Unchecked: The architecture of disinformation

About Unchecked: The architecture of disinformation

Misinformation and disinformation thrive in today’s technology landscape, and arguably present the greatest threat to modern society. Information architecture – the practice of designing and managing digital spaces – has an opportunity to intervene. This podcast looks at disinformation from an information architecture perspective, and considers ways to expand the practice of IA to address this new reality. ••• What is Information Architecture? Information architecture is the practice of designing virtual structures – the shape and form of online spaces and digital products. When you click on a navigation menu or follow the steps in a process, you're experiencing the information architecture of a web site or digital product. ••• What is disinformation? Understanding disinformation is the purpose of this podcast. We are trying to figure out exactly what it is and what it means. If information architecture is the practice of designing virtual spaces, then disinformation is something that can occupy that space to disrupt the user's experience. Alternatively, it is a way of manipulating the space (like flooding it with irrelevant facts) to achieve an end unrelated to the space's original intention.

Publisher

Curious Squid

Category

business · society & culture · technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

5 Mar 2025

Latest episode

9 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

14 of 19 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   9 Oct 2026

   Social Networks and Disinformation with Renée DiResta (S02 E03)

   Renée DiResta, associate research professor at Georgetown University, discusses with Rachel and Dan how social networks amplify disinformation and empower users with her MySky project.

2. 

   21 Aug 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Nutrition Science and Disinformation with Dr. Laura Thomas (S02 E02)

   Registered nutritionist Dr. Laura Thomas discusses with Rachel and Dan how nutrition science becomes disinformation, revealing how capitalism and social structures impact healthy eating.

3. 

   6 Jul 2026

   Immigration and Disinformation with Qasim Rashid (S02 E01)

   Human rights lawyer Qasim Rashid and hosts Rachel and Dan dissect immigration disinformation, revealing systemic myths and harmful narratives about immigrants.

4. 

   17 Jun 2026TRANSCRIPT

   S02 Trailer: Reflections on Season 1, What's coming, What we hope to explore

   Hosts Dan and Rachel reflect on Season 1's disinformation research and preview Season 2's exploration of everyday myths and central "big lies" in this interview.

5. 

   30 May 2026

   Episode 14: Disinformation and economic data, with Dr. Elise Gould

   Send us Fan Mail Synopsis Dr. Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, joins Rachel and Dan to pull back the curtain on how economic data is collected, revised, and communicated — and how that process is vulnerable to political manipulation. We talk about the federal statistical agencies that produce employment and wage data, the role of transparency and revision in maintaining trust, and the pressure those institutions are under today. Rachel and Dan close with two len...

6. 

   3 May 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Episode 13: Disinformation and gun culture, with JJ Janflone

   Send us Fan Mail CONTENT WARNING This episode of Unchecked deals with the sensitive topic of gun violence. SYNOPSIS JJ Janflone, who works on culture change and narrative strategy at Brady: United Against Gun Violence, joins Rachel and Dan to unpack the Big Lie at the center of gun violence disinformation. JJ explains how that single falsehood generates cascading misbeliefs — about storage, risk, and identity — and describes Brady's efforts to shift gun culture. Rachel identifies the lens Acc...

7. 

   31 Mar 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Episode 12: Disinformation and community moderation, with Karen McGrane

   Send us Fan Mail Synopsis Karen McGrane joins Rachel and Dan to explain Reddit from the perspective of a moderator. Reddit is the largest message board on the internet, with thousands of “sub-Reddits” – individual communities based on a topic. Karen moderates the community dedicated to UX Design, which gets hundreds of new posts every week. Rachel and Dan then explore two Lenses: Swarm and Curation Escape. Stories "About this Account" on X/Twitter Renee Diresta’s SubstackBig Tobacco Tobacco i...

8. 

   14 Feb 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Episode 11: Abortion and disinformation, with Dr. Ushma Upadhyay

   Dr. Ushma Upadhyay discusses abortion misinformation, including who seeks abortions, their reasons, and how they access them, in an interview with Rachel and Dan.

9. 

   9 Jan 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Episode 10: Disinformation and nutrition, with Dr. Amelia Finaret

   Rachel and Dan interview Dr. Amelia B. Finaret, who discusses nutrition misinformation and the latest dietary guidelines, examining both classic and newer myths around food.

10. 

    17 Dec 2025TRANSCRIPT

    Episode 9: Disinformation and climate change, with Zanagee Artis

    Climate advocate Zanagee Artis discusses disinformation's impact on arctic and coastal drilling with hosts Rachel and Dan, highlighting the challenges of addressing long-term climate research in this interview.

11. 

    13 Nov 2025TRANSCRIPT

    Episode 8: Disinformation and gun violence, with Nick Suplina

    Nick Suplina, Senior VP for Law & Policy at Everytown, discusses the gun lobby's disinformation campaign with hosts Rachel and Dan, exploring the challenges of celebrating prevention in this interview episode.

12. 

    15 Oct 2025TRANSCRIPT

    Episode 7: Disinformation and climate culture, with Brandon Schauer

    Brandon Schauer discusses strategies to combat climate misinformation by connecting with individuals and modifying behavior to promote conservation, in an interview with Rachel and Dan.

13. 

    12 Sept 2025TRANSCRIPT

    Episode 6: Disinformation and its consequences, with Prof. Claire Wardle

    Disinformation expert Professor Claire Wardle discusses the evolution and psychological underpinnings of disinformation with hosts Rachel and Dan, offering insights into its future impact.

14. 

    15 Aug 2025

    Episode 5: Disinformation and cognitive bias, with David Dylan Thomas

    David Dylan Thomas, author, interviews Rachel and Dan about how cognitive biases like fundamental attribution error, framing effect, and confirmation bias fuel disinformation and shape our perceptions.

15. 

    21 Jul 2025TRANSCRIPT

    Episode 4: Disinformation and federal information spaces with Dana Chisnell

    Dana Chisnell discusses her experience with voting systems, immigration, and homeland security in federal information spaces with hosts Dan and Rachel in an interview.

16. 

    7 Jun 2025TRANSCRIPT

    Episode 3: Disinformation and vaccines with Dr. Adam Ratner

    Dr. Adam Ratner discusses the misinformation he faces as a pediatric infectious disease specialist, including the differences between vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccination sentiments, in an interview with Rachel and Dan.

17. 

    23 Apr 2025TRANSCRIPT

    Episode 2: Disinformation and civic tech, with Cyd Harrell

    Cyd Harrell discusses with Dan and Rachel the difficulties of delivering precise and accessible information to citizens, particularly when it needs to be formal, in this interview.

18. 

    9 Apr 2025TRANSCRIPT

    Episode 1: Disinformation and healthcare with Susannah Fox

    Susannah Fox discusses disinformation's impact on healthcare, exploring historical examples and modern manipulation tactics, in an interview with Rachel and Dan.

19. 

    5 Mar 2025

    Pilot - Introducing Unchecked

    Hosts Dan and Rachel introduce Unchecked, a podcast exploring the architecture of disinformation and strategies for building better information systems, as they address the growing threat of misinformation.

Inside a recent episode

Nutrition Science and Disinformation with Dr. Laura Thomas (S02 E02)

Published 21 Aug 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] And we were only really able to cultivate in the lab a very, very small proportion of the bacteria that lived in the guts of whether it was animals or humans. And the conditions of the gut are really, really hard to reproduce, right? It's warm. It's damp. There's no oxygen, right? So it's really difficult to grow bacteria in an anaerobic environment. So this really limited our ability to understand what was going on in the gut. But then technology developed and eventually we got to a point where we could do this high throughput sequencing, which means that we could look at the entirety of a piece of RNA or DNA. and be able to quantify and know exactly what genes and what bacteria and what species were in the gut. […]

Who has been a guest on Unchecked: The architecture of disinformation

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Renée DiResta
• Laura Thomas
• Qasim Rashid
• Ushma Upadhyay
• Dr Amelia B Finaret

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.9 / 5

15 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 25 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

17

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

85

Contact Unchecked: The architecture of disinformation

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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