Latest episode
53. Can Democracy Survive Social Media?
46:31||Ep. 53Politics feels angrier, harsher and more tribal than it used to - but how much of the blame can be laid at the door of social media?Rafael Behr talks to NYU Psychologist Professor Jay Van Bavel, about how our ancient group instincts collide with 'god-like' digital technology to distort what we see, reward outrage, and erode trust in democratic institutions. Drawing on datasets of millions of social media posts, Professor Van Bavel discusses how; a tiny minority can dominate the online political conversation; platforms can make people seem more extreme, and silence the moderate voices. He also discusses what can be done about it; from redesigning incentives and rebuilding solidarity across group lines; to the small, practical choices individuals can make to resist the pull of performative moral outrage.Jay Van Bavel's professional website - with links to academic papershttps://www.jayvanbavel.comInside the funhouse mirror factory: How social media distorts perceptions of normshttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352250X24001313How to strengthen democracyhttps://news.stanford.edu/stories/2022/08/how-to-strengthen-democracyHeineken Adverthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3a8MdloAAM&themeRefresh=1
More episodes
View all episodes
52. Changing minds about immigration
46:35||Ep. 52Rafael Behr talks to Dr. Tessa Buchanan, a former civil servant and now an academic at Cambridge’s Political Psychology Lab, about the psychology behind changing how some voters think about outsiders or immigrants, revealing why she believes attitudes aren’t always as fixed or hostile as they may seem.From the media’s obsession with “small boats” to conflicting anxieties about national identity, Rafael and Tessa discuss how easy is it to move public opinion, and so public policy, on a topic that has dominated political debate in the UK, EU and US for almost a decade.Links to topics mentioned in the podcast How an authoritarianism-compatible text changes British attitudes towards EU immigration Study from Cambridge University Political Psychology Lab2019 YouGov survey looking at EU immigration2024 US survey pre-Presidential electionCambridge University Political Psychology LabPodcasts mentionedRafael Behr and Karen Stennerhttps://shows.acast.com/politicsonthecouch/episodes/theauthoritatianpersonalitywithkarenstennerRafael Behr and Dr Lee de-Withttps://shows.acast.com/politicsonthecouch/episodes/theleftstroublewithconnectingwithsocialonservatives51. How to break the ‘democratic doom loop’
38:02||Ep. 51Rafael Behr talks to Demos' CEO Polly Curtis about the urgent case for upgrading our democracy and repairing the broken relationship between citizen and state.The conversation is loosely based around this new Demos paper released today (2 July) that sets out the challenges of the global democratic emergency, how this is threatening the political landscape in Britain and what we can do about it.50. Appetite for Chaos: Why some voters just want to watch the world burn
43:38||Ep. 50Host Rafael Behr is joined by political scientist Prof. Michael Bang Petersen, whose research challenges the common belief that those who share misinformation are simply uninformed or gullible.Instead, Petersen suggest that many of these individuals are politically savvy and highly motivated, not by truth, but by the usefulness of information in advancing their political goals.The conversation also explores the concept of the "need for chaos": a psychological drive found in a significant minority who actively seek to destabilise political systems, not just support one side over another.Petersen also talks how status anxiety, feeling stuck or left behind in a rigid social hierarchy, fuels this destructive impulse.49. 'Post-Pandemic Politics' – Did Covid change everything? Did it change anything?
55:19||Ep. 49A conversation between Rafael Behr and writer and broadcaster David Aaronovitch, about ripples from the pandemic that still shape politics, with a digression on the ways that Britain is not America and whether that makes 'Maga-populism' less contagious.LinksDavid Aaronovitch's substack - https://davidaaronovitch.substack.comBBC's Briefing Room presented by David Aaronovitch - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002bj77This is a Behr and Berman podcast production48. Five Years: Our Brains Hurt A Lot
45:27||Ep. 48An anniversary episode in which host Rafael Behr and producer Philip Berman look back over a tumultuous time and ponder what they have learned from putting politics on the couch.Links to Politics on the Couch episodes discussed in this podcastAnti-vaxxers – fear, anxiety and the psychology of misinformation The authoritarian personality - why some voters feel drawn to populism and how to lure them away The Madness of King Don - a journey to the dark side of charisma, with Drew Westen47. 'The Ideological Brain' – Are Some People Hard-wired for Radicalisation?
54:05||Ep. 47To coincide with the launch of her new book (The Ideological Brain - A Radical Science of Susceptible Minds) Rafael Behr talks to Dr Leor Zmigrod, a political psychologist and neuroscientist, about the ingredients of dogmatic thinking, why some of us are more prone than others, and how we can protect ourselves.