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According to philosopher Harry Frankfurt, to bullshit is to speak with indifference to the truth. Bullshitters speak carelessly: they ignore the demand that typical speech be both accurate and sincere. Bullshit is produced without concern for the truth at all, and is thus perhaps a “greater enemy of the truth than lies.” Finding a media ecosystem saturated with bullshit, many people seem to respond with a confusing mix of distrust and skepticism on the one hand, and gullibility and credulity on the other. Caught in the middle of this predicament are journalists, researchers, communication specialists, social media platform workers, and other practitioners whose daily activity involves the careful work of investigating, judging, communicating, and synthesizing information with the public in mind. What sorts of dilemmas does this work involve? What sorts of trade offs might there be? How does one speak the truth to a suspicious public? What impact does this have on the health of our democracy? Join us as our expert panel will help us understand more about the choices made in a media environment where trust and attention are both in short supply. This talk is presented in partnership with Ford Hall Forum, The Washington Center, and Suffolk Political Science and Legal Studies Department and Suffolk University Department of Philosophy and the Program in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics. ### Resources [nfo about the book “ Calling Bullshit”](https://www.callingbullshit.org/) [The story Phillip is referring to ](https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2022/02/02/neo-nazis-target-anti-racist-doctors-at-brigham-and-womens-hospital-calling-them-anti-white) [About the Strategic communication unit at the European Commission](https://www.eeas.europa.eu/taxonomy/term/400164_en) [About online disinformation](https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/online-disinformation) [Fighting Disinformation online](https://www.rand.org/research/projects/truth-decay/fighting-disinformation.html) [Climate Misinformation on Social Media Is Undermining Climate Action](https://www.nrdc.org/stories/climate-misinformation-social-media-undermining-climate-action) [Pew Research on misinformation](https://www.pewresearch.org/topic/news-habits-media/media-society/misinformation/) [Cognitive Biaises](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/biases-make-people-vulnerable-to-misinformation-spread-by-social-media/)

Gun violence has become as ubiquitous as it is polarizing in the United States. An almost daily drumbeat of mass shooting events have made some people numb, others fearful that it could happen to them, and produced a generation for whom active shooter drills in schools are routine. However, as horrific as these events are, they represent only a fraction of the annual mortality rate. Suicide represents the largest share of gun-related deaths per year, followed by homicide, accidents, and domestic violence. Despite this, it seems that the only thing we can agree about is that the overall toll is too high. What, if anything, can be done? Join us as we move beyond the political battle over 2nd Amendment rights vs. public safety and take a deep dive into policy: what works, what doesn’t, and what is feasible to do in this highly charged environment with David Hemenway, Ph.D., Professor of Health Policy and Director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, Greg Jackson, Executive Director of the Community Justice Action Fund and Kevin Drakulich, Associate Director and Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. This series is produced in partnership with Ford Hall Forum, Suffolk University Political Science and Legal Studies Department and The Washington Center.