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Everyone Watched the Same Event and Saw Something Different – Alison Sher
David Beckemeyer
activism, BLM, bridge building, critical thinking, culture war, echo chambers, ideology, journalism standards, media bias, media literacy, misinformation, moral psychology, outrage culture, political identity, political polarization, selective storytelling, social contagion, Special Focus / Current Events, tribalism, two-party systemAuthor and researcher Allison Sher spent years studying how outrage moves through media systems — and what it does to the people inside them. Her conclusion: the division we experience isn’t just a political problem. It’s a contagion, and most of us don’t realize we’ve been exposed. In this conversation, David and Allison explore the…
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Outrage 75 – The Hidden Power of the Politically Homeless – Lura Forcum
David Beckemeyer
being politically homeless, brave conversations, breaking out of the two-party system, bridge builders, civic engagement, common sense politics, democracy reform, finding common ground, independent thinking, independent voters, moderate voices, open-minded politics, overcoming tribalism, political courage, political independence, political polarization, split-ticket voters, the center of politics, thinking for yourself, voting independentAired Oct 29, 2025 Once upon a time, being radical meant picking a side—and going all in. Rush Limbaugh on the right. Keith Olbermann on the left. Loud, partisan voices who stood out by pushing their team’s message to the edge. But today, that kind of partisanship isn’t radical anymore. It’s expected. It’s the norm.…
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Outrage Bonus – What’s Pulling Young Men to the Right?
David Beckemeyer
Aired Sep 10, 2025 Gen Z’s gender gap is widening. Young women are leaning left, while young men are drifting right. It’s not just politics—it’s about belonging, identity, and the future of our democracy. In this episode, we look at the cultural and economic forces pulling young men toward the “manosphere,” where plurality and diversity…
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Outrage Bonus – What Happens When Students Talk Across Generations? – June Klees
David Beckemeyer
Bridge-Building, bridging the divide, building empathy, civic engagement, civil discourse, communication skills, community building, Democracy & Civic Life, dialogue across differences, emotional intelligence, finding common ground, how to have hard conversations, how to talk to people with different views, intergenerational dialogue, learning to listen, overcoming bias, political polarization, respectful conversation, student perspectives, talking across divides, understanding others, youth and politicsAired Aug 13, 2025 In a time of growing political polarization, hostile online discourse, and social fragmentation, how do we teach people — especially the next generation — to truly talk across divides? In this episode of Outrage Overload, we sit down with Dr. June Klees, historian and educator teaching a Civics Corps program working…
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Outrage 63 – How Perceptions of Harm Drive Moral Outrage and Political Conflict – Sam Pratt
David Beckemeyer
Aired Apr 30, 2025 In this episode, we’re taking a look at the paper Morality in Our Mind and Across Cultures and Politics. We explore the psychology underpinning morality and the stark divisions of political polarization, featuring Sam Pratt, a researcher from the University of North Carolina’s Deepest Beliefs Lab. Continuing the thread from our…
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Outrage Bonus – Why Resistance Matters: Lessons from Postcards to Hitler – Bruce Neuburger
David Beckemeyer
Aired April 9, 2025 How does a democracy unravel into authoritarianism? What warning signs do we often miss until it’s too late? In this episode of Outrage Overload, we sit down with Bruce Neuburger, author of Postcards to Hitler: A German Jew’s Defiance in a Time of Terror, to explore the chilling parallels between Nazi…
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Outrage 61 – Outraged! The New Science of Morality – Kurt Gray
David Beckemeyer
cancel culture, depolarization, digital media manipulation, echo chambers, Jonathan Haidt, Kurt Gray, media bias, moral outrage, moral psychology, outrage addiction, outrage culture, Outrage Industry, Outraged!, political discourse, political division, political polarization, psychology of outrage, social media algorithms, social media outrage, The Righteous Mind, toxic polarizationAired Apr 2 2025 For over a decade, The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt has shaped how we think about political polarization and moral psychology. It introduced moral foundations theory, helping us understand why people on different sides of the political spectrum see the world so differently. But in today’s outrage-driven landscape, is that framework…
About

Outrage Overload is a podcast about the outrage industry, my journey to discover what it is, how it affects us, and what we can do about it.


