In the latest episode of Policy Chats, hosts Rachel Strausman & Divya Bharadwaj sat down with John Gable, co-founder and CEO of AllSides, about how understanding media bias and filter bubbles can help better bridge gaps amongst political polarization. 

Discussing how filter bubbles can limit our access to necessary information, despite the increased access to information the internet seems to provide, Gable said that with the way the internet works “We see an issue, and we only hear or get information that we already agree with, which might only be 10% of what we need to know about an issue. But we hear that 10,000 times, and so we're really absolutely confident with no doubt that we're correct. But we know less about the issue than we did before the Internet.”

The episode also covers media bias and the importance of political discussion and discourse. 

In a conversation about how teaching people to understand the value in disagreement can help people be more aware of filter bubbles, Gable said “[what we need to do is] get people out of the information filter bubble. Get them out of the relationship filter bubble, and provide people the skills and confidence to disagree, to have a conversation and not agree with each other and recognize the differences and appreciate the differences that each of us bring to the table. With that, that's how it would get to a better place.”

Listen to the full episode here.  

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Policy Chats is a production of the Dean’s Brand Ambassadors of the UCR School of Public Policy.  

Launched in 2020, the UCR School of Public Policy podcast series explores current public policy issues with guests from throughout the policy world. Episodes are accessible via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Anchor. More information is also available through the UCR School of Public Policy podcast page.