What does it mean to be misinformed—and who consumes misinformation? It can be hard to track down measured answers to those questions. Often framed as a problem that ‘others’ encounter, the public discourse surrounding misinformation can also be highly reductive.

Undergraduate researchers and 2022 Buchanan Fellows at Vanderbilt University, William Ledesma and Zacarias Negron, set out to clarify what has become a muddied topic. The result is a 53-minute documentary podcast called “We the Lonely: Misinformation Retold.”

Alongside a lineup of highly acclaimed guests, ranging from military to medicine, the pair weave together a story far deeper than misleading social media content. At its center—loneliness. A universally experienced phenomenon, loneliness seems to have much to do with misinformation and how each of us may become suscept ...