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North Korea has published 310 new slogans to encourage patriotism - so what do they say, what do they mean and what do they tell us about the leadership in Pyongyang? Propaganda in the form of slogans, posters, stamps and books has played an important role in the country since the state was founded in 1948, so the appearance of a new batch of exhortations is not surprising. My personal favorite: "Play sports games in an offensive way!" See http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-31446387 for a full list of the slogans.

This report studies 65 political influencers belonging to the Alternative Influence Network (AIN): an assortment of scholars, media pundits, and internet celebrities who use YouTube to promote a range of political positions, from mainstream versions of libertarianism and conservatism, all the way to overt white nationalism. AIN's savvy use of YouTube promotes radicalization and adoption of extremist political viewpoints. Content creators in the AIN claim to provide an alternative media source for news and political commentary. They function as political influencers who adopt the techniques of brand influencers to build audiences and "sell" them on far-right ideology. This report presents data from approximately 65 political influencers across 81 channels. These groups uphold a broader "reactionary" position: a general opposition to feminism, social justice, or left-wing politics. Members of the AIN cast themselves as an alternative media system by: * Establishing an alternative sense of credibility based on relatability, authenticity, and accountability. * Cultivating an alternative social identity using the image of a social underdog, and countercultural appeal. Members of the AIN use the proven engagement techniques of brand influencers to spread ideological content: * Ideological Testimonials * Political Self-Branding * Search Engine Optimization * Strategic Controversy

You only use 10 percent of your brain. Eating carrots improves your eyesight. Vitamin C cures the common cold. Crime in the United States is at an all-time high. None of those things are true. But the facts don't actually matter: People repeat them so often that you believe them. Welcome to the "illusory truth effect," a glitch in the human psyche that equates repetition with truth. Marketers and politicians are masters of manipulating this particular cognitive bias. "Repetition makes things seem more plausible," says Lynn Hasher, a psychologist at the University of Toronto whose research team first noticed the effect in the 1970s. "And the effect is likely more powerful when people are tired or distracted by other information."

謝謝, Michael Chang ʻ22, for discovering this fun Mandarin Chinese weekly column, which examines various pop culture elements of Mandarin Chinese and teaches vernacular, vocabulary, and other linguistics aspects that Chinese learners are unlikely to learn in a classroom setting. A sampling: Chinese Internet slang, Chinese gastronomic terms, sarcastic phrases, traditional Chinese children's games, poetic terms for snow, anti-COVID virus health propaganda slogans.