Seeking the truth about truth with historian Jill Lepore

Historian Jill Lepore talks to Margaret Hoover about her new audiobook, Who Killed Truth?: A History of Evidence, and why she set out to uncover the truth about truth by examining times of uncertainty from the 19th century to the present.

Lepore, a professor at Harvard University and staff writer for The New Yorker, explains how advances in technology over the last century have led to instability–and why the latest period of uncertainty brought on by the internet and social media has persisted. 

Lepore also discusses how the collapse of trust has impacted politics heading into the 2024 election, reflects on the through-line from the pardon of Richard Nixon to the prosecution of Donald Trump, and explains why the Constitution has become “essentially unamendable.”

Lepore addresses the Supreme Court’s recent decision rejecting Harvard’s affirmative action policies and what the ruling means for both college admissions and public confidence in the court.

Support for “Firing Line for Margaret Hoover” is provided by Robert Granieri, Vanessa and Henry Cornell, The Fairweather Foundation, The Tepper Foundation, The Asness Family Foundation, The Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, and Damon Button.