Rex Tillerson, Hunting For Lost Crops, What One Study On Fake News Reveals

Air Date:
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Thousands of years ago indigenous people were breeding many crops that are now unheard of today. We hear from an paleoethnobotanist who has spent a lot of her time seeking out these lost crops in places around the country. We also find out more about the results of the largest study of fake news ever and the removal of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Featured in this Show

  • President Trump Fires Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

    Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is out after months of speculation that he would either quit or be fired. The news came out in a tweet from President Trump, who also mentioned on Twitter that he plans to nominate CIA director Mike Pompeo as Tillerson’s replacement. Join us as we dive into the aftermath of Rex’s firing with a POLITICO reporter, consider reactions from the State Department and other leaders and look at what’s next for U.S. and foreign relations.

  • Searching For Crops Long Forgotten

    Over 2000 years ago many indigenous people living in North America were skilled at breeding and domesticating crops, such as the squash and sunflower we’re familiar with today. But there are other crops, since returned to the wild, that were once staples in the diet of these people. We talk with one paleoethnobotanist about her quest fo find these “lost crops” and what she learns about the past along the way.

  • After studying nearly 126,000 stories shared by more than three million people on Twitter, researchers at MIT found that false or misleading stories reach more people than items that are true. These “fake news” stories also spread faster and take root on social media. We speak with Mike Wagner, associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, about the research and what it could mean for political discourse in the United States.

Episode Credits

  • Rob Ferrett Host
  • Breann Schossow Producer
  • J. Carlisle Larsen Producer
  • Natalie Guyette Producer
  • Nahal Toosi Guest
  • Natalie G. Mueller Guest
  • Mike Wagner Guest

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