, the largest civic engagement effort in Texas. Soledad O’Brien asks him why he believes his generation of Latinos could make a big difference in November. Then, some states are passing laws to restrict protesters as demonstrators take to the streets calling for an end to racial injustice and police brutality. Soledad speaks with Tennessee State Rep. Jason Hodges about why he voted against a bill that could lead to felonies for protesters. Plus, Correspondent Jessica Gomez goes to Lincoln, Nebraska to see how the COVID-19 pandemic is feeding the hunger crisis around the world. And, we look at how election officials are preparing for a flood of mail-in ballots ahead of the November election.