Carrie Lambert-Beatty: What Happens When an Artwork Deceives its Audience?

The term “parafiction” refers to an artistic performance or presentation that depicts fiction as fact. This idea has particular relevance for our current post-truth moment, in which Americans find themselves overrun with conspiracy theories, misinformation, and fake news.For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.For a transcript of this episode, go to https://harvardmagazine.com/2020/carrie-lambert-beatty. Ask a Harvard Professor is hosted by Jonathan Shaw, Marina Bolotnikova,  Lydialyle Gibson, Jacob Sweet, and produced by Jacob Sweet and Niko Yaitanes. Our theme music was composed by Louis Weeks.