Are you Abed? I love Star Wars: this week on Fresh Powder

Are you Abed? I love Star Wars.

“After they choose their subject—topics have included urban legends, infamous cultural figures, and tabloid fodder such as the Satanic Panic of the nineteen-eighties—one host usually does a mountain of research, and the other comes into the episode completely blind, with only their assumptions and memories to go on. The result is a sort of Schadenfreude theatre; you hear someone get absolutely schooled, in real time, as they make the journey from ignorance to insight.” The New Yorker’s Rachel Syme examines how the podcast “You’re Wrong About” challenges us to rethink what we think we know about something. How We Lie To Ourselves About History: “In a recent episode, for example, Marshall took on the task of explaining the story behind “The Stepford Wives,” the 1972 horror novel by Ira Levin about submissive housewives who may or may not be mechanical fembots. She begins by asking Hobbes what he knows about the book. He thinks that it was published sometime in the fifties, and that “all of the housewives are either robots or aliens, I can never remember.” Marshall simply laughs. “You’re Wrong About” thrives in these moments, when the hosts, after some acidic banter, begin evicting the untruths that have been occupying our brains.”

In other journalism

–  A journalist’s exit interview: “I’ve seen far too many people in this industry encourage the pretense that a journalist’s job is simply to find ‘the experts’ and report out ‘the facts.’ Instead, I did my best work when I knew the source material well enough to fully engage with it and well enough to grapple with difficult questions about how best to approach what I learned. One hope I have for the industry—especially for local news—is that newsroom management might provide reporters with the time it takes to build this kind of expertise.”

–  “At a time when media outlets are trying to diversify and young women of color are a fast-growing political force, Phillip feels like the network’s future.” Washingtonian: Where Does Abby Phillip Go From Here? (The answer is up.)

–  Fresh Powder has already made reference to the return of White House press briefings in past weeks. For CNN, Joe Lockhart weighed in on why it matters: “For sure, there is symbolic value in holding regular briefings at the White House and national security agencies. But it goes well beyond symbolism.”