Why Do Politicians Lie?

A roundtable with Sarah Isgur and Mike Pesca

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Hello listeners,

Why is it that, despite knowing fact-checkers are analyzing every word and that scrutiny from their opponents will be severe, world leaders and politicians still decide to tell public lies?

While Matt and I are hard at work on several stories that we hope to share with you soon, today we’re trying something a bit different. We're bringing you a roundtable discussion with Sarah Isgur and Mike Pesca on why politicians lie—and what those lies reveal about the state of our society.

Sarah Isgur is a lawyer, senior editor at The Dispatch, host of the legal podcast Advisory Opinions, and co-host of Left, Right & Center. She’s previously worked in all three branches of the federal government, including a few years in the Trump Administration, and has been involved with three different presidential campaigns.

Mike Pesca, a veteran of NPR, is the host of The Gist, the longest-running daily news podcast, and has covered presidential campaigns and politics for over two decades.

We dive deep into whether we’re living in an era of especially egregious lies, the incentives for politicians to lie, how we classify and fact-check lies, and much more. By the end, we wind up in a place I didn’t expect.

Let us know what you think about this little experiment and why you think politicians lie via hello@reflector.show

And we’ll see you soon,

Andy (and Matt)