Facts Don't Care If You Believe in Them
Perception and reality
I’ve been reading Charlie Pierce’s excellent articles for a very long time (he wrote for The Boston Phoenix when I was an undergrad at Tufts University), so when I saw his piece about Eric Boehlert, “Eric Boehlert's Spirit Was Decades Younger and His Wisdom Decades Older,” I thought tonight would be the perfect time to talk to him.
Eric, Charlie writes, “was gloriously unimpressed by reputations. He was the implacable foe of journalistic laziness in all its forms, especially as expressed through access journalism and the reportorial arch-heresy of Both Siderism. Take him all in all, he was something of a proud throwback to what the craft of journalism ought to be.”
Charlie and I talked about how irreplaceable Eric and his brand of journalism are, the dangers facing American democracy, and what we can do about the plague of false equivalence and both-siderism that runs rampant. Plus, Charlie interrupts the interview to make sure his dinner doesn’t catch on fire.
James k. Lambert comments on conspiracy theorists:
"I’m just sick of deal with rude, willfully ignorant people, and explaining the same things over and over again, only to be met with more nonsense. To paraphrase Jonathan Swift, the author of Gulliver’s Travels, “You cannot reason people out of something they were not reasoned into.” When people are emotionally invested in their belief systems it is exceedingly difficult to get through to them or chart a course around their defenses with facts and logic."
Thank you, Mary, for your post.
I thought your interview tonight with Charlie Pierce was excellent.
I will miss Eric Boehlert. Several months ago, I started subscribing to his Press Run newsletter.
I visited your website, https://www.democracydefensefund.com/ . I hope to learn more about your new project.