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How Our News Feed Works

Understanding how we surface trending topics for nuanced public debate.

Our Philosophy

The news is full of polarising debates where people talk past each other. Society Speaks takes these hot-button issues and creates a space for nuanced, structured discussion where you can disagree agreeably.

We don't shy away from controversial topics - we believe they deserve better debate.

Where We Source Topics

We monitor quality news sources and intellectual podcasts to find topics worth debating:

News Publications

Articles from these outlets become discussions:

  • The Guardian, BBC News, Reuters, AP
  • The Economist, Financial Times, Bloomberg
  • The Times, Telegraph, Independent
  • The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, The New Yorker
  • Politico, Politico EU, Axios, Semafor
  • The Spectator, UnHerd, TechCrunch

Podcasts We Monitor

Topics these shows cover help us prioritise:

  • The Rest Is Politics
  • Triggernometry
  • The All-In Podcast
  • The News Agents
  • The Tim Ferriss Show
  • Diary of a CEO
  • Modern Wisdom

News publications provide the articles that become discussions. Podcasts help us understand which topics are generating substantive discussion in the intellectual media ecosystem.

How We Select Topics

Topics We Include

  • Policy debates (economy, healthcare, education, housing)
  • Political controversies and elections
  • Social issues generating public discussion
  • Technology and AI ethics
  • Climate and environment policy
  • International affairs and geopolitics
  • Topics trending in quality publications and podcasts

Topics We Filter Out

  • Celebrity gossip and entertainment news
  • Reality TV and influencer content
  • Shopping guides and lifestyle fluff
  • Horoscopes and trivial content

Note: We intentionally keep topics that are "sensationalist" in the media - these indicate issues people care deeply about. Our goal is to bring nuance and balance to debates that are often polarised elsewhere.

How Topics Become Discussions

1

Article Collection

We gather articles from our sources 4 times daily to catch major news cycles.

2

Topic Filtering

Articles are filtered to find debate-worthy civic topics while removing celebrity/lifestyle content.

3

AI Scoring

Topics are scored for debate potential and civic relevance using AI.

4

Clustering

Similar articles from different sources are grouped into single topics.

5

Discussion Creation

A neutral discussion title and balanced seed statements are generated to frame the debate fairly.

6

Editorial Review

Our team reviews topics before they go live to ensure quality and balance.

Source Transparency

Every news discussion shows which publications covered the story. You can see the original sources and read the full articles to get complete context.

We believe in transparency - you should know where topics come from and be able to verify information yourself.

Feedback Welcome

This system is always evolving. If you think we're missing important topics, including too much noise, or could improve our selection process, we'd love to hear from you.

Send Feedback