Naomi Klein: Tackling The Doppelganger, Disinformation & Lies -
laura flanders show

Politics abhors a vacuum. Without credible explanations for the things that bewilder and exasperate us, people become susceptible to extremist conspiracy theories, hate and lies. So how does truth survive? In her brand new book, "Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World", award-winning journalist Naomi Klein, (author of No Logo, The Shock Doctrine, et al), describes being confused with Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth, as Wolf morphed into a conspiracy-minded anti-vaxxer during the Covid pandemic. In an era of all important "personal brands", Klein became absorbed in the deep fake, double worlds surrounding and sometimes coming to represent her online. Right-wing conspiracies feed off Left-wing silences, she concludes. In this far-ranging interview from her home in British Columbia, Canada, Klein describes listening to hours and hours of conspiracist Steve Bannon's podcasts, and researching doppelgangers in history and literature, in order to uncover why we have shadow selves, and how disinformation and conspiracy theories gain power. Join Laura Flanders for this charming conversation as Naomi Klein challenges us to overcome divide-and-conquer individualism if we are ever to tackle our real-life, systemic crises. And Laura shares a few thoughts on learning from our elders about the pre-digital age. "[I think that] the pressure we're putting on the self is part of why we're seeing so many people crack. I don't think the self can support the amount that we are putting on it: It's our income. It's our retirement. It's our safety. It's our lifeboat. And it's an illusion because we cannot protect ourselves from the forces that we're up against. Our only hope of protection is through collective work and collective movement building." - Naomi Klein "Very often we think that the solution is deplatforming. What I've seen is that it's actually kind of supercharged the movement. People wear it as a badge of honor. I am less i

Duration: 26 minutes and 46 seconds

Episode Number: 424

No future air times were found for this episode.

About Laura Flanders Show:

THE LAURA FLANDERS SHOW is an award-winning public affairs series that reports on community-led initiatives across the U.S.

creating a more inclusive society.

Host Laura Flanders - a New York broadcast journalist, author and contributing writer to The Nation - talks with experts and people on the front lines of artistic, cultural, social and economic movements.

Each episode blends reporting with in-depth interviews of leaders in the arts and small business world, profiling individuals and organizations uplifting and revitalizing their communities.