In this wide-ranging podcast conversation, Scott Galloway discusses numerous issues of interest with Sam Harris, including how important it is that we rebuild trust in institutions across our society and culture, and the toxic power of Twitter / X in hijacking our minds for the worse.
Listen to the original podcast episode on Pocket Casts.
Sam articulates his strong distaste for the harmful and unethical behavior of our president in 2025 and his administration, but he also shares his view that DEI and “wokeness” in U.S. culture were out of control and are appropriately being purged in many ways. He shares a view that our society today is largely colorblind, and while there are still disparities economically across the nation, especially in positions of power and authority, race is basically something that doesn’t matter anymore and we should stop talking about it. I do not agree with those views.
But I do think the focus on disinformation, misinformation, and the ways that information is shared and consumed is absolutely on point. I remember in the early days of EdCamps how, as organizers, we would typically make sure there was at least one session to help people who were not familiar with Twitter get on the platform and set up an account.
I have a sense that we need to find ways to do the same thing today with the Fediverse, with platforms like Mastodon and BlueSky. Although BlueSky was spun out of Twitter, it does not (currently) have advertising, and it offers “Federation” as an option for users.
I facilitated a webinar at the start of the month for the Media Education Lab, titled “Beyond the Algorithmic Feed”, discussing the Fediverse, and I was actually surprised how many of the participants were NOT familiar with it.
I think most users of social media today would agree that the shape of the “TechBro”-dominated social media landscape (think Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, etc.) has and continues to have a massive influence on how we as people see and consume ideas—and how we perceive the world.
In addition to having a “slow hunch” that we need to help others in our particular “spheres of influence” connect with more deliberate intention to others who share our values, I also think we need to “invest in influencers” and “empower influencers” who share our values.
A recent example that comes to mind is the “No Kings” rally in Charlotte, and the thousands of other “No Kings” rallies like it around our country. I was not only able to participate in the rally and subsequent march through the streets of uptown Charlotte, but also share a few thoughts with the crowd, which was both an honor and a challenge I welcomed.
There is so much about our world and culture that I do not understand, but there are some things I am quite positive about. One of these is the importance of building community, both personally and locally within our neighborhoods, towns, and cities.
Another thing I am sure about is the importance of finding and sharing “trusted voices.”
As Sam Harris mentions at the start of this podcast conversation, we are struggling as a society in part because we have discounted the importance and value of expert voices and expertise. So many people have opinions… and in some circles / on some platforms, those voices can have an “outsized volume” and an unwarranted level of amplification, especially if we think about expertise or the need to have constructive dialogue.
Another part of this podcast conversation I appreciated was Sam’s description of the radicalization and bad actor transformation of Elon Musk. In some of my middle school classes, I asked students to identify role models, and in some cases create media representations of those role models. These can be slideshows or webpages. They are so insightful. In years past, I have actually had students identify Andrew Tate as a role model, which led to an opportunity to have a conversation with that child’s parent. I had numerous boys this past year identify Elon Musk as one of their role models and heroes.
I want to continue asking students about role models and heroes they have for their lives, but I’ve also had a thought about inviting parents to share people they consider heroes and role models, including those they would like their own children to learn more about. I’ve been thinking of an assignment in which students identify two of their own heroes or role models—who could actually be social media influencers—and then select two of the heroes or role models identified by their parents. This would provide an opportunity for dialogue, potentially in families, and also invite parents to both inform and shape, even in a small way, the educational work of their child at school.
I recommend this podcast conversation with Scott Galloway and Sam Harris not because I agree with everything they said and shared, but because it served as a good catalyst for me, reflecting on the changes we are experiencing within our society and culture, and thinking about the actions that I could take personally and professionally in the weeks and months to come.
Who are your trusted voices? How do you obtain and read news about our world? How can we work together to co-create better social media and networking platforms that are less toxic and more constructive for our personal mental health as well as our constructive evolution as local, regional, national, and global communities?
To this latter goal, I recommend the following two podcasts:
- “Reimagining the Internet” by Ethan Zuckerman and the Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure at UMass Amherst
- “Dot Social” by Mike McCue and the team at Flipboard
I still like the slogan, “Let’s invent the future.” Sharing good ideas via social media as well as face-to-face conversations is an important part of this aspirational work.
Leave a Reply