Claim OwnershipOutrage Overload: Rethinking politics, division, and media
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© 2026 Outrage Overload
Description
If politics and media leave you feeling angry, overwhelmed, or exhausted, Outrage Overload is for you.
In about 30 minutes every few weeks, we explore how outrage spreads, how polarization distorts perception, and how media and technology amplify emotional extremes.
Through conversations with leading scientists, researchers, and authors, we unpack the psychology, incentives, and systems shaping today’s political climate — and offer practical tools to think clearly, stay grounded, and respond constructively.
Outrage Overload helps listeners with critical questions about outrage culture, political polarization, misinformation, and media manipulation—offering science-based insight, expert interviews, and practical tools to stay grounded in a divided world.
If you’ve ever asked yourself…
• How can I stay politically informed without feeling outraged or exhausted all the time?
• Why is political polarization getting worse, and what can we do about it?
• What exactly is outrage culture, and how does it manipulate us?
• How do I talk about politics without it turning into a fight?
• Am I being misled by the media? How can I tell?
• What’s the psychological toll of living in an outrage-driven media environment?
• How can I build critical thinking skills to make sense of today’s news?
• What role does social media play in fueling outrage and misinformation?
• Is it possible to care about politics without losing your mind?
• What practical tools or insights can help me deal with toxic politics and media?
…then this is the politics show you didn’t know you needed.
Join host David Beckemeyer—science communicator and founding CTO of EarthLink—as he explores the mechanics of outrage, speaks with experts in psychology, media, and political science, and equips listeners with strategies for navigating today’s high-conflict culture with emotional resilience, critical thinking, and civil discourse.
143 Episodes
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Is the "move to the center" vs. "lean left" debate a false choice? Following recent election cycles, the dominant advice for Democrats has been to moderate their cultural messaging and pivot to the middle—a strategy championed by the October 2025 Deciding to Win report. Conversely, many argue the party should double down on a bold, progressive populist agenda to mobilize the base. In this episode, we challenge this entire left-versus-center framework with Frank A. Spring, Chief of Research at...
We talk about polarization in terms of media, algorithms, and politics. But what if we’ve simply forgotten how to sit down with people who aren’t like us? In this episode, David sits down with Tim Jones, founder of Longer Tables, a real-world initiative that brings strangers together over shared meals to rebuild social trust and human connection. Tim argues that humans are “slow-cooked.” Trust, belonging, and meaningful relationships don’t scale at the speed of technology—and that mismatch ma...
Episode Description How does political identity shape what we believe—and whether we accept democracy itself? In this episode, David speaks with political scientist Timothy Redmond, author of Political Tribalism in America: How Hyper-Partisanship Dumbs Down Democracy—and How to Fix It. Redmond reveals how modern politics has reversed the democratic ideal: instead of forming views and then choosing a party, many people adopt a party identity first and align their beliefs accordingly. This fue...
Is This Podcast Part of the Problem or the Solution? In this thought-provoking episode, host David Beckemeyer takes a deep dive into the Outrage Overload podcast, offering a self-reflective analysis of our approach to navigating the intricate landscape of American democracy. The episode serves as a meta-analysis, scrutinizing our treatment of topics such as polarization, potential pitfalls of false equivalences, potential limitations of civil dialogue, and threats to democracy arising from a...
What begins as a documentary about racial justice in Omaha becomes something far more personal. Filmmaker Nick Beaulieu joins Outrage Overload to discuss My Omaha, a film that follows his effort to document activism in his hometown while navigating a deeply strained relationship with his terminally ill father, a staunch pro-Trump conservative. Rather than trying to change minds, My Omaha explores what it takes to stay in relationship across political, racial, and generational divides. In this...
Why are so many people exhausted, cynical, or disengaged from politics — even as the stakes keep rising? In this episode of Outrage Overload, David Beckemeyer is joined by journalist and author Cameron Cowan to explore the deeper forces driving generational inequality, institutional distrust, and political disengagement in the United States. Cameron is the author of America’s Lost Generation, which examines how economic change, labor markets, and policy decisions have reshaped opportunity for...
Resisting Nazism Resistance is often imagined as dramatic and heroic. History tells a different story. In this episode of Outrage Overload, we speak with historian and educator Dr. Luke Berryman, author of Resisting Nazism: True stories of resistance to the world’s most dangerous ideology from 1920 to the present. Rather than focusing on famous figures or extraordinary acts, this conversation explores resistance as it was actually lived: through nonconformity, refusal, and small decisions mad...
Veteran journalist Stephen Maher joins us to explore how the collapse of local news, the rise of algorithm-driven platforms, and shifting newsroom cultures are reshaping democracy. Drawing on decades covering Canadian politics, Maher explains why communities lose more than information when local papers disappear—and how this dynamic parallels what’s happening in the United States. We dig into polarization, media trust, the “algorithmic public square,” and what might help rebuild a shared civi...
COVID may be behind us, but many of the frustrations, myths, and political divides it created are still quietly shaping our social and civic landscape. This bonus episode revisits a conversation originally recorded for Outrage Science Bites—now brought to the main feed because its insights remain deeply relevant. We take a calm, evidence-based look at what actually happened during the U.S. pandemic response, drawing on findings from The Lessons from the COVID War, one of the most comprehensiv...
While outrage and division dominate the headlines, quiet collaborators in Congress are actually getting things done — you just never hear about them. In this episode, David Beckemeyer talks with Brad Porteus, founder of Bridge Grades, a data-driven “report card for Congress” that measures who’s building bridges — and who’s tearing them down. Together, they explore how citizens can shift the incentives in Washington by rewarding collaboration over confrontation. Text me your feedback and lea...
When AI Starts Shaping What We Believe We often blame social media algorithms for toxic polarization — for the outrage, the misinformation, the “us versus them” dynamic pulling society apart. But what if the real problem goes deeper than the algorithm? In this episode, University of Amsterdam researcher Petter Törnberg explains why social media is broken by design — and why simply “fixing the feed” won’t solve outrage or polarization. And now, a new technology is arriving that could reshape p...
Most Americans are tired of the outrage — and hungry for something better. So how do we unite America when everything feels so divided? In this episode, we talk with Adam Mizel, co-founder and CEO of US United, a movement focused on ending toxic polarization through everyday actions anyone can take. After traveling the country in a purple pickup truck, Adam found that people from all backgrounds want the same things: respect, listening, and real connection. We explore political depolarization...
Why We Disagree About What Matters We often assume political polarization is about beliefs or party loyalty—but what if it’s about which issues we think are worth caring about? In this episode, behavioral scientists Adrienne Kafka (Duke University) and Troy Campbell (On Your Feet, formerly Disney Imagineering and Netflix) unpack their research on issue salience polarization—how our sense of an issue’s importance changes depending on the solutions attached to it. They explain how “solution av...
Digital Overwhelm: Talking Across Generations In a world that never stops pinging, how do we stay human—and stay connected across generations? Host David Beckemeyer talks with communication scholar Craig Mattson, author of Digital Overwhelm, about what happens when Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z all try to navigate the same flood of digital noise. From “data vs story” to “sender vs listener,” this conversation explores why we’re all drowning in information, why younger workers seem mo...
Why People Stop Trusting Science Why do so many people reject science—even when the facts are clear? We are joined by Hillary Shulman, a communication scholar at Ohio State University, to learn about science populism—the growing belief that science is an elite enterprise disconnected from everyday life. They explore how distrust of experts, polarization and science, and skepticism and belief shape public understanding. Shulman explains why facts alone don’t persuade, how both libera...
When the Center Becomes the Rebel Once, being radical meant picking a side—Rush Limbaugh on the right, Keith Olbermann on the left. But today, that kind of partisanship isn’t radical anymore—it’s predictable. In this episode, we explore a surprising idea: maybe the true radicals now are the independent thinkers—the bridge-builders—who refuse to be boxed into red or blue. Our guest, Lura Forcum, President of The Independent Center, shares how her organization is empowering independent voters, ...
We take a closer look at the online world known as the manosphere—a loose network of communities including incels, Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW), men’s rights activists (MRAs), and pick-up artists (PUAs). These groups may look different on the surface, but they share a common core: resentment toward feminism, nostalgia for traditional masculinity, and a belief that men are the new victims of modern society. With guidance from researcher Havana Mohr-Ramirez, we unpack how these subcultures o...
Why Talking Isn’t Enough to Bridge Divides What happens when people in deeply divided communities set aside differences to work on real problems together? In this episode, we hear from participants in Southern Oregon and from Urban Rural Action’s Senior Director of Programs about how building trust and taking action can bridge divides, create belonging, and spark lasting change. Text me your feedback and leave your contact info if you'd like a reply (this is a one-way text). Thanks, David Sup...
What If Inclusion, Not Normalization, Was the Goal? Too often, conversations about autism happen without autistic voices at the table. In this episode, we talk with Ari Ne’eman, Assistant Professor at Harvard and co-founder of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, about the real divides in autism advocacy and what a better path forward could look like. Ari brings both lived experience and policy expertise, with service under multiple U.S. administrations, to examine how public policy shapes aut...
Why Owning Your Online Identity Matters More Than Ever Is it possible to fix social media? In this episode, I’m joined by Yevgeny Simkin, Co-Founder of Sez.us, a new social media platform built to encourage civility and healthier online spaces. We talk about why we need real alternatives to Facebook and Twitter, who controls online conversations today, and how owning your online identity could change the way communities connect. Yevgeny explains why escaping social media giants might be the f...
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That was a great conversation; made me believe I was sitting in the room and listening to you both chat. It had a great concept and you were curious and sounded like you were able to draw her story and her feelings and thoughts out without her guard coming up. Please release more of these style of episodes. This one felt personal and very authentic. Well done. - Joshua