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David Livingstone Smith, Ph.D., professor of philosophy, was interviewed by radio journalist Neal Conan for the podcast Truth, Politics and Power. The episode, titled “The Politics of Fear,” aired March 31.

In the interview, Smith discussed the link between race and dehumanization, a topic explored in his book Less than Human. “The reason that racialization is important is that it’s the first step towards making a population of people ‘other,’” Smith said.

“When you racialize a population, that is, when you treat them as a race, as a bunch of people with something in common that no one else shares, you are basically saying that this is a different kind of person than us. Dehumanization just pushes this a step further,” he stated.

He also spoke about the topic of lying, which was the focus of his book Why We Lie: The Evolutionary Roots of Deception and the Unconscious Mind. “Virtually all of us lie,” said Smith. “Lying is a normal feature of social life and is necessary for success, and for navigating the complex world of human interactions.”

When asked if Donald Trump lies more than most people, Smith said “Trump clearly lies deliberately, and he does that because he understands very, very well that truth doesn’t matter all that much in politics. What matters is creating impressions. He has a salesman’s instinct for saying the sorts of things that move people in the direction that he wishes.”

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