Factually! with Adam Conover Headgum

We’ve been discussing the slow death of journalism for a long time, but what if it didn’t just “die”? This week, Adam speaks with Margot Susca, a professor at American University and author of Hedged: How Private Investment Funds Helped Destroy American Newspapers and Undermine Democracy, about how private equity firms have dismantled journalism and betrayed America.

You may have noticed that Google isn't what it used to be. Search results are buried under ads and sponsored links, and when you do find a result, it's overflowing with SEO garbage. You aren't imagining things: the internet is getting quantifiably worse. In this video, Adam explains how the same Google that once helped make the internet more accessible to countless people has doomed the internet itself for the foreseeable future.

We're happy to have conversations about eliminating poverty, but why are we so reluctant to talk about eradicating extreme wealth? Poverty is commonly regarded as an indication of a struggling society, and a tiny number of people controlling a disproportionately large amount of wealth should be seen similarly. Political philosopher Ingrid Robeyns, author of Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth, joins Adam to explore how imposing limits on personal wealth accumulation can benefit society, democracy, and surprisingly even improve the lives of the wealthy.

The labor movement is in a state of flux. Support for unions is the highest it's been in decades, including the explict support of the Biden administration, yet actual union membership has plummeted to a historical low. With only 10% of the workforce unionized, is the labor movement missing its best chance to organize more workers? This week Adam sits with Hamilton Nolan, labor journalist and author of The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor, to reconcile the popular support of unions with the grim reality of declining membership. They discuss what led to the current moment we find ourselves in, and the best strategies for workers to find solidarity no matter their trade

Homelessness has reached a record high, with over 650,000 people experiencing it in the USA today. Despite this staggering number, many remain unaware of the true underlying causes of this crisis. Myths surrounding issues like drug use and immigration often serve as convenient scapegoats, deflecting attention from meaningful efforts to address the problem. This not only represents a moral failure towards those experiencing homelessness but also towards the communities affected by it. This week, Adam shares an illuminating conversation with Dr. Margot Kushel, Director of the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative and a leading authority on the causes and solutions to the homelessness crisis. Dr. Kushel and the BHHI recently conducted the largest study of the homeless population in decades, and speaks with Adam about her findings, including surprising information about who comprises the homeless population, what it is actually like to be unhoused, and possible solutions to the crisis that may be closer to hand than we realize.

The climate crisis is unfolding very day, with many inevitable consequences looming in the near future. While we may hope for clean energy or fossil fuel alternatives to save the day, climate change is more than just a technological issue—it's fundamentally a social problem. When tend to view climate change only from an ecological or technological perspective, but we require a sociological view to understand how we can collectively solve it. This week, Adam discusses these complexities with Dr. Dana Fisher, Director of the Center for Environment, Community, & Equity and author of "Saving Ourselves: From Climate Shocks to Climate Action." They explore the role of hope in the climate crisis, strategies for collective action, and the possibility that things may worsen before they improve.