Ep 183: Misinformation, the US Elections, and the role of Misogyny with Professor Sander Van der Linden

This week we dive into the role of misinformation with Sander van der Linden. We discuss what effect the British government could have with their promise of a crackdown on extreme misogyny. Moreover, with Sander's background in Psychology, we dive into the question as to why people believe misinformation and what might be done to counteract the rise of misinformation. Finally, hand-in-hand with misogyny and misinformation, we discuss the US Elections and how misinformation has managed to worm its ways through the news and into the candidates.

Today we are joined by Sander van der Linden, a Ph.D., is Professor of Social Psychology in Society and Director of the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge. He has won numerous awards for his research on human judgment, communication, and decision-making, including the Rising Star Award from the Association for Psychological Science (APS). He co-developed the award-winning fake news game, Bad News and regularly advises governments, public health authorities, and social media companies on how to combat the spread of misinformation. He is ranked among the top 1% of highly cited social scientists worldwide and has published over 150 research papers. His research is regularly covered in outlets such as the New York Times, BBC, NPR, and Rolling Stone. His book Foolproof: Why We Fall for Misinformation and How to Build Immunity won the 2024 Harvard Goldsmith Prize, the best book prize from the British Psychological Society and was named a Financial Times, Waterstones, and Nature Book of the Year. Before joining Cambridge, he held academic positions at Princeton, Yale, and the LSE.

Find his website here.

The International Risk Podcast is a weekly podcast for senior executives, board members, and risk advisors. In these podcasts, we speak with experts in a variety of fields to explore international relations. Our host is Dominic Bowen, Head of Strategic Advisory at one of Europe's leading risk consulting firms. Dominic is a regular public and corporate event speaker, and visiting lecturer at several universities. Having spent the last 20 years successfully establishing large and complex operations in the world's highest-risk areas and conflict zones, Dominic now joins you to speak with exciting guests around the world to discuss international risk.

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