After listening to two episodes of the How We Survive podcast, I’m willing to give Molly Wood the benefit of the doubt. I think her heart is in the right place. But the intent isn’t coming through, and I can explain exactly why.

The podcast most often lets the incorrect ideas go first. That way there’s some tension, a story arc, and a payoff when the truth comes in at the end. This is a terrible way to fight disinformation. The people making up stories about old Native American stories aren’t trying to convince people, they’re trying to confuse people. As pointed out in the show, there’s no way to verify if the claims about language are true, and most likely no one’s going to do an archaeological study to verify the tale. Giving the claims any oxygen is just playing right into their plan. Anyone who listens to this episode is going to come away wondering: Maybe it’s true? And since we...