The news is watching the wrong things

Join us this Sunday, either in person or online, as we discuss a historian who thinks we may be paying attention to the wrong things.

In this October episode of her podcast, News Not Noise, Jessica Yellin interviews historian Timothy Snider. For all the angst over Trump restricting press access, Snyder argues reporters don’t need to follow the president everywhere, especially when his words are being used as “weapons.” The bigger problem, he says, is that the press too often confuses what Trump says with what he can actually do.

And AI? Snyder thinks we’re so busy worrying about machines getting smarter that we’re missing what they may already be doing to us: making us easier to manipulate and less capable of thinking for ourselves.

Then there are the midterms. The threats are real. But Snyder’s message to voters is emphatic: “You can win big even when they threaten and even when they cheat.”

Snyder is one of the world’s leading scholars of authoritarianism and the author of On Tyranny and On Freedom. We discuss threats to elections and the press, extreme wealth, AI, the affordability crisis, weakened government protections, even the physical remaking of Washington. I always come away from talking to Tim Snyder seeing the landscape a little differently. He connects things that can look unrelated, puts the present in a much longer frame, and somehow leaves you feeling that what happens next is less inevitable than it seemed an hour ago.

Jessica Sage Yellin is an American journalist. She is the founder of News Not Noise, a podcast and social media brand focused on politics. Described by Politico as "one of the most powerful women in Washington" she has worked in network news at ABC, MSNBC, and CNN where she was the Chief White House Correspondent.

You can see this 32-minute video at [www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y9Xt481iGo](https://youtu.be/3Y9Xt481iGo).

`───────────────────────────────`
📍Can't Attend in Person this Week :(
We looked high and low for a meeting place. We were not able to find one, but rest assured, we do have a venue reserved for future Forums.
`───────────────────────────────`
🎤 Attend Online
Also, we will continue to present our forums on Zoom. To join and be able to ask questions and make comments, go to:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81653890712?pwd=QzN4MTVNbGEwQ0Zua3d1VG9tVE50UT09
No password is needed -- our host will admit you from the waiting room.
Joining the meeting via the link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer (if it's not already installed), and then take you to the meeting.

You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smart phone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

Join the meeting by phone. +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
Find an international phone number to call here:
https://zoom.us/u/afYkAuvE6
`───────────────────────────────`
Follow us on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/humanists-org.bsky.social
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/humanistcommsv/
Humanist Community website: http://www.humanists.org/
Monthly event calendar: https://www.humanists.org/blog/monthly-calendar/
RSVP on Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/humanistcommunity/events/
Subscribe to our Substack: https://humanistcommunity.substack.com/
Videos of previous forums: https://vimeo.com/hcsv/

To help our Forum series continue, please consider making a donation or becoming a member ([http://www.humanists.org/blog/membership/)](http://www.humanists.org/blog/membership/)) of the Humanist Community.
`───────────────────────────────`
If you would like to speak at a Humanist Forum, or know someone who would, or there is a topic you think we should discuss, please let us know by emailing [[vp@humanists.org](mailto:vp@humanists.org)](mailto:vp@humanists.org) or [[havasy@live.com](mailto:havasy@live.com)](mailto:havasy@live.com).