Episode 339: The Alex Jones Defamation Trial

In this episode, Neil, Niki, and Natalia discuss the defamation trial of right-wing conspiracist Alex Jones.

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Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• Parents of children slain in the Sandy Hook school shooting successfully brought a defamation suit against Alex Jones, who amplified conspiracy theories denying the event ever happened. Natalia referred to this New York Times magazine story, and her own Process History essay about what Phyllis Schlafly fed her children for breakfast. Niki drew on Rick Perlstein’s 2012 essay for The Baffler and her CNN column on Jones’ influence on the GOP. Neil recommended Kevin Roose’s New York Times article on the spread of Jones-style provocateurs.

In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia commented on the “Inside the Complex ‘Social Lab’ of PE Class” installment of Anne-Helen Petersen’s Culture Study
• Neil discussed Julia Yost’s New York Times essay, “New York’s Hottest Club is the Catholic Church.”
• Niki recommended Mark Olalde and Maya Miller’s ProPublica investigative report, “A Uranium Ghost Town in the Making.”