Clearly, author Barbara McQuade and I have had the same serious concern on our minds for some time. McQuade has put her worry about the power of disinformation to erode public trust front and center at every opportunity. She's raised the issue in her cable news appearances, in her work as a prosecutor, and in her teachings about national security at the University of Michigan. She has culminated her expertise and passion for this subject in her new nonfiction book “Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America.”
Just prior to the release of her latest book I had released my album freaturing the track “Disinformation Overload.” The way our two works overlap in tone and content is striking, and speaks to the need for more voices calling for public vigilance against manipulation by willful falsehood.
In the process of taking this book in (via audiobook format on Audible), I really felt like my song was a suitable companion piece to the book, perhaps providing an entry point into it. This conviction strengthened as I got deeper into the book.
Not only does McQuade book methodically lay out the various concepts behind disinformation and connect current events to these concepts, but importantly, she proposes legislative, societal and law enforecement-driven solutions that could be implemented. To this end, McQuade urges public awareness and political will to safeguard our democracy by affirming our commitment to government and public discourse beholden to demonstrable facts.
McQuade manages to pour her personality into the book, sharing anecdotes of how she has interacted with disinformation (spoiler alert: her disinformation radar is not 100%. Nobody's is). She urges us to venture outside of our political bubbles with love and compassion for our fellow Americans, including those we disagree with.
Her proposed solutions to get ahead of the threats posed by disinformation seem doable to varying degrees, given our highly polarized culture. I certainly did take to heart those parts of her recommendations that I could personally put into practice in my own life, both online and in-person. For instance, I could refrain from sharing online content that belittles people with opposing points of view.
I believe readers of “Attack from Within” are also ideal listeners to my full album “Digital Carnival,” though they may find the track “Disinformation Overload” a compelling entry point into the album.
Many of the lyrics from throughout the album feature terms that are also prominent in “Attack from Within.” The title track “Digital Carnival” speaks to several aspects of social media, like the opportunity to “feel like you own those who don't think like you,” as well as some jabs at the attention economy. Just as I roast Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter in “Disrupter,” McQuade critiques that faithful transaction and ties it to the damage to our discourse that ensued. Bots and trolls come up both in my song “Disinformation Overload” and in “Attack from Within.”
📕 Get Barbara McQuade's book “Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America.”
💿 Listen/support the album “Digital Carnival” below:
I strongly recommend “Attack from Within” to readers who desire greater national unity and a more secure future for our country and our world. In it, McQuade calls for mutual respect among Americans at a personal and at a political level. I admire this goal and this call to action.