Podcast appearances and mentions of Neil Postman

To celebrate our 2500th show, long time KEEN ON friend David Masciotra interviewed me about the current perilous situation in America. We discuss why I've renamed the show KEEN ON AMERICA and my thoughts on the U.S's increasingly pivotal role in 21st century history. We discuss America's changing "operating system" as it struggles to reinvent its 20th century industrial identity. We explore America's age old relationship between technology, entertainment, and politics, particularly in how Trump represents a kind of apotheosis of Neil Postman's warning about the convergence of politics and entertainment. I express ever so cautious optimism about America in 2025, highlighting the country's historic capacity for reinvention, self-creation and, above all, defiant resistance to the stupidity and evil of you-know-who. 5 TAKEAWAYS* I've renamed the show to "Keen on America" because I see America at the "cockpit of world history" in the 2020s, and I wants to focus on exploring American themes and the country's changing identity.* I see America as reinventing its "operating system" - moving beyond its 20th century identity while maintaining its uniquely American characteristics rather than becoming more like Europe.* As an immigrant, I value America as a place for continual reinvention and second chances, reversing Fitzgerald's infamous remark that "there are no second acts in American lives."* I have evolved from my earlier tech pessimism to cautious optimism about America's future, noting that historical periods of transition produce both "monsters" and "angels."* We discuss how Trump represents the complete convergence of politics and entertainment, where entertainment isn't just replacing serious discourse but becoming "the ontological reality" itself.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

In this conversation, Benjamin Quinn and Ivan Mesa delve into the implications of technology on the Christian life, particularly focusing on the phenomenon of doom scrolling. They explore Neil Postman's critiques of media consumption, the cultural shifts that have occurred since his time, and how these changes affect Christian discipleship. - Website: cfc.sebts.edu - Contact us: cfc.sebts.edu/about/contact-us/ - Support the work of the Center: cfc.sebts.edu/about/give/ All opinions and views expressed by guest speakers are solely their own. They do not speak for nor represent SEBTS. Read our expressed views and confessions: www.sebts.edu/about/what_we_believe.aspx

Theodore McCarrick has died, but the stains of his scandal live on. We talk with Matthew Bunson, and Nathaniel Peters dicusses how Neil Postman predicted America “amusing itself to death.”

Theodore McCarrick has died, but the stains of his scandal live on. We talk with Matthew Bunson, and Nathaniel Peters dicusses how Neil Postman predicted America “amusing itself to death.”

On today's episode, Phil Christman joins Josiah to discuss Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. They explore Postman's intellectual trajectory and legacy, as well as the broader media ecology movement. Did Postman predict Donald Trump? Is Postman a conservative? Would Postman have liked podcasts? All this and more on today's episode.Phil Christman's previous appearance on Fruitless: https://share.transistor.fm/s/e49b23bcPre-order Why Christians Should Be Leftists here: https://www.eerdmans.com/9780802884053/why-christians-should-be-leftists/Check out Phil Christman's Substack The Tourist: https://philipchristman.substack.com/Follow Phil on Bluesky @philipchristman.bsky.socialBecome a Fruitless Patron here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=11922141Check out Fruitless on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIZWDsDrQ0XvDQFWzE6s2ggFind more of Josiah's work: https://linktr.ee/josiahwsuttonFollow Josiah on Twitter @josiahwsuttonReferencesAmusing Ourselves to Death by Neil PostmanTechnopoly by Neil PostmanThe Medium is the Massage by Marshall McLuhan"The Media Ecologists," Phil Christman on Substack, https://philipchristman.substack.com/p/the-media-ecologists"You Don't Need a Postman To Know It's Mostly Junk Mail," Phil Christman on Substack, https://philipchristman.substack.com/p/you-dont-need-a-postman-to-know-itsTeaching as a Subversive Activity by Neil PostmanTeaching as a Conserving Activity by Neil PostmanThe Disappearance of Childhood by Neil PostmanThe Age of Missing Information by Bill McKibbenWNUF Halloween Special (2013, dir. Chris LaMartina)Ghostwatch (1992, dir, Lesley Manning)71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance (1994, dir. Michael Haneke)Benny's Video (1992, dir. Michael Haneke)Music & audio creditsSunflower (Prod. Lukrembo)Yesterday – bloom."Russia Invades Ukraine Sponsored By Applebee's - CNN Clip (February 24, 2022)," YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6QUsx68DCAIn My Dreams – bloom. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

On this episode of BMU, the guys discuss Marvin Sapp closing the doors of the church to raise a significant offering. The conversation considers the consequences of broadcasting church to the masses, how nuance can be lost in increasingly larger contexts, and what we mean by "authority" in the Christian context.Today's episode references an excellent book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, by Neil Postman.

On this episode of BMU, the guys discuss Marvin Sapp closing the doors of the church to raise a significant offering. The conversation considers the consequences of broadcasting church to the masses, how nuance can be lost in increasingly larger contexts, and what we mean by "authority" in the Christian context.Today's episode references an excellent book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, by Neil Postman.

Are we being controlled by fear or by pleasure? The boys drink and review an imperial pilsner, then discuss the contrasting visions of the future by Orwell and Huxley. P&C explore the strange relevance of 1984 and Brave New World -- from constant surveillance, censorship, and thought control, to mindless entertainment, dopamine addiction, and emotional infantilization. Both dystopian visions offer chilling insights into modern society. We break down the contrasting methods of control: Orwell's world of pain and suppression vs. Huxley's world of pleasure and distraction. Drawing from key quotes, real-world parallels, and cultural trends.

Episode Notes What could a book written about television forty years ago possibly have to teach us about living well and wisely in our world of smartphones, social media, and high-speed connectivity? According to the editors of Scrolling Ourselves to Death: Reclaiming Life in a Digital Age, a lot! In this episode, Brett McCracken and Dr. Ivan Mesa join Dr. Keith Plummer to discuss why Neil Postman's classic volume Amusing Ourselves to Death is still amazingly relevant and how they hope their project will help the body of Christ.

By Walt HickeyDouble feature today!Welcome to the Numlock Sunday edition.This week, I spoke to Alissa Wilkinson who is out with the brand new book, We Tell Ourselves Stories: Joan Didion and the American Dream Machine.I'm a huge fan of Alissa, she's a phenomenal critic and I thought this topic — what happens when one of the most important American literary figures heads out to Hollywood to work on the most important American medium — is super fascinating. It's a really wonderful book and if you're a longtime Joan Didion fan or simply a future Joan Didion fan, it's a look at a really transformative era of Hollywood and should be a fun read regardless.Alissa can be found at the New York Times, and the book is available wherever books are sold.This interview has been condensed and edited. All right, Alissa, thank you so much for coming on.Yeah, thanks for having me. It's good to be back, wherever we are.Yes, you are the author of We Tell Ourselves Stories: Joan Didion and the American Dream Machine. It's a really exciting book. It's a really exciting approach, for a Joan Didion biography and placing her in the current of American mainstream culture for a few years. I guess just backing out, what got you interested in Joan Didion to begin with? When did you first get into her work?Joan Didion and I did not become acquainted, metaphorically, until after I got out of college. I studied Tech and IT in college, and thus didn't read any books, because they don't make you read books in school, or they didn't when I was there. I moved to New York right afterward. I was riding the subway. There were all these ads for this book called The Year of Magical Thinking. It was the year 2005, the book had just come out. The Year of Magical Thinking is Didion's National Book Award-winning memoir about the year after her husband died, suddenly of a heart attack in '03. It's sort of a meditation on grief, but it's not really what that sounds like. If people haven't read it's very Didion. You know, it's not sentimental, it's constantly examining the narratives that she's telling herself about grief.So I just saw these ads on the walls. I was like, what is this book that everybody seems to be reading? I just bought it and read it. And it just so happened that it was right after my father, who was 46 at the time, was diagnosed with a very aggressive leukemia, and then died shortly thereafter, which was shocking, obviously. The closer I get to that age, it feels even more shocking that he was so young. I didn't have any idea how to process that emotion or experience. The book was unexpectedly helpful. But it also introduced me to a writer who I'd never read before, who felt like she was looking at things from a different angle than everyone else.Of course, she had a couple more books come out after that. But I don't remember this distinctly, but probably what happened is I went to some bookstore, The Strand or something, and bought The White Album and Slouching Towards Bethlehem off the front table as everyone does because those books have just been there for decades.From that, I learned more, starting to understand how writing could work. I didn't realize how form and content could interact that way. Over the years, I would review a book by her or about her for one publication or another. Then when I was in graduate school, getting my MFA in nonfiction, I wrote a bit about her because I was going through a moment of not being sure if my husband and I were going to stay in New York or we were going to move to California. They sort of obligate you to go through a goodbye to all that phase if you are contemplating that — her famous essay about leaving New York. And then, we did stay in New York City. But ultimately, that's 20 years of history.Then in 2020, I was having a conversation (that was quite-early pandemic) with my agent about possible books I might write. I had outlined a bunch of books to her. Then she was like, “These all sound like great ideas. But I've always wanted to rep a book on Joan Didion. So I just wanted to put that bug in your ear.” I was like, “Oh, okay. That seems like something I should probably do.”It took a while to find an angle, which wound up being Didion in Hollywood. This is mostly because I realized that a lot of people don't really know her as a Hollywood figure, even though she's a pretty major Hollywood figure for a period of time. The more of her work I read, the more I realized that her work is fruitfully understood as the work of a woman who was profoundly influenced by (and later thinking in terms of Hollywood metaphors) whether she was writing about California or American politics or even grief.So that's the long-winded way of saying I wasn't, you know, acquainted with her work until adulthood, but then it became something that became a guiding light for me as a writer.That's really fascinating. I love it. Because again I think a lot of attention on Didion has been paid since her passing. But this book is really exciting because you came at it from looking at the work as it relates to Hollywood. What was Didion's experience in Hollywood? What would people have seen from it, but also, what is her place there?The directly Hollywood parts of her life start when she's in her 30s. She and her husband — John Gregory Dunn, also a writer and her screenwriting partner — moved from New York City, where they had met and gotten married, to Los Angeles. John's brother, Nick Dunn later became one of the most important early true crime writers at Vanity Fair, believe it or not. But at the time, he was working as a TV producer. He and his wife were there. So they moved to Los Angeles. It was sort of a moment where, you know, it's all well and good to be a journalist and a novelist. If you want to support yourself, Hollywood is where it's at.So they get there at a moment when the business is shifting from these big-budget movies — the Golden Age — to the new Hollywood, where everything is sort of gritty and small and countercultural. That's the moment they arrive. They worked in Hollywood. I mean, they worked literally in Hollywood for many years after that. And then in Hollywood even when they moved back to New York in the '80s as screenwriters still.People sometimes don't realize that they wrote a bunch of produced screenplays. The earliest was The Panic in Needle Park. Obviously, they adapted Didion's novel Play It As It Lays. There are several others, but one that a lot of people don't realize they wrote was the version of A Star is Born that stars Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. It was their idea to shift the Star is Born template from Hollywood entities to rock stars. That was their idea. Of course, when Bradley Cooper made his version, he iterated on that. So their work was as screenwriters but also as figures in the Hollywood scene because they were literary people at the same time that they were screenwriters. They knew all the actors, and they knew all the producers and the executives.John actually wrote, I think, two of the best books ever written on Hollywood decades apart. One called The Studio, where he just roamed around on the Fox backlot. For a year for reasons he couldn't understand, he got access. That was right when the catastrophe that was Dr. Doolittle was coming out. So you get to hear the inside of the studio. Then later, he wrote a book called Monster, which is about their like eight-year long attempt to get their film Up Close and Personal made, which eventually they did. It's a really good look at what the normal Hollywood experience was at the time: which is like: you come up with an idea, but it will only vaguely resemble the final product once all the studios get done with it.So it's, it's really, that's all very interesting. They're threaded through the history of Hollywood in that period. On top of it for the book (I realized as I was working on it) that a lot of Didion's early life is influenced by especially her obsession with John Wayne and also with the bigger mythology of California and the West, a lot of which she sees as framed through Hollywood Westerns.Then in the '80s, she pivoted to political reporting for a long while. If you read her political writing, it is very, very, very much about Hollywood logic seeping into American political culture. There's an essay called “Inside Baseball” about the Dukakis campaign that appears in Political Fictions, her book that was published on September 11, 2001. In that book, she writes about how these political campaigns are directed and set up like a production for the cameras and how that was becoming not just the campaign, but the presidency itself. Of course, she had no use for Ronald Reagan, and everything she writes about him is very damning. But a lot of it was because she saw him as the embodiment of Hollywood logic entering the political sphere and felt like these are two separate things and they need to not be going together.So all of that appeared to me as I was reading. You know, once you see it, you can't unsee it. It just made sense for me to write about it. On top of it, she was still alive when I was writing the proposal and shopping it around. So she actually died two months after we sold the book to my publisher. It meant I was extra grateful for this angle because I knew there'd be a lot more books on her, but I wanted to come at it from an angle that I hadn't seen before. So many people have written about her in Hollywood before, but not quite through this lens.Yeah. What were some things that you discovered in the course of your research? Obviously, she's such an interesting figure, but she's also lived so very publicly that I'm just super interested to find out what are some of the things that you learned? It can be about her, but it can also be the Hollywood system as a whole.Yeah. I mean, I didn't interview her for obvious reasons.Understandable, entirely understandable.Pretty much everyone in her life also is gone with the exception really of Griffin Dunn, who is her nephew, John's nephew, the actor. But other than that, it felt like I needed to look at it through a critical lens. So it meant examining a lot of texts. A lot of Didion's magazine work (which was a huge part of her life) is published in the books that people read like Slouching Towards Bethlehem and The White Album and all the other books. What was interesting to me was discovering (I mean, not “discovering” because other people have read it) that there is some work that's not published and it's mostly her criticism.Most of that criticism was published in the late '50s and the early '60s when she was living in New York City, working at Vogue and trying to make it in the literary scene that was New York at that time, which was a very unique place. I mean, she was writing criticism and essays for both, you know, like National Review and The Nation at the same time, which was just hard to conceive of today. It was something you'd do back then. Yeah, wild stuff.A lot of that criticism was never collected into books. The most interesting is that she'd been working at Vogue for a long time in various positions, but she wound up getting added to the film critic column at Vogue in, '62, I want to say, although I might have that date slightly off. She basically alternated weeks with another critic for a few years, writing that until she started writing in movies proper. It's never a great idea to be a critic and a screenwriter at the same time.Her criticism is fascinating. So briefly, for instance, she shared that column with Pauline Kael. Pauline Kael became well known after she wrote about Bonnie and Clyde. This was prior to that. This is several years prior to that. They also hated each other for a long time afterward, which is funny, because, in some ways, their style is very different but their persona is actually very similar. So I wonder about that.But in any case, even when she wasn't sharing the column with Pauline Kael, it was a literal column in a magazine. So it's like one column of text, she can say barely anything. She was always a bit of a contrarian, but she was actively not interested in the things that were occupying New York critics at the time. Things like the Auteur Theory, what was happening in France, the downtown scene and the Shirley Clark's of the world. She had no use for it. At some point, she accuses Billy Wilder of having really no sense of humor, which is very funny.When you read her criticism, you see a person who is very invested in a classical notion of Hollywood as a place that shows us fantasies that we can indulge in for a while. She talks in her very first column about how she doesn't really need movies to be masterpieces, she just wants them to have moments. When she says moments, she means big swelling things that happen in a movie that make her feel things.It's so opposite, I think, to most people's view of Didion. Most people associate her with this snobbish elitism or something, which I don't think is untrue when we're talking about literature. But for her, the movies were like entertainment, and entering that business was a choice to enter that world. She wasn't attempting to elevate the discourse or something.I just think that's fascinating. She also has some great insights there. But as a film critic, I find myself disagreeing with most of her reviews. But I think that doesn't matter. It was more interesting to see how she conceived of the movies. There is a moment later on, in another piece that I don't think has been republished anywhere from the New York Review of Books, where she writes about the movies of Woody Allen. She hates them. It's right at the point where he's making like Manhattan and Annie Hall, like the good stuff. She just has no use for them. It's one of the funniest pieces. I won't spoil the ending because it's hilarious, and it's in the book.That writing was of huge interest to me and hasn't been republished in books. I was very grateful to get access to it, in part because it is in the archives — the electronic archives of the New York Public Library. But at the time, the library was closed. So I had to call the library and have a librarian get on Zoom with me for like an hour and a half to figure out how I could get in the proverbial back door of the library to get access while the library wasn't open.That's magnificent. That's such a cool way to go to the archives because some stuff just hasn't been published. If it wasn't digitized, then it's not digitized. That's incredible.Yeah, it's there, but you can barely print them off because they're in PDFs. They're like scanned images that are super high res, so the printer just dies when you try to print them. It's all very fascinating. I hope it gets republished at some point because I think there's enough interest in her work that it's fascinating to see this other aspect of her taste and her persona.It's really interesting that she seems to have wanted to meet the medium where it is, right? She wasn't trying to literary-up Hollywood. I mean, LA can be a bit of a friction. It's not exactly a literary town in the way that some East Coast metropolises can be. It is interesting that she was enamored by the movies. Do you want to speak about what things were like for her when she moved out?Yeah, it is funny because, at the same time, the first two movies that they wrote and produced are The Panic in Needle Park, which is probably the most new Hollywood movie you can imagine. It's about addicts at Needle Park, which is actually right where the 72nd Street subway stop is on the Upper West Side. If people have been there, it's hard to imagine. But that was apparently where they all sat around, and there were a lot of needles. It's apparently the first movie supposedly where someone shoots up live on camera.So it was the '70s. That's amazing.Yes, and it launched Al Pacino's film career! Yeah, it's wild. You watch it and you're just like, “How is this coming from the woman who's about all this arty farty stuff in the movies.” And Play It As It Lays has a very similar, almost avant-garde vibe to it. It's very, very interesting. You see it later on in the work that they made.A key thing to remember about them (and something I didn't realize before I started researching the book)was that Didion and Dunn were novelists who worked in journalism because everybody did. They wrote movies, according to them (you can only go off of what they said. A lot of it is John writing these jaunty articles. He's a very funny writer) because “we had tuition and a mortgage. This is how you pay for it.”This comes up later on, they needed to keep their WGA insurance because John had heart trouble. The best way to have health insurance was to remain in the Writers Guild. Remaining in the Writers Guild means you had to have a certain amount of work produced through union means. They were big union supporters. For them this was not, this was very strictly not an auteurist undertaking. This was not like, “Oh, I'm gonna go write these amazing screenplays that give my concept of the world to the audience.” It's not like Bonnie and Clyding going on here. It's very like, “We wrote these based on some stories that we thought would be cool.”I like that a lot. Like the idea that A Star is Born was like a pot boiler. That's really delightful.Completely. It was totally taken away from them by Streisand and John Peters at some point. But they were like, “Yeah, I mean, you know, it happens. We still got paid.”Yeah, if it can happen to Superman, it can happen to you.It happens to everybody, you know, don't get too precious about it. The important thing is did your novel come out and was it supported by its publisher?So just tracing some of their arcs in Hollywood. Obviously, Didion's one of the most influential writers of her generation, there's a very rich literary tradition. Where do we see her footprint, her imprint in Hollywood? What are some of the ways that we can see her register in Hollywood, or reverberate outside of it?In the business itself, I don't know that she was influential directly. What we see is on the outside of it. So a lot of people were friends. She was like a famous hostess, famous hostess. The New York Public Library archives are set to open at the end of March, of Didion and Dunn's work, which was like completely incidental to my publication date. I just got lucky. There's a bunch of screenplays in there that they worked on that weren't produced. There's also her cookbooks, and I'm very excited to go through those and see that. So you might meet somebody there.Her account of what the vibe was when the Manson murders occurred, which is published in her essay The White Album, is still the one people talk about, even though there are a lot of different ways to come at it. That's how we think about the Manson murders: through her lens. Later on, when she's not writing directly about Hollywood anymore (and not really writing in Hollywood as much) but instead is writing about the headlines, about news events, about sensationalism in the news, she becomes a great media critic. We start to see her taking the things that she learned (having been around Hollywood people, having been on movie sets, having seen how the sausage is made) and she starts writing about politics. In that age, it is Hollywood's logic that you perform for the TV. We have the debates suddenly becoming televised, the conventions becoming televised, we start to see candidates who seem specifically groomed to win because they look good on TV. They're starting to win and rule the day.She writes about Newt Gingrich. Of course, Gingrich was the first politician to figure out how to harness C-SPAN to his own ends — the fact that there were TV cameras on the congressional floor. So she's writing about all of this stuff at a time when you can see other people writing about it. I mean, Neil Postman famously writes about it. But the way Didion does it is always very pegged to reviewing somebody's book, or she's thinking about a particular event, or she's been on the campaign plane or something like that. Like she's been on the inside, but with an outsider's eye.That also crops up in, for instance, her essays. “Sentimental Journeys” is one of her most famous ones. That one's about the case of the Central Park Five, and the jogger who was murdered. Of course, now, we're many decades out from that, and the convictions were vacated. We know about coerced confessions. Also Donald Trump arrives in the middle of that whole thing.But she's actually not interested in the guilt or innocence question, because a lot of people were writing about that. She's interested in how the city of New York and the nation perform themselves for themselves, seeing themselves through the long lens of a movie and telling themselves stories about themselves. You see this over and over in her writing, no matter what she's writing about. I think once she moved away from writing about the business so much, she became very interested in how Hollywood logic had taken over American public life writ large.That's fascinating. Like, again, she spends time in the industry, then basically she can only see it through that lens. Of course, Michael Dukakis in a tank is trying to be a set piece, of course in front of the Berlin Wall, you're finally doing set decoration rather than doing it outside of a brick wall somewhere. You mentioned the New York thing in Performing New York. I have lived in the city for over a decade now. The dumbest thing is when the mayor gets to wear the silly jacket whenever there's a snowstorm that says “Mr. Mayor.” It's all an act in so many ways. I guess that political choreography had to come from somewhere, and it seems like she was documenting a lot of that initial rise.Yeah, I think she really saw it. The question I would ask her, if I could, is how cognizant she was that she kept doing that. As someone who's written for a long time, you don't always recognize that you have the one thing you write about all the time. Other people then bring it up to you and you're like, “Oh, I guess you're right.” Even when you move into her grief memoir phase, which is how I think about the last few original works that she published, she uses movie logic constantly in those.I mean, The Year of Magical Thinking is a cyclical book, she goes over the same events over and over. But if you actually look at the language she's using, she talks about running the tape back, she talks about the edit, she talks about all these things as if she's running her own life through how a movie would tell a story. Maybe she knew very deliberately. She's not a person who does things just haphazardly, but it has the feeling of being so baked into her psyche at this point that she would never even think of trying to escape it.Fascinating.Yeah, that idea that you don't know what you are potentially doing, I've thought about that. I don't know what mine is. But either way. It's such a cool way to look at it. On a certain level, she pretty much succeeded at that, though, right? I think that when people think about Joan Didion, they think about a life that freshens up a movie, right? Like, it workedVery much, yeah. I'm gonna be really curious to see what happens over the next 10 years or so. I've been thinking about figures like Sylvia Plath or women with larger-than-life iconography and reputation and how there's a constant need to relook at their legacies and reinvent and rethink and reimagine them. There's a lot in the life of Didion that I think remains to be explored. I'm really curious to see where people go with it, especially with the opening of these archives and new personal information making its way into the world.Yeah, even just your ability to break some of those stories that have been locked away in archives out sounds like a really exciting addition to the scholarship. Just backing out a little bit, we live in a moment in which the relationship between pop culture and political life is fairly directly intertwined. Setting aside the steel-plated elephant in the room, you and I are friendly because we bonded over this idea that movies really are consequential. Coming out of this book and coming out of reporting on it, what are some of the relevances for today in particular?Yeah, I mean, a lot more than I thought, I guess, five years ago. I started work on the book at the end of Trump One, and it's coming out at the beginning of Trump Two, and there was this period in the middle of a slightly different vibe. But even then I watch TikTok or whatever. You see people talk about “main character energy” or the “vibe shift” or all of romanticizing your life. I would have loved to read a Didion essay on the way that young people sort of view themselves through the logic of the screens they have lived on and the way that has shaped America for a long time.I should confirm this, I don't think she wrote about Obama, or if she did, it was only a little bit. So her political writing ends in George W. Bush's era. I think there's one piece on Obama, and then she's writing about other things. It's just interesting to think about how her ideas of what has happened to political culture in America have seeped into the present day.I think the Hollywood logic, the cinematic logic has given way to reality TV logic. That's very much the logic of the Trump world, right? Still performing for cameras, but the cameras have shifted. The way that we want things from the cameras has shifted, too. Reality TV is a lot about creating moments of drama where they may or may not actually exist and bombarding you with them. I think that's a lot of what we see and what we feel now. I have to imagine she would think about it that way.There is one interesting essay that I feel has only recently been talked about. It's at the beginning of my book, too. It was in a documentary, and Gia Tolentino wrote about it recently. It's this essay she wrote in 2000 about Martha Stewart and about Martha Stewart's website. It feels like the 2000s was like, “What is this website thing? Why are people so into it?” But really, it's an essay about parasocial relationships that people develop (with women in particular) who they invent stories around and how those stories correspond to greater American archetypes. It's a really interesting essay, not least because I think it's an essay also about people's parasocial relationships with Joan Didion.So the rise of her celebrity in the 21st century, where people know who she is and carry around a tote bag, but don't really know what they're getting themselves into is very interesting to me. I think it is also something she thought about quite a bit, while also consciously courting it.Yeah, I mean, that makes a ton of sense. For someone who was so adept at using cinematic language to describe her own life with every living being having a camera directly next to them at all times. It seems like we are very much living in a world that she had at least put a lot of thought into, even if the technology wasn't around for her to specifically address it.Yes, completely.On that note, where can folks find the book? Where can folks find you? What's the elevator pitch for why they ought to check this out? Joan Didion superfan or just rather novice?Exactly! I think this book is not just for the fans, let me put it that way. Certainly, I think anyone who considers themselves a Didion fan will have a lot to enjoy here. The stuff you didn't know, hadn't read or just a new way to think through her cultural impact. But also, this is really a book that's as much for people who are just interested in thinking about the world we live in today a little critically. It's certainly a biography of American political culture as much as it is of Didion. There's a great deal of Hollywood history in there as well. Thinking about that sweep of the American century and change is what the book is doing. It's very, very, very informed by what I do in my day job as a movie critic at The New York Times. Thinking about what movies mean, what do they tell us about ourselves? I think this is what this book does. I have been told it's very fun to read. So I'm happy about that. It's not ponderous at all, which is good. It's also not that long.It comes out March 11th from Live Right, which is a Norton imprint. There will be an audiobook at the end of May that I am reading, which I'm excited about. And I'll be on tour for a large amount of March on the East Coast. Then in California, there's a virtual date, and there's a good chance I'll be popping up elsewhere all year, too. Those updates will be on my social feeds, which are all @alissawilkinson on whatever platform except X, which is fine because I don't really post there anymore.Alyssa, thank you so much for coming on.Thank you so much.Edited by Crystal Wang.If you have anything you'd like to see in this Sunday special, shoot me an email. Comment below! Thanks for reading, and thanks so much for supporting Numlock.Thank you so much for becoming a paid subscriber! Send links to me on Twitter at @WaltHickey or email me with numbers, tips or feedback at walt@numlock.news. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.numlock.com/subscribe

After we finished up The Power Broker, a bunch of people were asking us what other books we'd been reading. A group of us got together and presented some of our recent favorites, and the choices were so good and surprising and charming, we're now sharing it widely.Here are the books covered in this episode:Lasha's book: Usha's Pickle Digest by Usha R PrabakaranChris's books: What It Takes by Richard Ben Cramer (and The Power Broker by Robert Caro

On Culture Friday, John Stonestreet says Neil Postman was right about public discourse and show business, Arsenio Orteza reviews a handful of new recordings worthy of consideration, and Ask the Editor for the month of March. Plus, the Friday morning newsSupport The World and Everything in It today at wng.org/donateAdditional support comes from Covenant College in Georgia, providing an uncompromising biblical education where students explore calling and career. More at covenant.edu/WORLDAnd from The New Living Translation. Accurate, understandable, and audibly enjoyable. NewLivingTranslation.com

Few thinkers were as prescient about the role technology would play in our society as the late, great Neil Postman. Forty years ago, Postman warned about all the ways modern communication technology was fragmenting our attention, overwhelming us into apathy, and creating a society obsessed with image and entertainment. He warned that “we are a people on the verge of amusing ourselves to death.” Though he was writing mostly about TV, Postman's insights feel eerily prophetic in our age of smartphones, social media, and AI. In this episode, Tristan explores Postman's thinking with Sean Illing, host of Vox's The Gray Area podcast, and Professor Lance Strate, Postman's former student. They unpack how our media environments fundamentally reshape how we think, relate, and participate in democracy - from the attention-fragmenting effects of social media to the looming transformations promised by AI. This conversation offers essential tools that can help us navigate these challenges while preserving what makes us human.Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on X: @HumaneTech_RECOMMENDED MEDIA“Amusing Ourselves to Death” by Neil Postman (PDF of full book)”Technopoly” by Neil Postman (PDF of full book) A lecture from Postman where he outlines his seven questions for any new technology. Sean's podcast “The Gray Area” from Vox Sean's interview with Chris Hayes on “The Gray Area” Further reading on mirror bacteriaRECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES'A Turning Point in History': Yuval Noah Harari on AI's Cultural Takeover This Moment in AI: How We Got Here and Where We're GoingDecoding Our DNA: How AI Supercharges Medical Breakthroughs and Biological Threats with Kevin Esvelt Future-proofing Democracy In the Age of AI with Audrey TangCORRECTION:  Each debate between Lincoln and Douglas was 3 hours, not 6 and they took place in 1859, not 1862.

Guido Vitiello"Joker scatenato"Il lato oscuro della comicitàGramma Feltrinelliwww.feltrinellieditore.itPer più di mezzo secolo abbiamo considerato il divertimento, la comicità e l'umorismo come strumenti di pacificazione sociale. Nel 1985 un pamphlet del critico americano Neil Postman, Divertirsi da morire, annunciava che grazie alla droga della tv commerciale eravamo ormai entrati in un “mondo nuovo” ilare e rincretinito profetizzato dallo scrittore Aldous Huxley.Poi però è successo qualcosa di imprevisto. La nostra è tuttora una società del divertimento, ma la comicità non è più soltanto un innocuo gas esilarante: è l'arma con cui si combattono duelli politici all'ultimo sangue e guerre culturali ferocissime. Un umorismo cinico e sarcastico si è impadronito del discorso pubblico. Il re e il suo buffone si cambiano continuamente di posto: i leader politici adottano uno stile da stand-up comedy e i comici avviano inopinate carriere politiche. Una frangia della sinistra americana ha scatenato una war on jokes moralizzatrice, e la comicità si va spostando a destra. Dai bassifondi della rete è emersa la troll culture, con il suo sarcasmo nichilistico e sottilmente sociopatico, e ha trovato una consonanza entusiastica con il ritorno trionfale di Donald Trump – battezzato non per caso Troll-in-Chief dalla stampa americana – alla Casa Bianca.Guido Vitiello tenta di decifrare questo carnevale perpetuo rivisitando alcuni passaggi cruciali nella storia sociale dell'umorismo. A fargli da guida in questo inferno sghignazzante è la figura di Joker, l'antieroe della saga di Batman, le cui successive metamorfosi hanno rispecchiato fin dagli anni quaranta le diverse fasi del nostro rapporto con il “lato oscuro della farsa” e con il nesso ineludibile tra comicità e violenza. Nelle sue ultime incarnazioni, dal Cavaliere oscuro di Christopher Nolan al Joker di Todd Phillips, il supervillain ha assunto i tratti sinistramente convergenti del terrorista e dello stand-up comedian. Scappato, dopo decenni, dalla gabbia dorata dell'egemonia televisiva, soporifera ma universalistica, si è mescolato tra le bande identitarie dei social network, che si sbranano a colpi di risate.Guido Vitiello è nato a Napoli ma vive e lavora a Roma. Scrive per “Il Foglio”, curando la rubrica Il Bi e il Ba. Ha collaborato per anni con il “Corriere della Sera” (“La Lettura”) e “Il Sole 24 Ore” (“IL Magazine”). Insegna Teorie del cinema e dell'audiovisivo alla Sapienza di Roma. Ha pubblicato, per Adelphi, Una visita al Bates Motel (2019); per Einaudi, Il lettore sul lettino. Tic, manie e stravaganze di chi ama i libri (2021).IL POSTO DELLE PAROLEascoltare fa pensarewww.ilpostodelleparole.itDiventa un supporter di questo podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/il-posto-delle-parole--1487855/support.

In this insightful episode, Chad engages with Bob Hutchins, an expert in marketing communications and organizational psychology. Bob shares his unique journey from running a successful digital marketing agency to pursuing a PhD that intersects generative AI, creativity, and human meaning-making. The conversation delves into the concept of media ecology, as influenced by thinkers like Neil Postman and Marshall McLuhan, exploring how new media environments affect human behavior. Discussing the phenomenon of media trauma, Bob highlights the compound impacts of consuming traumatic events through screens. The dialogue then shifts to how AI and technology can both challenge our sense of human identity and offer opportunities for deeper human connection and creativity. Bob emphasizes the importance of AI literacy and proactive human-centered approaches as we navigate the evolving technological landscape.High Notes:00:42 The Intersection of Marketing and Psychology02:45 Generative AI and Human Behavior05:47 Media Ecology and Neil Postman's Influence11:23 Understanding Media Trauma21:39 Balancing Technology and Humanity27:26 Ethical Marketing: Beyond Manipulation28:14 Empathy in AI Education: A Personal Story32:42 Navigating the AI Landscape: Red Box Era33:46 AI and Human Flourishing: Opportunities and Challenges43:40 The Future of Creativity in the Age of AI45:03 Redefining Human Identity and Creativity47:20 The Evolution of Work and Meaning52:34 Concluding Thoughts and ReflectionsMore about Bob: Bob Hutchins, MSc. is a marketing and communication strategist, author, and speaker with a master's degree in behavioral and organizational psychology and ongoing PhD research focused on generative AI and its effects on human creativity and meaning-making. Co-author of Our Digital Soul and Finally Human, he explores how technology shapes human behavior, connection, and well-being. With decades of experience in marketing, machine learning and media, Bob helps individuals and organizations navigate the digital world with intention and authenticity.Subscribe now for practical tips on managing stress and achieving a balanced life.Unlock your mental and emotional wellbeing with Emma. Emma is your emotional and mental wellbeing available to everyone. You'll wonder where she's been all your life. Want to give us some love but don't know how? Leave us a review and subscribe on Apple iTunes or Subscribe on Spotify! Mentioned in this episode:Try Emma for Free Right NowGo to Emma at MyEmmaAi.com and sign up for a free trial.

s technology shaping us more than we realize? Are we losing our ability to rest, reflect, and be present? In this episode of Thinking Christian, Dr. James Spencer sits down with Dr. Felicia Wu Song, sociologist and author of Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence, and Place in the Digital Age (InterVarsity Press). They explore how digital technology influences our sense of self, why constant connectivity isn’t neutral, and how Christians can resist being shaped by algorithms instead of by God.

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 408, and my in-depth interview with Lance Strare about his new book, Not A, Not Be &C. Relevant links: Get a copy of Not A, Not Be &C Come see Lance, Thom Gencarelli, and me talking about Lance's book at The Players in Manhattan on 19 February 2025 at 6pm.  More information about this book launch, including FREE registration, here Frank LoBuono's Facebook page -- where he will be live streaming the dramatic reading from my novel, It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles, taking place at Big Red Books in Nyack, NY, 23 February 2025.

Máme zde novou menšinu? Někteří sociologové mají za to, že ano. Kdysi to menšina nebyla, ale časy se mění. Přelomový byl rok 2018, kdy bylo poprvé na světě více lidí nad 65 než pod 5 let. Ano, zmíněnou menšinou jsou děti. Třeba německý sociolog Aladin El-Mafaalani má za to, že daná skupina již vykazuje i jiné „menšinové“ rysy než to, že je malá. Dětem se přestává dařit.  El Mafaalani studuje tyto okolnosti na západních státech – všímá si, že se zhoršuje psychické zdraví dětí, ale rovněž jejich kompetence. Podle měření dosahují horších výsledků než jejich předchůdci, propadají se zvláště v gramotnosti. Ve vztahu k německým dětem hovoří El Mafaalani dokonce o „dezolátním“ vývoji. Pokles kompetencí lze doložit i pro Českou republiku. Národní zpráva České školní inspekce hovoří o propadu mezi lety o 2003 a 2022 o 29 bodů; zmiňuje však poklesy většiny zúčastněných států.Autor knihyDěti. Menšina bez ochrany samozřejmě dodává obligátní odkaz na digitální média a nadmíru informací, které jsou děti vystaveny, aniž by byly dostatečně zralé na její zpracování. To může být jeden důvod pro dětský propad, ale sociolog upozorňuje ještě na jiný problém. Děti jsme sevřely institucemi: stále dříve nastupují do institucí, tráví v nich neúměrně velkou část dne a stále později je opouštějí. Od raného věku pomalu do třicítky tráví čas ve vzdělávacích institucích. Přitom máme důvody si myslet, že západní školství zaostává. Je dobré, aby trávily tolik času ve škole? Na základě současných výzkumů ukazuje autorka podcastu Tereza Matějčková, že se navíc rozpadl příslib, který platil po většinu druhé poloviny dvacátého století. Budeš-li se učit, nemusíš se budoucnosti bát. Ani v zemích se silnou ekonomikou se počet pracovních míst vyžadujících vysokou kvalifikaci nezvyšuje stejným tempem jako počet absolventů vysokých škol, poznamenává třeba Doris Bühler-Niederbergerová zabývající se sociologií dětství. Ostatně ani v Česku není nijak výjimečné, že manuální pracovník vydělává více než vysoce kvalifikovaný člověk s několika tituly. Ideál vzdělanosti tím samozřejmě otřesen není: nevzděláváme se jen pro trh a dobré zaměstnání. Nadále navíc platí, že vzdělaní lidé uplatnění nacházejí, ale rozhodně již není jedinou ani zaručenou cestou k úspěchu. KapitolyI. Padl příslib (formálního) vzdělání? Nebo jen škobrtnul? [úvod až 12:20]II. Zlatá doba dětství – a její pád [12:20 až 21:00]III. Opravdu doba temného dětství? [21:00 až 27:00]IV. Hra je vlastní prací dítěte [27:00 až 39:10]V. Filosofie a dětství [39:10 až konec]BibliografiePhilippe Ariès,L'enfant et la vie familiale sous l'Ancien Régime, Paris: Plon, 1960.Doris Bühler-Niederbergerová, „Das Ende der Geschichte? Gegenwart der Kinder oder Zukunft der Gesellschaft“, in: Johannes Drerup, Gottfried Schweiger,Philosophie der Kindheit, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 2023.Simona Boudová, Vladislav Tomášek, Barbora Halbová, „Národní zpráva PISA 2022“, Česká školní inspekce, Praha 2023, https://www.csicr.cz/CSICR/media/Prilohy/2023_přílohy/Mezinárodní%20šetření/PISA_2022_e-verze-9.pdfDavid Havelka, „Jako bychom zrušili dětský svět“, in:Echoprime, 17. 1. 2025, https://www.echoprime.cz/a/HVG2a/jako-bychom-zrusili-detsky-svetImmanuel Kant, Über Pädagogik, Königsberg 1803, https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Über_Pädagogik. El Mefaalani, Sebastian Kurtenbach, Klaus Peter,Kinder Minderheit ohne Schutz, Kiepenheuer Witsch, 2025.Neil Postman,The Disappearance of Childhood, New York: Delacrote Press, 1982.Jean-Jacques Rousseau,Emile où de l'education, Paris: Flammarion, 2010.Tamara Schapiro, „Was ist ein Kind?“, in: Johannes Drerup, Gottfried Schweiger,Philosophie der Kindheit, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 2023.

In his third appearance on The Human Voice, media theorist and science fiction author Paul Levinson shares a fascinating conversation about the timeless relevance of media ecology, technology's role in human progress, and the myths surrounding information overload. Paul reflects on his seminal 1996 article On Behalf of Humanity and its argument that the issue isn't too much information but a lack of organizational tools.   Drawing connections between historical innovations and today's AI landscape, Paul explores the concept of “remedial media”—new technologies that solve problems created by previous ones—and how it applies to challenges like algorithmic bias and deep fakes. From his collaborations with media icons Neil Postman and Marshall McLuhan to his optimistic vision for technology as a force for good, Paul offers insights that resonate across decades.   The episode wraps up with Paul's thoughts on techno-pessimism, the power of storytelling, and a fun recommendation for mystery fans: A Perfect Couple. He also highlights his recent alternate history book, Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles, imagining a world where John Lennon was never assassinated.   Key Topics Covered: • Information overload vs. information organization • Remedial media as a framework for technological progress • AI, digital watermarks, and the future of human-machine collaboration • Why techno-pessimism often gains more attention • Recommendations for media and books   Tune in for a thought-provoking discussion that spans history, technology, and the enduring human connection to media.

In this episode, Jerry and Stably discuss The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America by Daniel J. Boorstin, a book that explores the construction of unreality in American media and culture. Jerry introduces the book as his pick and notes its thematic resonance with previous discussions, particularly those around Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death. The hosts agree that Boorstin's work predates many of Postman's arguments and, in some ways, anticipates the cultural shift toward media-driven realities.Stably and Jerry unpack Boorstin's central argument that American culture increasingly operates within “mirrors upon mirrors of unreality,” where pseudo-events—artificial happenings staged for media consumption—dominate public perception. Boorstin, writing in the late 1950s and early 1960s, critiques how society becomes incentivized to embrace these fabricated realities, constructing what Jerry calls “castles in the air.” This critique extends across multiple facets of public life, including politics, advertising, and entertainment, all of which blur the line between authenticity and illusion.The discussion touches on Boorstin's seemingly conservative perspective, as he neither explicitly condemns the shift toward pseudo-events nor advocates for a return to a previous era. Instead, he opts to describe the phenomenon with striking clarity, allowing the implications to speak for themselves. This ambiguity prompts Jerry to reflect on Boorstin's ultimate goals or desired outcomes, noting that while the book is critical, it refrains from offering solutions or alternatives.Stably and Jerry also draw connections between Boorstin's work and Marshall McLuhan's theories on media, highlighting the shared observation of media as an environment that reshapes human experience. They discuss how Boorstin's observations remain relevant, despite the book's age, as contemporary media landscapes have only amplified the prevalence and impact of pseudo-events.Throughout the conversation, the hosts emphasize the enduring value of Boorstin's analysis, particularly in an era where digital media and social platforms further complicate notions of authenticity. They reflect on specific examples of pseudo-events in modern society, noting parallels to Boorstin's original case studies and illustrating how the themes of the book continue to manifest today.By the end of the episode, Jerry and Stably underscore the significance of The Image as a foundational critique of media culture. While Boorstin stops short of prescribing change, his work serves as a powerful lens for examining how societies construct and consume manufactured realities. The hosts conclude with a shared appreciation for Boorstin's prescient insights, leaving listeners with a deeper understanding of the book's arguments and their implications for contemporary life.

This election felt like the peak of the TV-ification of politics. There's Trump, of course, who rose to national prominence as a reality-TV character and is a master of visual stagecraft. And while Trump's cabinet picks in his first term were described as out of central casting, this time he wants to staff some positions directly from the worlds of TV and entertainment: Pete Hegseth, his choice to run the Pentagon, was a host on “Fox and Friends Weekend”; his proposed education secretary, Linda McMahon, was the former C.E.O. of W.W.E.; Mehmet Oz, star of the long-running “The Dr. Oz Show,” is his pick to run Medicare and Medicaid; and he's tapped Elon Musk, one of the most powerful figures in American culture, to lead a government efficiency effort. Two years ago, we released an episode that helps explain why politics and entertainment are converging like this. It's with my old Vox colleague Sean Illing, host of “The Gray Area,” looking at the work of two media theorists, Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman, who uncannily predicted what we're seeing now decades ago.And so I wanted to share this episode again now, because it's really worth stepping back and looking at this moment through the lens of the media that's shaping it. In his book “The Paradox of Democracy,” Illing and his co-author, Zac Gershberg, put it this way: “It's better to think of democracy less as a government type and more as an open communicative culture.” So what does our communicative culture — our fragmented mix of cable news, X, TikTok, YouTube, WhatsApp and podcasts — mean for our democracy? This episode contains strong language.Mentioned:“‘Flood the zone with shit': How misinformation overwhelmed our democracy” by Sean Illing“Quantifying partisan news diets in Web and TV audiences” by Daniel Muise, Homa Hosseinmardi, Baird Howland, Markus Mobius, David Rothschild and Duncan J. WattsBook Recommendations:Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil PostmanPublic Opinion by Walter LippmannMediated by Thomas de ZengotitaThoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Rogé Karma. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris, Rollin Hu, Mary Marge Locker and Kate Sinclair. Mixing by Sonia Herrero, Carole Sabouraud and Isaac Jones. Our production team also includes Elias Isquith, Kristin Lin, Jack McCordick and Aman Sahota. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Have a question you want answered? Submit it here!What if the digital world was costing us more than we realized? In this episode, we sit down with Chris Martin, an insightful author who has navigated the depths of social media's real costs. Chris shares his journey of writing a thought-provoking book during the pandemic, drawing from his rich experiences in social media roles at Lifeway and Moody Publishers. Together, we explore how his upbringing in a tech-savvy household shaped his perspectives, and what compelled him to question the societal impact of social media so deeply.Our conversation takes a fascinating turn as we ponder how media critic Neil Postman might critique today's digital landscape, especially from a Christian viewpoint. We chart the evolution of the social internet, reminiscing about AOL trial disks and MySpace days, while unpacking how modern platforms have shifted societal norms toward valuing affirmation over truth. The discussion extends to the ethical implications of social media's addictive designs and their effects on mental health, illustrating a nuanced portrayal of our digital lives.As we peer into the future, the concept of the metaverse emerges, raising questions about the balance between virtual and authentic human connections. Chris and I discuss the potential for technology to both enhance and hinder intimacy, while considering society's possible rejection of tools that fail to deliver on meaningful interactions. Through reflections on Bo Burnham's creative critiques and personal anecdotes, we encourage listeners to prioritize offline experiences and nurture real-life relationships. Join us on Twitter as we continue this important dialogue and explore the themes of Chris Martin's book, "Terms of Service: The Real Cost of Social Media."Your Host: Kimberly Beam Holmes, Expert in Self-Improvement and RelationshipsKimberly Beam Holmes has applied her master's degree in psychology for over ten years, acting as the CEO of Marriage Helper & CEO and Creator of PIES University, being a wife and mother herself, and researching how attraction affects relationships. Her videos, podcasts, and following reach over 500,000 people a month who are making changes and becoming the best they can be.

Matthew Syed asks what it means to be distracted in a media world vying for our attention.In this first episode, he seeks answers in the work of the media theorist and educator Neil Postman. Forty years ago Postman wrote 'Amusing Ourselves To Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business'. Postman feared that the rise of television had created a world where the image became more important than information, and that democracy was in danger to becoming entertainment.Postman cited the author Aldous Huxley as a key influence. Huxley's novel 'Brave New World' depicts a World State where citizens are engineered to focus on pleasure rather than the challenges of life and society. Huxley feared that tyranny may appear not through censorship, but due to "man's almost infinite appetite for distractions."Matthew speaks to Andrew Postman, Neil Postman's son, and Aldous Huxley's biographer Uwe Rasch, to ask what the ideas of the two writers might mean for us today, in a world where media and entertainment are at our fingertips 24/7. Has the prophecy of either Postman or Huxley come to pass?Presenter: Matthew Syed Producer: Sam Peach

Matthew Syed asks what it means to be distracted in a media world vying for our attention.In this episode Matthew traces the inexorable rise of shortform video and investigates its success. He asks what the increasing popularity of this type of media might mean for our attention and finds out about the people using for purposes that may have surprised Neil Postman.Apps such as Tik Tok, Youtube and Snapchat are ubiquitous and for many have become the chief way that they consume media. What does watching shorter videos mean for the content, and how do these apps change our habits and possibly, our brains? The popularity of this medium has driven traditional institutions that are concerned with public affairs to embrace shortform video. So what's the result? Matthew finds out.Contributors:Dr Zoetanya Sujon, University of the Arts London Dave Jorgenson, Senior Video Journalist, Washington Post. Communications and Media Society, University of LiverpoolPresenter: Matthew Syed Producer: Sam Peach

In this episode, Dr. Groothius discusses four influential books that shaped his philosophical perspective. "The God Who Is There" by Francis Schaeffer introduced him to the importance of Christian worldview and apologetics. Blaise Pascal's unfinished work, "Pensées," deepened his understanding of human nature and the Christian view of humanity. C.S. Lewis's "The Abolition of Man" emphasized the necessity of objective moral values. Lastly, Neil Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death" highlighted the impact of media on culture. Royce emphasizes the integration of these works with the Bible in shaping his worldview. Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D., is Distinguished University Research Professor of Apologetics and Christian Worldview at Cornerstone University and the author of twenty books, including Beyond the Wager: The Christian Brilliance of Blaise Pascal (InterVarsity, 2024). Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Join the #McConnellCenter as we host Dr. John Kleber for a conversation regarding the work of Neil Postman. Now one of Kentucky's most respected historians, John Kleber was a member of the third graduating class of Trinity High School in 1959. Four years later he earned a history BA at Bellarmine College, graduating summa cum laude. By 1969, Kleber had earned his Master's degree and PhD from the University of Kentucky. At Morehead State University, he became associate professor of history, director of the Academic Honors Program, and dean of the Caudill College of Humanities. He is the editor of The Kentucky Encyclopedia and The Encyclopedia of Louisville. We all know we need to read more and there are literally millions of books on shelves with new ones printed every day. How do we sort through all the possibilities to find the book that is just right for us now? Well, the McConnell Center is bringing authors and experts to inspire us to read impactful and entertaining books that might be on our shelves or in our e-readers, but which we haven't yet picked up. We hope you learn a lot in the following podcast and we hope you might be inspired to pick up one or more of the books we are highlighting this year at the University of Louisville's McConnell Center. Stay Connected Visit us at McConnellcenter.org Subscribe to our newsletter  Facebook: @mcconnellcenter Instagram: @ulmcenter  Twitter: @ULmCenter This podcast is a production of the McConnell Center

"Children enter school as questions marks," Neil Postman chastised, "and they leave school as periods." What is happening in the scholastic environment to crush intrigue? Developmentalists have shown that children have what is known as epistemic curiosity, a need for understanding. But when they enter a traditional school environment, their question rate drops from one every two minutes to less than one every two hours. Modern education is not inspiring curiosity; it's undermining it, silencing it. Join Dr. Dunne on today's show as we unpack the value of a question, and learn how you can stoke the fires of curiosity by utilizing the Socratic method with your children, grandchildren, college students, and employees. Learn more about CVCU's signature Socratic method at CVCU.us. 

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 396, in which I interview Bob Hutchins about AI.  My guess is you'll find this discussion much more optimistic about AI than what you'll usually hear. Discussed or mentioned in this interview: "On Behalf of Humanity: The Technological Edge" my 1996 article The Media Ecology Association New Explorations: Studies in Culture and Communication my review of Confronting the Presidents    

Paris Marx is joined by Karl Bode to discuss how Mark Zuckerberg's makeover and the PR campaign that's accompanied it shouldn't distract from the ongoing harms of his company.Karl Bode is a freelance tech journalist and consumer rights reporter.Tech Won't Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode:Paris wrote about the problem with the “Zuckessance” for Disconnect.The New York Times published an article about the political evolution of Mark Zuckerberg.Facebook's Free Basics was widely called out for being a form of digital colonialism.Joel Kaplan was a key figure within Facebook defending right-wing content from effective moderation.Neil Postman wrote the book Amusing Ourselves to Death in 1985.Support the show

In the debut episode of RatSec 2.1, Scott sat down with his Lawfare colleagues Kevin Frazier, Eugenia Lostri, and Benjamin Wittes to talk over the week's big national security news, including:“I Have Concepts of a Segment Topic.” On Tuesday, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump faced off in what might end up being the only presidential debate between the two candidates in the 2024 election. What did it tell us about how national security is figuring into this election? “Running Political Interference Interference.” The Justice Department has been very busy these past few weeks, bringing an array of indictments and enforcement actions against various Russian actors and their proxies for spreading misinformation, surreptitiously funding political commentary, and otherwise attempting to interfere in the upcoming 2024 elections. What explains this sudden wave of activity so close to the election? And what threats are still hanging out there?“Never Forgot.” Twenty-three years have passed since the unprecedented terrorist attacks of 9/11. In many ways, they redefined the trajectory of U.S. national security policy (and politics) for decades. But today, the United States has shifted focus to a very different set of challenges. What is the legacy of 9/11 more than two decades after the attacks? For object lessons, Kevin readied our listeners for depression before recommending Neil Postman's new book, “Amusing Ourselves to Death.” Ben endorsed the documentary Man on Wire as his favorite movie about 9/11, in part because it has nothing to do with 9/11. Scott urged D.C.-area residents not to sleep on the sublime joys of an outdoor show at Wolf Trap while the weather is still nice. And Eugenia shed her video game label to throw her support behind James Cameron's latest maritime adventure, the (weirdly mutant-free) sea exploration documentary series OceanXplorers.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the debut episode of RatSec 2.1, Scott sat down with his Lawfare colleagues Kevin Frazier, Eugenia Lostri, and Benjamin Wittes to talk over the week's big national security news, including:“I Have Concepts of a Segment Topic.” On Tuesday, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump faced off in what might end up being the only presidential debate between the two candidates in the 2024 election. What did it tell us about how national security is figuring into this election? “Running Political Interference Interference.” The Justice Department has been very busy these past few weeks, bringing an array of indictments and enforcement actions against various Russian actors and their proxies for spreading misinformation, surreptitiously funding political commentary, and otherwise attempting to interfere in the upcoming 2024 elections. What explains this sudden wave of activity so close to the election? And what threats are still hanging out there?“Never Forgot.” Twenty-three years have passed since the unprecedented terrorist attacks of 9/11. In many ways, they redefined the trajectory of U.S. national security policy (and politics) for decades. But today, the United States has shifted focus to a very different set of challenges. What is the legacy of 9/11 more than two decades after the attacks? For object lessons, Kevin readied our listeners for depression before recommending Neil Postman's new book, “Amusing Ourselves to Death.” Ben endorsed the documentary Man on Wire as his favorite movie about 9/11, in part because it has nothing to do with 9/11. Scott urged D.C.-area residents not to sleep on the sublime joys of an outdoor show at Wolf Trap while the weather is still nice. And Eugenia shed her video game label to throw her support behind James Cameron's latest maritime adventure, the (weirdly mutant-free) sea exploration documentary series OceanXplorers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the first segment Rev. Sam Schuldheisz teaches us more about the redeemed imagination. During the rest of the show Pastor Bramwell goes back to a conversation on technology in order to think through the characteristics of the loving resistance fighter as detailed by Neil Postman in Technopoly. Find this book at Amazon.com. This program originally aired February 22, 2021.

Major Garrett is chief Washington correspondent for CBS News, and as he told me in our conversation, he is an "accidental television journalist" who "never imagined" working in TV and "never wanted it." He was a print reporter for 17 years before entering the world of television. Since then, he's proven to be one of the most formidable, best prepared interviewers in journalism. This dude is rigorous, smart, and fun! And you know what? Damn it, he cares. Major is the host of The Takeout podcast and author of five books, including The Big Truth: Upholding Democracy in the Age of the Big Lie, and Mr. Trump's Wild Ride: The Thrills, Chills, Screams, and Occasional Blackouts of an Extraordinary Presidency. Major read Amusing Ourselves to Death in the 1990's. He then soon after became a TV reporter for CNN, where he spent two years before moving to the then-nascent Fox News, where he became a Washington fixture as White House correspondent. That's where he was when I met him during my time as a White House correspondent for The Washington Times. I was glad, as I told him, that Major has a textured view of Postman's work. I didn't want a cheerleader. But Major talks about the impact of the work on him, his views of its shortcomings, and its lasting value.

We commonly think of trolls as anonymous online pranksters who hide behind clever avatars and screen names. In Trolling Ourselves to Death: Democracy in the Age of Social Media (Oxford UP, 2024), Jason Hannan reveals how the trolls have emerged from the cave and now walk in the clear light of day. Once limited to the darker corners of the internet, trolls have since gone mainstream, invading our politics and eroding our civic culture. Trolls are changing the norms of democratic politics and shaping how we communicate in the public sphere. Adding a twist to Neil Postman's classic thesis, this book argues that we are not so much amusing as trolling ourselves to death. But how did this come to be? Is this transformation attributable solely to digital technology? Or are there deeper political, economic, and cultural roots?  This book moves beyond the familiar picture of trolls by recasting trolling in a broader historical light. It shows how trolling is the logical expression of widespread alienation, cynicism, and paranoia deeply rooted in a culture of possessive individualism. Drawing from Postman, Alasdair MacIntyre, Karl Marx, and Hannah Arendt, this book explores the disturbing rise of political unreason in the form of mass trolling. It explains the proliferation of disinformation, conspiracy theory, "cancel culture," and public shaming. Taking inspiration from G. F. W. Hegel, Paulo F reire, and bell hooks, this book makes a case for building a spirit of trust to counter the culture of mass distrust that feeds the epidemic of political trolling. Dr. Jason Hannan is Professor in the Department of Rhetoric, Writing, and Communications at the University of Winnipeg. He is the author of Trolling Ourselves to Death: Democracy in the Age of Social Media (Oxford University Press, 2023) and the editor of Meatsplaining: The Animal Agriculture Industry and the Rhetoric of Denial (Sydney University Press, 2020). His current book project is Reactionary Speech: Conservatism and the Rhetoric of Denial. Dr. Michael LaMagna is the Information Literacy Program & Library Services Coordinator and Professor of Library Services at Delaware County Community College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

We commonly think of trolls as anonymous online pranksters who hide behind clever avatars and screen names. In Trolling Ourselves to Death: Democracy in the Age of Social Media (Oxford UP, 2024), Jason Hannan reveals how the trolls have emerged from the cave and now walk in the clear light of day. Once limited to the darker corners of the internet, trolls have since gone mainstream, invading our politics and eroding our civic culture. Trolls are changing the norms of democratic politics and shaping how we communicate in the public sphere. Adding a twist to Neil Postman's classic thesis, this book argues that we are not so much amusing as trolling ourselves to death. But how did this come to be? Is this transformation attributable solely to digital technology? Or are there deeper political, economic, and cultural roots?  This book moves beyond the familiar picture of trolls by recasting trolling in a broader historical light. It shows how trolling is the logical expression of widespread alienation, cynicism, and paranoia deeply rooted in a culture of possessive individualism. Drawing from Postman, Alasdair MacIntyre, Karl Marx, and Hannah Arendt, this book explores the disturbing rise of political unreason in the form of mass trolling. It explains the proliferation of disinformation, conspiracy theory, "cancel culture," and public shaming. Taking inspiration from G. F. W. Hegel, Paulo F reire, and bell hooks, this book makes a case for building a spirit of trust to counter the culture of mass distrust that feeds the epidemic of political trolling. Dr. Jason Hannan is Professor in the Department of Rhetoric, Writing, and Communications at the University of Winnipeg. He is the author of Trolling Ourselves to Death: Democracy in the Age of Social Media (Oxford University Press, 2023) and the editor of Meatsplaining: The Animal Agriculture Industry and the Rhetoric of Denial (Sydney University Press, 2020). His current book project is Reactionary Speech: Conservatism and the Rhetoric of Denial. Dr. Michael LaMagna is the Information Literacy Program & Library Services Coordinator and Professor of Library Services at Delaware County Community College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

We commonly think of trolls as anonymous online pranksters who hide behind clever avatars and screen names. In Trolling Ourselves to Death: Democracy in the Age of Social Media (Oxford UP, 2024), Jason Hannan reveals how the trolls have emerged from the cave and now walk in the clear light of day. Once limited to the darker corners of the internet, trolls have since gone mainstream, invading our politics and eroding our civic culture. Trolls are changing the norms of democratic politics and shaping how we communicate in the public sphere. Adding a twist to Neil Postman's classic thesis, this book argues that we are not so much amusing as trolling ourselves to death. But how did this come to be? Is this transformation attributable solely to digital technology? Or are there deeper political, economic, and cultural roots?  This book moves beyond the familiar picture of trolls by recasting trolling in a broader historical light. It shows how trolling is the logical expression of widespread alienation, cynicism, and paranoia deeply rooted in a culture of possessive individualism. Drawing from Postman, Alasdair MacIntyre, Karl Marx, and Hannah Arendt, this book explores the disturbing rise of political unreason in the form of mass trolling. It explains the proliferation of disinformation, conspiracy theory, "cancel culture," and public shaming. Taking inspiration from G. F. W. Hegel, Paulo F reire, and bell hooks, this book makes a case for building a spirit of trust to counter the culture of mass distrust that feeds the epidemic of political trolling. Dr. Jason Hannan is Professor in the Department of Rhetoric, Writing, and Communications at the University of Winnipeg. He is the author of Trolling Ourselves to Death: Democracy in the Age of Social Media (Oxford University Press, 2023) and the editor of Meatsplaining: The Animal Agriculture Industry and the Rhetoric of Denial (Sydney University Press, 2020). His current book project is Reactionary Speech: Conservatism and the Rhetoric of Denial. Dr. Michael LaMagna is the Information Literacy Program & Library Services Coordinator and Professor of Library Services at Delaware County Community College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sociology

Douglas Rushkoff has spent the last thirty years studying how digital technologies have shaped our world. The renowned media theorist is the author of twenty books, the host of the Team Human podcast, and a professor of Media Theory and Digital Economics at City University of New York. But when I sat down with him, he didn't seem all that excited to be talking about AI. Instead, he suggested – I think only half jokingly – that he'd rather be talking about the new reboot of Dexter.Rushkoff's lack of enthusiasm around AI may stem from the fact that he doesn't see it as the ground shifting technology that some do. Rather, he sees generative artificial intelligence as just the latest in a long line of communication technologies – more akin to radio or television than fire or electricity.But while he may not believe that artificial intelligence is going to bring about some kind of techno-utopia, he does think its impact will be significant. So eventually we did talk about AI. And we ended up having an incredibly lively conversation about whether computers can create real art, how the “California ideology” has shaped artificial intelligence, and why it's not too late to ensure that technology is enabling human flourishing – not eroding it.Mentioned:“Cyberia” by Douglas Rushkoff“The Original WIRED Manifesto” by Louis Rossetto“The Long Boom: A History of the Future, 1980–2020″ by Peter Schwartz and Peter Leyden“Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires” by Douglas Rushkoff“Artificial Creativity: How AI teaches us to distinguish between humans, art, and industry” by Douglas Rushkoff” by Douglas Rushkoff“Empirical Science Began as a Domination Fantasy” by Douglas Rushkoff“A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace” by John Perry Barlow“The Californian Ideology” by Richard Barbrook and Andy Cameron“Can AI Bring Humanity Back to Health Care?,” Machines Like Us Episode 5Further Reading:“The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects” by Marshall McLuhan“Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology” by Neil Postman“Amusing Ourselves to Death” by Neil Postman

We commonly think of trolls as anonymous online pranksters who hide behind clever avatars and screen names. In Trolling Ourselves to Death: Democracy in the Age of Social Media (Oxford UP, 2024), Jason Hannan reveals how the trolls have emerged from the cave and now walk in the clear light of day. Once limited to the darker corners of the internet, trolls have since gone mainstream, invading our politics and eroding our civic culture. Trolls are changing the norms of democratic politics and shaping how we communicate in the public sphere. Adding a twist to Neil Postman's classic thesis, this book argues that we are not so much amusing as trolling ourselves to death. But how did this come to be? Is this transformation attributable solely to digital technology? Or are there deeper political, economic, and cultural roots?  This book moves beyond the familiar picture of trolls by recasting trolling in a broader historical light. It shows how trolling is the logical expression of widespread alienation, cynicism, and paranoia deeply rooted in a culture of possessive individualism. Drawing from Postman, Alasdair MacIntyre, Karl Marx, and Hannah Arendt, this book explores the disturbing rise of political unreason in the form of mass trolling. It explains the proliferation of disinformation, conspiracy theory, "cancel culture," and public shaming. Taking inspiration from G. F. W. Hegel, Paulo F reire, and bell hooks, this book makes a case for building a spirit of trust to counter the culture of mass distrust that feeds the epidemic of political trolling. Dr. Jason Hannan is Professor in the Department of Rhetoric, Writing, and Communications at the University of Winnipeg. He is the author of Trolling Ourselves to Death: Democracy in the Age of Social Media (Oxford University Press, 2023) and the editor of Meatsplaining: The Animal Agriculture Industry and the Rhetoric of Denial (Sydney University Press, 2020). His current book project is Reactionary Speech: Conservatism and the Rhetoric of Denial. Dr. Michael LaMagna is the Information Literacy Program & Library Services Coordinator and Professor of Library Services at Delaware County Community College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/communications

In episode 406 of The Brainy Business podcast, behavioral scientist Patrick Fagan shares insights on the psychology of effective messaging in marketing, drawing from his extensive research and book "Hooked." Fagan's expertise lies in understanding and influencing consumer behavior, utilizing behavioral science to uncover the impact of environmental cues, social media, and psychological segmentation on decision-making processes.  Through his studies on background noises, Facebook psychology, and segmentation for a supplements brand, Fagan demonstrates the practical applications of behavioral science in marketing. His framework for effective messaging, encompassing attention-grabbing, engagement, and behavior nudges, offers actionable strategies for businesses to tailor messages to different audience segments. By listening to this episode, small business owners and marketers can gain valuable insights into consumer behavior, environmental cues, and ethical messaging strategies, empowering them to enhance consumer engagement and influence purchasing decisions effectively. In this episode: Understand the psychology of online shopping to optimize your e-commerce strategy. Boost self-esteem with insights into the impact of social media on mental well-being. Utilize behavioral science to craft compelling marketing campaigns that resonate with consumers. Harness the influence of background noise to enhance consumer decision-making processes. Implement effective message engagement strategies to maximize advertising impact. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction Melina introduces Patrick Fagan, author of #Hooked, and discusses the intentionality of marketing messaging in the book. 00:02:13 - Patrick's Background in Behavioral Science Patrick shares his background in behavioral science, including his research on music priming for online shopping and the effects of background noises on purchasing behavior. 00:07:15 - Facebook Psychology and Facial Expressions Patrick discusses his research on Facebook psychology, which found that the platform can impact self-esteem and loneliness. He also shares insights on using facial expressions to measure engagement and boredom. 00:10:23 - Current Projects and Interests Patrick shares his current interest in understanding behavior and influence, focusing on psychology and behavior segmentation. He highlights a recent segmentation project for a supplements brand, which identified five different types of people with respect to health and nutrition. 00:14:43 - Conclusion and Future Focus Patrick emphasizes his passion for understanding people's behavior and motivation, highlighting the importance of psychology and behavior segmentation over traditional demographics and attitudes. He expresses excitement for future projects in this area. 00:15:13 - Understanding Different Motivations Patrick discusses the different motivations people have for health and fitness, including diet, appearance, achievement, and reassurance. He highlights the importance of tailoring messages to different groups based on their motivations. 00:21:43 - The Power of Habits Patrick and Melina delve into the influence of habits on behavior, particularly in the context of fitness. They discuss how habits can impact people's reasons for exercising and how triggers can influence their decision to engage in physical activity. 00:24:44 - Traditionalism and Progressivism Patrick shares his research on traditionalism and progressivism, revealing that a significant proportion of people are motivated by a desire to return to the past rather than just conserving or progressing. He discusses the implications of this finding for businesses in terms of messaging and branding. 00:27:53 - Applying Psychology to Marketing Patrick and Melina explore how businesses can utilize psychological insights to tailor their marketing strategies. They discuss the importance of understanding customer mindsets and motivations, and how businesses can use this knowledge to communicate effectively with their target audience. 00:29:45 - The Three Steps of Effective Messaging Patrick outlines the three crucial steps for creating effective messages: grabbing attention, engaging the audience, and nudging behavior. He emphasizes the significance of understanding the brain's response to certain stimuli and leveraging this knowledge in crafting compelling messages. 00:30:14 - Attention-Grabbing Factors Patrick discusses the importance of paying attention to things like kids, faces, emotions, surprise, and personal elements in grabbing attention. 00:31:58 - Engaging Emotionally Engaging people through curiosity, stories, and fluency is discussed. Using puzzles, riddles, and stories can help people engage and remember information more effectively. 00:34:06 - Nudging Behavior Patrick talks about the use of priming, memory, motivation, and relevance to nudge behavior. Emotions and relevance play a significant role in motivating people to act. 00:36:45 - Conclusion What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show.  I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let's connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube Connect with Patrick: Patrick on LinkedIn  Patrick on X Patrick's Website  Learn and Support The Brainy Business: Check out and get your copies of Melina's Books.  Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: #Hooked, by Patrick Fagan Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland Blindsight, by Matt Johnson and Prince Ghuman The Shallows, by Nicholas Carr Amusing Ourselves to Death, by Neil Postman and Andrew Postman Top Recommended Next Episode: Rory Sutherland Interview (ep 373) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Wendy Wood Interview (ep 127) Priming (ep 252) Disney (ep 292) Prince Ghuman Interview (ep 344) The Truth About Pricing (ep 356) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina's LinkedIn Newsletter Radio, Chatter and Football – The Sounds That Help Us Shop

Are we more strict with our kids in the real world than we are in the digital world? First book talk of the summer, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt where he addresses that question. Citing stats of the decline of mental health among teens beginning with the advent of smartphones and social media, Coach brings not just the problems Haidt addresses but also one of his solutions...a return to the play based childhood. Along the way Coach calls Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death prophetic and offers insight into what he sees in the classroom in light of Haidt insights. The Anxious Generation is a must read for parents and teachers alike. Professor Haidt's endorsed website mentioned in the episode https://letgrow.org . --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ptcpodcast/message

We discuss the transition from the darkroom to the solitary digital age, and the tactile joy of film development as a refuge from a tech-dominated world. We examine storytelling, the pursuit of truth, and the artist's influence on society in a post-truth era.This conversation reflects nearly a year of introspective dialogues, as we consider the paradox of using technology for creativity while critiquing its cultural impact, guided by Neil Postman's "Technopoly." We navigate the balance between drawing from the past and pioneering innovation—the interplay of authenticity and commercialism that shapes our expression and need for validation. We discuss cults in culture, defying norms, and the pursuit of originality amid commercial pressures. - Ai If you enjoyed this episode, please consider giving us a rating and/or a review. We read and appreciate all of them. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you in the next episode. Links To Everything: Video Version of The Podcast: https://geni.us/StudioSessionsYT Matt's YouTube Channel: https://geni.us/MatthewOBrienYT Matt's 2nd Channel: https://geni.us/PhotoVideosYT Alex's YouTube Channel: https://geni.us/AlexCarterYT Matt's Instagram: https://geni.us/MatthewIG Alex's Instagram: https://geni.us/AlexIG

This episode we have a single longform interview with a media scholar of note–The New School's Shannon Mattern. We have teamed up with Mediapolis, a journal that places urban studies and media studies into conversation with one another, to interview Mattern about her new book, Code and Clay, Data and Dirt: Five Thousand Years of Urban Media (U of Minnesota Press: 2018). And lucky for us on Phantom Power, a large portion of Mattern's story is about sound, from the echoes of ancient caves to Roman amphitheaters to telephone wires and radio towers—she shows us how sonic infrastructures allow us to communicate and form communities, cultivating forms of intelligence that are embodied and affective, as well as informatic. Before there was the smart city, there was the sonic city—and the sonic city isn't going anywhere soon. Some topics discussed: Patrick Feaster and First Sounds; Neil Postman; Harold Innis; Marshall McLuhan; John Durham Peters' The Marvelous Clouds; Carolyn Birdsall's Nazi Soundscapes.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

This episode we have a single longform interview with a media scholar of note–The New School's Shannon Mattern. We have teamed up with Mediapolis, a journal that places urban studies and media studies into conversation with one another, to interview Mattern about her new book, Code and Clay, Data and Dirt: Five Thousand Years of Urban Media (U of Minnesota Press: 2018). And lucky for us on Phantom Power, a large portion of Mattern's story is about sound, from the echoes of ancient caves to Roman amphitheaters to telephone wires and radio towers—she shows us how sonic infrastructures allow us to communicate and form communities, cultivating forms of intelligence that are embodied and affective, as well as informatic. Before there was the smart city, there was the sonic city—and the sonic city isn't going anywhere soon. Some topics discussed: Patrick Feaster and First Sounds; Neil Postman; Harold Innis; Marshall McLuhan; John Durham Peters' The Marvelous Clouds; Carolyn Birdsall's Nazi Soundscapes.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

"Intrattenimento" è una parola davvero orribile, ma ci ricorda che siamo schiavi volontari dell'Infinite Jest: liberiamoci! Leggi il libro di Neil Postman: https://amzn.to/3UN85L9 Questo episodio è sponsorizzato da Scalable. Se stai considerando di iniziare a investire, ora è il momento perfetto. Con Scalable, entri nel mondo degli investimenti con un partner affidabile e regolamentato e con costi d'ordine incredibilmente bassi. E sai qual è il bello? Con Scalable puoi iniziare a investire con solo 1 Euro! Apri ora un conto Scalable

Transcript:Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. As modern people we are good at spotting external oppression. We can see a despot coming miles away. However, we often miss the more subtle oppression of our own desires manipulating us, and, unfortunately, in a techno-consumeristic society like our own, this is a far greater threat. As the late thinker Neil Postman put it: “Everything in our background has prepared us to know and resist a prison when the gates begin to close around us… But …[w]ho is prepared to take arms against a sea of amusements?” In his short but powerful book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman contrasts the competing dystopias of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell: “Contrary to common belief even among the educated, Huxley [Brave New World] and Orwell [1984] did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley's vision, no Big Brother is required…. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think. …Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance…. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny ‘failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions.' In 1984…people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we fear will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we desire will ruin us. …Huxley, not Orwell, was right.” ~Neil Postman (1931-2003), in his classic Amusing Ourselves to Death And that's something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective. “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”~Ephesians 4:17-24 (ESV)

National Review correspondant Jim Geraghty's interview with Salem host Hugh Hewitt this morning brings up Neil Postman's old arguments of Huxley versus Orwell. Producer David Doll recalls his weekend shenanigans. We're joined by John Dombroski, founder and president of Grand Canyon Planning. Listener call-in appreciation for Waylon Jennings' ties to Phoenix.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the first segment Rev. Sam Schuldheisz teaches us more about the redeemed imagination. During the rest of the show Pastor Bramwell goes back to a conversation on technology in order to think through the characteristics of the loving resistance fighter as detailed by Neil Postman in Technopoly. Find this book at Amazon.com. This program originally aired February 22, 2021. Host Rev. Tyrel Bramwell, pastor of St. Mark Lutheran Church in Ferndale, California, and author of the book Come in, We are Closed, talks about curious topics to excite the imagination, equip the mind, and comfort the soul with God's ordering of the world in the Law and Gospel.

We've become so used to our phones in our lives that we've stopped realizing how arbitrary and unusual the content we're watching really has become. In this episode, Cal looks closer at what we're really spending time doing on our phones, then provides step-by-step instructions for healing this relationship. Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here's the link: bit.ly/3U3sTvoVideo from today's episode:  youtube.com/calnewportmediaDeep Dive: Confronting Your Phone [4:30]- What does Cal think about Neil Postman's “Amusing Ourselves To Death”? [28:35]- Can you pursue high quality leisure after a day filled with deep work? [33:14]- Can commercial breaks be used for high quality leisure? [37:24]- Will digital minimalism work in an age of augmented reality? [40:34]- How can a full time YouTuber practice digital minimalism? [46:53]-CALL: How to share content online? [52:38]CASE STUDY: Cost-benefit analysis of technology usage [1:00:39] CAL REACTS: J. R. R. Tolkien's Search for Depth [1:06:43]Links:twitter.com/explore/tabs/trendinginstagram.com/explore/tags/popular/?hl=entiktok.com/foryou?lang=ennewcriterion.com/blogs/dispatch/the-consolations-of-fantasyUse this link to preorder a signed copy of “Slow Productivity”: peoplesbooktakoma.com/preorder-slow-productivity/ FREE download excerpt and 2 Bonuses for “Slow Productivity”: calnewport.com/slow Thanks to our Sponsors: ladderlife.com/deepmybodytutor.comrhone.com/calmintmobile.com/deepThanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, Kieron Rees for slow productivity music, and Mark Miles for mastering.

Join host Ginny Yurich in a riveting episode of the 1000 Hours Outside Podcast as she engages in a profound conversation with Nicholas Carr, renowned author of "The Shallows." Carr shares insights into the genesis of his book, which began as a personal exploration of the challenges he faced while spending excessive time online. The realization that constant connectivity hindered concentration and fueled distraction led him to delve deeper into the transformative impact of technology on our minds. The discussion unfolds with Carr drawing inspiration from Neil Postman, emphasizing that technology is not merely a tool but an ideology that shapes our environment and influences the way we think and interact. The conversation explores how our communication tools create a new ecology, molding our perceptions and interactions. Carr highlights the inherent distractibility of human beings and how modern technology exacerbates this issue, hijacking our minds and affecting our ability to focus. The episode delves into the ways screens, particularly on computers and phones, alter the reading experience. Carr contrasts the shield of a paper with the distractions surrounding digital words. He discusses the steady stream of information bombarding us, making it challenging to screen out distractions and maintain focus. The impact of technology on attention spans is a central theme, with Carr addressing the addictive nature of smartphones and the constant mental presence of our phones. He shares personal experiences of losing the ability to concentrate and immerse oneself in a book due to excessive online engagement. The conversation expands to societal implications, exploring how technology has changed our perception of time, eroded patience, and altered social dynamics. The influence of screens on reading habits, promoting skimming and scanning, is examined, highlighting the fundamental shift in the way we consume information. Carr also touches upon the societal shift towards instant gratification and the desire for quicker stimuli, evident in the rise of AI companions. The episode concludes with a reflection on the value placed on measurable outcomes, leaving listeners with a deeper understanding of the profound impact of technology on our minds, attention, and societal behaviors. ** Learn more about Nicholas Carr here >> https://www.nicholascarr.com/ Get your copy of The Shallows here >> https://amzn.to/3HmBpAK ** Downloads your free 1000 Hours Outside trackers here >> https://www.1000hoursoutside.com/trackers Find everything you need to kick off your 1000 Hours Outside Journey here >> https://www.1000hoursoutside.com/blog/allthethings Order of copy of Ginny's newest book, Until the Streetlights Come On here >> https://amzn.to/3RXjBlN Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SPONSORED BY: The Winged Hussars, the Patrons of the program who support on Patreon. Click here to support as well.   STUFF IN THIS EPISODE Matthew Henry's Bible Commentary Online A Shell In The Pit Book of Kells SR-71 Blackbird Inception Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman   CONNECT WITH NO DUMB QUESTIONS: Discuss this episode here NDQ Subreddit Our podcast YouTube channel Our website is nodumbquestions.fm No Dumb Questions Twitter Matt's Twitter Destin's Twitter SUBSCRIBE LINKS: Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android OUR YOUTUBE CHANNELS ARE ALSO FUN: Matt's YouTube Channel Destin's YouTube Channel (Smarter Every Day) YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY MATT'S DAILY PODCAST: The Ten Minute Bible Hour Podcast