Media Studies Politics

Almost forty years ago, Neil Postman argued that television had brought about a fundamental transformation to democracy. By turning entertainment into our supreme ideology, television had recreated public discourse in its image and converted democracy into show business. In Trolling Ourselves to Death, Jason Hannan builds on Postman's classic thesis, arguing that we are now not so much amusing, as trolling ourselves to death. Contrary to the popular view of the troll as an exclusively anonymous online prankster, Hannan asserts that trolls have emerged from the cave, so to speak.

In today’s chaotic world, where the multiplication of information sources creates competing narratives, credibility is the key to winning the war of ideas. This is the reason why governments and corporations resort to astroturfing - creation of ostensibly grassroots movements set up to advance political agendas and commercial campaigns. The democratization of information and polarization of politics offer a perfect storm.

Derrière ce titre ironique, Roxane Gay développe une réflexion révolutionnaire et bienvenue sur l'état actuel du féminisme. Lassée des prises de position parfois trop clivantes de certaines organisations féministes, elle rappelle que la défense de l'égalité des sexes ne dispense pas d'assumer ses contradictions. On peut aimer la télé-réalité, se peindre les ongles en rose et revendiquer le fait d'être féministe.

Propaganda, an influential book written by Edward L. Bernays in 1928, incorporated the literature from social science and psychological manipulation into an examination of the techniques of public communication. Propaganda explored the psychology behind manipulating masses and the ability to use symbolic action and propaganda to influence politics, effect social change, and lobby for gender and racial equality.

Brought to you by Altrusian Grace Media (altrusiangrace.com) and human-narrated by Matthew Schmitz. Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics by Richard Folkard is an expansive compendium of the myths, customs, superstitions, symbolism, medicinal beliefs, religious associations, and traditional stories connected with plants across many cultures. Moving from flowers, trees, herbs, and fruits to sacred, magical, and ominous vegetation, Folkard traces how the plant kingdom has shaped folklore, poetry, ritual, healing, divination, and everyday life.

In Just Faith, progressive Christian activist and writer Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons explains how a strong religious left has accompanied every major progressive advance in our society, and he resurrects the long but forgotten history of progressive Christianity in the United States that can and must link arms with progressive Muslims and Jews to make the moral case for pluralism, human dignity, and the common good. Graves-Fitzsimmons provides a blueprint for this type of resurrection based on his advocacy work at the intersection of religion and American politics.

Mythopedia is a fun, fact-filled A-Z treasury of myths inspired by natural events. Bringing together fifty legends from antiquity to the present, this delightfully entertaining book takes you around the world to explore sunken kingdoms and lost cities, accursed mountains and treacherous terrains, and lethal lakes and singing sand dunes, explaining the historical background and latest science underlying each tale.

In her latest forays into the American scene, Joan Didion covers ground from Washington to Los Angeles, from a TV producer's gargantuan "manor" to the racial battlefields of New York's criminal courts. At each stop she uncovers the mythic narratives that elude other observers: Didion tells us about the fantasies the media construct around crime victims and presidential candidates; she gives us new interpretations of the stories of Nancy Reagan and Patty Hearst; she charts America's rollercoaster ride through evanescent booms and hard times that won't go away.

Propaganda has become an inescapable part of modern American society. On a daily basis, news outlets, politicians, and the entertainment industry - with motives both dubious and well-intentioned - launch propagandistic appeals. In Propaganda and American Democracy, eight writers explore various aspects of modern propaganda and its impact. Contributors include leading scholars in the field of propaganda studies.

With the first Fulbright grant for research in Iran to be awarded since the Iranian revolution in 1979, Anthropologist and professor Roxanne Varzi returned to the country her family left before the Iran-Iraq war. Drawing on ethnographic research she conducted in Tehran between 1991 and 2000, she provides an eloquent account of the beliefs and experiences of young, middle-class, urban Iranians.

Conspiracy theories are as old as politics. But conspiracists today have introduced something new - conspiracy without theory. And the new conspiracism has moved from the fringes to the heart of government with the election of Donald Trump. In A Lot of People Are Saying, Russell Muirhead and Nancy Rosenblum reveal how the new conspiracism differs from classic conspiracy theory, why so few officials speak truth to conspiracy, and what needs to be done to resist it.

Beginning with America’s first newspaper, investigative reporting has provided journalism with its most significant achievements and challenging controversies. In The Evolution of American Investigative Journalism, James L. Aucoin provides listeners with the first comprehensive history of investigative journalism.

From the single ladies of Beyoncé and Taylor Swift songs to Phoebe Waller-Bridge's irreverent television series Fleabag (2016–2019) to as far back as Miss Havisham in Great Expectations, the stereotype of the damaged single woman has long pervaded music, books, television, and Hollywood movies.

Wir beobachten Stars. Ihre Erfolge. Ihre Abstürze. Ihre Wiederauferstehungen. Wir beneiden und bemitleiden, supporten oder canceln, scrollen durch Kommentarspalten oder blättern durch Klatschmagazine. Dabei vergessen wir oft, dass Stars nicht im luftleeren Raum existieren. Sie sind nicht einfach nur talentiert, sondern werden geschaffen von PR-Strategen, Stylisten, mächtigen Hintermännern – und uns. Gizem Celik entschlüsselt das System dahinter. Was steckt hinter den Schlagzeilen? Wer profitiert? Und was sagt das über unsere Gesellschaft aus?

This audiobook is Summary and Analysis of How to Debate Leftists and Destroy Them: 11 Rules for Winning the Argument by Ben Shapiro. (Disclaimer: This is NOT the original book. If you’re looking for the original book, it is available from Amazon.) How does the Left WIN arguments? “All that matters is victory.” Conservatives seem to lose that message when they are so focused on their own message and cause, even becoming frustrated when nobody seems to actually care about what they care about.

Spätestens seit der Allianz von Donald Trump und Elon Musk ist klar: Die Tech-Milliardäre sind nicht nur die reichsten Männer der Welt, es geht ihnen auch um politische Macht und um die radikale Umgestaltung von Gesellschaft und Natur. Als Douglas Rushkoff eine Einladung in ein exklusives Wüstenresort erhält, nimmt er an, dass er dort über Zukunftstechnologien sprechen soll. Stattdessen sieht er sich Milliardären gegenüber, die ihn zu Luxusbunkern und Marskolonien befragen.

Americans are disgusted with watching politicians screaming and yelling at one another on television. But does all the noise really make a difference? Drawing on numerous studies, Diana Mutz provides the first comprehensive look at the consequences of in-your-face politics. Her book contradicts the conventional wisdom by documenting both the benefits and the drawbacks of in-your-face media.

Drachen, Riesenschlangen, Seeungeheuer, Einhörner, – Mythos oder längst vergessene Realität? Seit Anbeginn der Menschheit erzählen wir uns Geschichten von geheimnisvollen Kreaturen: majestätische Einhörner, feuerspeiende Drachen und Wesen jenseits unserer Vorstellungskraft. Abgetan als Märchen, Legenden oder bloße Fantasie – doch was, wenn das ein Irrtum ist? Was, wenn diese Erzählungen keine Erfindungen sind, sondern Fragmente einer Wahrheit, die über Generationen hinweg verschleiert wurde?

Misinformation isn’t just noise—it’s a strategic weapon used to sway elections, distort reality, and weaken democracy. Democracy Unveiled exposes the tactics behind political manipulation, revealing how digital platforms, media bias, and psychological tricks shape public perception. This book breaks down real-world examples from the 2024 election cycle, illustrating the growing influence of disinformation and providing listeners with the tools to think critically, identify deception, and protect democratic values.

Over the past generation, the Democratic and Republican parties have each become nationally coordinated political teams. American political institutions, on the other hand, remain highly decentralized. Laboratories against Democracy shows how national political conflicts are increasingly flowing through the subnational institutions of state politics—with profound consequences for public policy and American democracy.