I
Critical Thinking Foundations
Foundations of Critical Thinking
- 1. How to Spot a Bad Argument
- 2. Why We Fool Ourselves
- 3. Evaluating Evidence
- 4. The Art of Asking Questions
- 5. Numbers Can Lie
- 6. Media Literacy Essentials
- 7. Separating Correlation from Causation
- 8. Thinking About Thinking
II
Political Lies & Fact-Checking
Trump's Lies: Then and Now
- 1. The Business Years: Building a Brand on Exaggeration
- 2. 2011-2016: Birtherism and the Rise of Political Lying
- 3. First Term 2017-2018: Establishing the Pattern
- 4. First Term 2019-2020: Pre-Pandemic Falsehoods
- 5. COVID-19: A Pandemic of Misinformation
- 6. The Big Lie: 2020 Election Denial
- 7. 2021-2024: Exile, Indictments, and Continued Falsehoods
- 8. Second Term 2025: The Lies Continue
- 9. The Repetition Strategy: Why the Same Lies Persist
- 10. Consequences: When Lies Cause Real Harm
- 11. Why Do People Believe? The Psychology of Political Lying
Political Advertising: Finding the Facts
- 1. The Evolution of Political Advertising
- 2. Anatomy of a Political Ad
- 3. Common Deception Techniques
- 4. Fact-Checking Political Claims
- 5. Digital and Social Media Advertising
- 6. The Money Behind Political Ads
- 7. Legal Rules and Their Loopholes
- 8. Media Literacy for Voters
- 9. International Perspectives
- 10. The Future of Political Advertising
III
Historical Revisionism
How History Gets Rewritten: The Revisionism Playbook
- 1. What Is Revisionism?
- 2. The Revisionist Playbook
- 3. The Infrastructure of Revisionism
- 4. Long-Game Tactics
- 5. Who Benefits?
- 6. Psychology of Belief Persistence
- 7. Digital-Age Revisionism
- 8. The Primary Source Defense
- 9. Engaging Revisionist Believers
United States Civil War Revisionism
- 1. The Lost Cause: Origins of Civil War Revisionism
- 2. States' Rights vs. Slavery: What the Documents Say
- 3. Textbook Wars: How School Curricula Shaped Memory
- 4. Civil Rights Movement: The Sanitized Version
- 5. The 'Both Sides' Framing
- 6. Modern Revisionist Movements
- 7. The Documentary Record
- 8. Why Revisionism Persists
- 9. Countering Revisionism with Evidence
IV
Investigating the Record
Trump and Epstein: A History
- 1. Why This Topic Attracts Misinformation
- 2. Jeffrey Epstein in Brief
- 3. Donald Trump in Brief
- 4. Primary Sources and Record Types
- 5. Early Social Connections (1980s-1990s)
- 6. Mar-a-Lago and Palm Beach
- 7. Public Statements and Quotes
- 8. The Falling Out
- 9. Legal Proceedings and Depositions
- 10. The Acosta Connection
- 11. 2019 Arrest and Aftermath
- 12. Document Releases and Revelations
- 13. Media Ecosystems: How Narratives Are Built
- 14. Conspiracy Theories and 'Epstein Files' Claims
- 15. Evidence Evaluation: A Practical Method
- 16. Separating Fact from Fiction
- 17. What Remains Unknown, and Why
V
Wedge Issue Politics
How Abortion Became a Political Wedge
- 1. Before the Partisan Divide
- 2. How the Parties Chose Sides
- 3. The Courts as Battleground
- 4. Single-Issue Voting and Electoral Impact
- 5. Money, Mobilization, and Activist Networks
- 6. The War of Words: Framing and Messaging
- 7. Media Coverage and Public Opinion
- 8. How Other Democracies Handle Abortion Politics
- 9. The Polarization Feedback Loop
The Immigration Wedge: How a Policy Became a Political Weapon
- 1. The Wedge Issue Playbook: How Politics Manufactures Division
- 2. Proposition 187: The Template Is Created
- 3. From Economic to Cultural: Changing the Frame
- 4. Talk Radio and Fox News: The Amplification Machine
- 5. The Caravan: Manufacturing Crisis on Cue
- 6. Election Cycles: Immigration on Demand
- 7. The Replacement Theory: From Fringe to Mainstream
- 8. Why the Problem Is Never Solved
- 9. Comparing Playbooks: Immigration and Abortion
- 10. The Real Costs: What Wedge Politics Does to Policy
- 11. Resistance: How Immigrants and Allies Fight Back
- 12. Breaking the Cycle: Can Immigration Escape Wedge Politics?