Welcome to the Empire Files podcast. This is Abby Martin. Please consider becoming a donor to make almost all of our media content free and available to everyone at patreon.com slash empire files. Our digital era provides the world's information at our fingertips.

But despite this vast arena of streaming platforms, news outlets, and media figures, corporate media

propaganda and censorship reigns supreme. Through the multitude of choices to filter this

knowledge, exists a limited parameter of acceptable debate,

contingent on the conventional wisdom of U.S. democracy, capitalism, and imperialism.

This infotainment-driven media culture not only reinforces toxic myth-making,

but breeds hyper-partisanship,

and cultivates a cycle of outrage that is

completely disconnected from the core problems that tens of millions of Americans share.

Instead of using social media to understand each other, social media algorithms reinforce our

biases and make us more prone to cast out those we may have minor disagreements with.

At a time when we need to organize with each other to fight for the future we know is possible,

many of us are screaming into the void, atomized and alienated, feeling more hopeless than ever.

Project Censors Mickey Huff and Nolan Higden are seeking to reverse these alarming

trends by fostering something we seem to have lost sight of. Constructive dialogue.

Their new book, Let's Agree to Disagree, encourages healthy communication skills through critical thinking and media literacy.

The text brings us back to the basic tools we all need to better our conversations and broaden our

perspectives.

I got a chance to sit down with Mickey and Nolan to talk about the state of the media landscape,

the insidiousness of corporate media propaganda and how we can cultivate these important skills

moving forward. Mickey Huff, Nolan Higden, thank you so much both of you for coming on

the Empire Files podcast. Thanks for having us. So one, you know, we're going to talk about your

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