Late-Night Comedy, Far-Right Talk Shows, and Why You Might Be Wrong

Understanding the Influence of Media on Political Beliefs

In this episode of the Outrage Overload podcast, I interview communication expert Dannagal G. Young, author of the book “Irony and Outrage: The Polarized Landscape of Rage, Fear, and Laughter in the United States” and her latest book “Wrong: How Media, Politics, and Identity Drive Our Appetite for Misinformation.”

"Late night satire is doing something similar to opinion shows on the right. It sets the audience's agenda, frames events and issues, and is critical of certain media outlets." - Dannagal G. Young

Young discusses the surprising similarities and differences between late-night comedy shows and far-right talk shows, including:

• How both types of shows can have a similar impact on their viewers, influencing their understanding of political events and setting the agenda for certain issues.

• How both audiences tend to be confident in their political beliefs, passionate about politics, and have strong social and cultural ideologies.

• Why we don’t tend to see late-night comedy style shows targeted to a right-leaning audience, and vice versa.

Young also offers insights into how the media we consume influences our thinking and our appetite for misinformation. She discusses how media companies and politicians exploit our social and cultural identities to divide us and keep us engaged, often by enraging us.

Listen to the episode to learn more about:

• The ways in which late-night comedy shows and far-right talk shows shape our political understanding.

• The shared characteristics between the audiences of these two types of shows.

• How media companies and politicians exploit our social and cultural identities to divide us and keep us engaged.

• How the media we consume influences our appetite for misinformation.

• How we can be more critical consumers of information in today’s polarized political climate.

You don’t want to miss this engaging conversation!

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Last days of the NaPodPoMo 30-day November Challenge on Outrage Science Bites and new This Week in Outrage episode

We’re winding down the Outrage Science Bites NaPodPoMo 30-day challenge to produce a podcast episode every day for the 30 days of November. Here are a few noteworthy episodes:

NaPodPoMo Day 4: Why Just Giving People Facts Doesn't Work
The Information Deficit Model (6 mins)

NaPodPoMo Day 20: Dispelling Myths of the COVID-19 Response
Lowering the temperature around the pandemic response (24 mins)

NaPodPoMo Day 8: Unpacking Truth: The Role of Narratives in Our Search for Meaning
Truth, Narratives, and the Quest for Meaning in a Polarized World (14 mins)

NaPodPoMo Day 5: Mirror Neurons and Our Outrage Addiction
Why Our Brains Love Outrage: The Role of Mirror Neurons (7 mins)

And here’s a more light-hearted one:

NaPodPoMo Day 24: Spring Forward, Fall Back, and Maybe Calm Down
Daylight Saving Time: It's Not Worth the Outrage (6 mins)

There’s 30 episodes, so there might be others of interest.

And here’s the latest This Week in Outrage: