(gentle music) (dramatic music) - Welcome to "The Newsfeed."

In today's episode, the presidential election is less than 90 days away.

We're in the midst of deep political divisions, and it's safe to say we're charting new territory surrounding the truth.

A Seattle author and filmmaker's recent work explores the history of what has brought us here politically.

I'm Paris Jackson.

Today's top story, what is the truth?

It seems to be evolving for some.

A Seattle writer and academic digs into America's relationship with the truth in our current political landscape.

I sat down with David Shields to understand his research into how we got here, which is the name of his new book.

Welcome, David.

Thank you for joining us today on "The Newsfeed."

- Thanks for having me, Paris.

- Let's get it right into it and talk about the truth.

We're in an interesting time where it seems that the truth is up for debate, and you have a forthcoming book, "How We Got Here."

How did America get to this state of polarity when we're starting to question the truth?

- Well, that's as they say, the trillion dollar question, isn't it?

We're all baffled by that, and I have a theory, and you know, it's not like I have the absolute truth, but from the mid-eighties until now, authoritarians across the globe from Bolsonaro to Xi to Putin to Trump have increasingly used a kind of confusion to control the populace, taking what had been centuries of philosophical thought, questioning what's true, what's real.

It was originally started as a philosophical meditation, as a way to actually democratize life.

And it's become, in my view, in the hands of certain authoritarian rulers, a key part of contemporary political discourse.

- What's the teachable moment?

How do we synthesize what is happening right now?

And is there a way to rectify what has taken place as we're watching history literally unfold before our eyes?

- I mean, I guess I can't help but go back to the assassination attempt one month ago or so.

I was in Los Angeles and I was hearing about it as it was happening, but I fell into this immediate moment of, oh, it's definitely staged.

I fell into a conspiratorial mode, and I kind of chastised myself, like, "How dare you, David, fall into a conspiratorial mode that you mock other people for?"

And so I think a lot of what my work is about is to, in a way, catch myself out in, you might say, wrongful thinking.

And in so doing, capture something about human flawedness and human weakness and human vulnerability.

You know, I sort of like to say vulnerability is our superpower.

And you know, the question becomes, you can say anything, you know, but where would be the factual evidence?

There's sort of a famous difference between facts and truth.

I think we can all agree that we can argue about truth, like what is truth, is your truth my truth.

But now everyone questions every fact even.

You know, oh, that's not really my voice on that tape, or I didn't really say that, or you've manipulated the tape.

I think we're in a really, really difficult time, which is not exactly news, but the book and film are an attempt to show this didn't come out of nowhere.

This is at least 200 years of the legacy of philosophical skepticism.

- It was a pleasure to speak with you, David.

Thank you for joining us.

- Thanks for having me, Paris.

- His new book, "How We Got Here," releases September 24th, and you can stream the movie of the same name on Amazon Prime.

(calm music) In other news, in case you missed it, the Washington State Primary was August 6th.

The Cascade PBS News team will continue to cover the election and the latest race results until they're certified on August 23rd.

We'll also be updating our statewide voter guide ahead of the November general election.

I'm Paris Jackson.

Thank you for watching "The Newsfeed," your destination for nonprofit Northwest news.

Go to cascadepbs.org for more.

(dramatic music) (calm music)