Hanna Sistek
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sistek.bsky.social
Hanna Sistek
@sistek.bsky.social
Studying disinformation and democratic backsliding. Postdoctoral Fellow at CAPT/GRAIL, Purdue University. Background in international journalism, globetrotting and contact improvisation dance.
Really enjoying this podcast right now. Reflections from a Canadian who’s lived in both #America and #China, on the differences between the two.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
America vs. China
Podcast Episode · Search Engine · 10/31/2025 · 57m
podcasts.apple.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:31 PM
My talented postdoc colleague Sage Goodwin and her co-author’s take on the Kimmel debacle. theconversation.com/even-as-jimm...
Even as Jimmy Kimmel returns to the airwaves, TV networks remain more vulnerable to political pressure than ever before
President Nixon tried and failed to cancel ‘The Dick Cavett Show.’ Since then, deregulation and consolidation have made media conglomerates more willing to accommodate those in power.
theconversation.com
September 24, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Leaving Vancouver with a belly full of great conversations, mountain views and gratitude. Thank you #APSA2025
September 14, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Vancouver here I come! #APSA2025
September 9, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Reposted by Hanna Sistek
It is important to resist the normalization of these travesties. If or when we get to "yawn, not another one..." we will have truly lost it all.
aclu.org ACLU @aclu.org · May 23
In ICE custody, Dr. Badar Khan Suri faced horrific treatment and was falsely labeled a highly dangerous offender — just because of his pro-Palestine speech.

Badar is home now, but he should never have been detained in the first place. The First Amendment is for everyone.
Georgetown scholar recalls terror and 'mockery of due process' in immigration jail
A Georgetown University scholar who was targeted for deportation by the Trump administration said he was terrified during his time in immigration jail.
apnews.com
May 24, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Quite eye opening episode on the history of OpenAI and where the field is going
podcasts.apple.com/se/podcast/h...
Empire of AI: Inside OpenAI’s Race to Conquer the Future | Karen Hao
Poddavsnitt · Hidden Forces · 2025-05-19 · 1 tim 7 min
podcasts.apple.com
May 24, 2025 at 12:12 AM
When GenAI frames answers in terms of questions and help people think, rather than just providing answers, people learn more. Fascinating episode on how to design beneficial #AI.

podcasts.apple.com/se/podcast/y...
Echo Chambers of One: Companion AI and the Future of Human Connection
Poddavsnitt · Your Undivided Attention · 2025-05-15 · 42 min
podcasts.apple.com
May 18, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Proposed US funding changes
An alternate version of this graph sorted by total funding changes rather than percentages is revealing
May 4, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Amazing thread explaining a mechanism behind shifting political honesty norms
Honest people don’t lie. Or do they? Liars aren’t honest. Or are they?
One puzzling conundrum in contemporary politics is that politicians who seem to be estranged from facts and evidence are nonetheless considered honest by their followers.
1/n
April 30, 2025 at 2:23 AM
Reposted by Hanna Sistek
What can we conclude?
Words matter.
When politicians resort to intuition and “gut feeling” rather than evidence, this has flow-on consequences.
31/n
April 10, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Reposted by Hanna Sistek
In our most recent study, which just appeared in Nature Human Behaviour with Segun Aroyehun as lead author (doi.org/10.1038/s415...) , we drew a wider historical arc and examined the rhetoric in all speeches given on the floor of Congress between 1879 and 2022.
16/n
Computational analysis of US congressional speeches reveals a shift from evidence to intuition - Nature Human Behaviour
This research explores the linguistic traces of evidence-based reasoning and intuitive decision-making in congressional speeches from 1879 to 2022. The analysis suggests that evidence-based language h...
doi.org
April 10, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Steven Levitsky on America's Path To 'Competitive Authoritarianism' : Fresh Air

www.npr.org/2025/04/22/1...
America's Path To 'Competitive Authoritarianism' : Fresh Air
Harvard professor of government Steven Levitsky studies how healthy democracies can slip into authoritarianism. He says the Trump administration has already done grave damage: "We are no longer living...
www.npr.org
April 23, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Reposted by Hanna Sistek
What we’ve launched today is the first step for how we’re going to evolve verification.

The initial set of trusted verifiers includes news orgs who’ve agreed to take on the task of verification for their journalists. In the future, this set will expand, as well as how apps can choose to use them.
April 22, 2025 at 2:13 AM
Powerful episode about the difficulty of regulating new technologies.

podcasts.apple.com/se/podcast/y...
Forever Chemicals, Forever Consequences: What PFAS Teaches Us About AI
Poddavsnitt · Your Undivided Attention · 2025-04-03 · 1 tim 5 min
podcasts.apple.com
April 19, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Reposted by Hanna Sistek
Breaking News: Google acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in some online advertising technology, a federal judge ruled.
Google Is a Monopolist in Online Advertising Tech, Judge Says
The ruling was the second time in a year that a federal court had found that Google had acted illegally to maintain its dominance.
www.nytimes.com
April 17, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Hanna Sistek
I keep reading and hearing that, while Trump's net favorability is negative, his approval ratings on immigration are positive. Thanks to @gelliottmorris.com for looking under the hood on this. Turns out Americans *really* don't like Trump's immigration policies.
April 15, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Fascinating episode on media theorist Neil Postman’s insights on the influence on different media types on society

podcasts.apple.com/se/podcast/y...
The Man Who Predicted the Downfall of Thinking
Poddavsnitt · Your Undivided Attention · 2025-03-06 · 59 min
podcasts.apple.com
April 14, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Reposted by Hanna Sistek
Some personal news: the Department of Homeland Security has given me, an immigration lawyer born in Newton, Massachusetts, seven days to leave the U.S. Does anyone know if you can get Italian citizenship through great-grandparents?
April 11, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Super interesting on the impact of the attention economy on our children
To mark the anniversary of "The Anxious Generation," I have a new resource to share. I get invited to speak at conferences, schools, and parent groups all the time, and I can’t always make it, so I made this video.

anxiousgeneration.com/parent-teacher-talk
Jonathan's Parent & Teacher Talk
Watch Jonathan Haidt's talk on rolling back phone-based childhood and discover practical solutions for parents, educators, and communities.
anxiousgeneration.com
April 9, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Looking forward to present my paper on "Mechanisms behind political use of disinformation: case study evidence from Europe" today at #MPSA2025! 1.30 pm on the 7th floor, Burnham 5. Come join!
April 4, 2025 at 4:07 PM
#MPSA2025 here I come!
April 3, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Attending #MPSA2025 and studying dem backsliding, or something having implications for it, like #disinfo? Join us for an impromptu HH at chicagoathletichotel.com
on 12 S Mich Av on April 3rd at 6 pm! Cool bar area upstairs. Last year's event was a hit!
@MPSAnet @alicemalmberg.bsky.social
Historic Downtown Chicago Hotel | Chicago Athletic Association
A historic landmark directly across from Millennium Park, Chicago Athletic Association is a novel downtown Chicago Loop hotel and distinctive dining destination.
chicagoathletichotel.com
March 25, 2025 at 1:54 PM
So much gratitude to all the work that @gmcclendon.bsky.social put into organizing the Rebecca Morton conf on experimental political science, and for the generosity of hosting us all in her home. Such a wonderful opportunity to get to know other scholars. I’m leaving NYC feeling nourished.
March 9, 2025 at 1:31 PM