Nabiha Syed

And I'm the president of The Markup, a nonprofit news organization that investigates big tech.

And one of the first things she told me was that one of the problems with the marketplace of ideas is that there's... No reckoning for the fact that some people have bigger platforms than others, meaning their ideas get heard first.

Their ideas also get heard more often.

Their ideas are also, you know, surrounded by joiners who are like, that idea is popular.

I'm going to join it.

You know, not that all things in the American Muslim experience boil down to a single day in 2001, but to the extent that, like, the aftermath of 9-11 was formative, it was because I felt like there was all of a sudden a narrative about who I was that was playing out in the media.

That bore no relationship to my...

Orange County, Pakistani, like Kardashian-esque life, right?

Like I just didn't, I was like, who are these people?

Who are this?

But here's the thing to remember, like the marketplace of ideas was one theory, right?

It's the idea that we glommed onto.

And it's the idea that really took off because a variety of social platforms were like, yep, that's the one.

But it's not the only one.

You should know, is the well in your neighborhood poisoning you?

Yes or no?

That's not a subjective set of opinions.

Like, is water poisonous?

Yes.

Why?