Protagonist Science
Science Counterpunch
Stickly lies and engineered beliefs /w Stephan Lewandowsky
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Stickly lies and engineered beliefs /w Stephan Lewandowsky

Science Counterpunch - S1 Ep4

You can’t fact-check your way out of a system designed to amplify lies.

This week on Science Counterpunch, we’re joined by cognitive psychologist Stephan Lewandowsky to dissect the machinery of modern disinformation. We explore why falsehoods leave a cognitive footprint — and why even highly educated people can fall for propaganda and reason themselves into nonsense.

We dig into:

  • The psychology of “sticky” misinformation

  • Why intelligence isn’t immunity

  • How social media architecture supercharges conspiracy thinking

  • What the EU’s Digital Services Act gets right about platform power

  • Why democracy depends on “epistemic integrity”

  • And what scholars can do when autocracy pressures academia

Democracy runs on shared facts, so what happens when those facts are systematically undermined?

We take a hard look at how cognition, algorithms, and power collide — and what it will take to defend reality.


Science Counterpunch is a punchy YouTube-first podcast that exists to defend the Enlightenment in an age of information warfare. We expose merchants of doubt, amplify experts under attack, and arm you with the tools to spot anti-science rhetoric before it spreads.

Evidence matters. Reason isn’t optional. Let’s counterpunch.

Push back on disinformation and help amplify the voices of scientists under attack - share this episode.

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