From the author of The Architecture of Happiness , a thought-provoking look at the position that news has achieved in our lives. The news is everywhere. We can't stop constantly checking it on our computer screens, but what is this doing to our minds? We are never really taught how to make sense of the torrent of news we face every day, writes Alain de Botton, but this has a huge impact on our sense of what matters and of how we should lead our lives. In his dazzling new book, de Botton takes twenty-five archetypal news stories--including an airplane crash, a murder, a celebrity interview and a political scandal--and submits them to unusually intense analysis with a view to helping us navigate our news-soaked age. He raises such questions as: Why are disaster stories often so uplifting? What makes the love lives of celebrities so interesting? Why do we enjoy watching politicians being brought down? Why are upheavals in far-off lands often so boring? In The News: A User's Manual , de Botton has written the ultimate guide for our frenzied era, certain to bring calm, understanding and a measure of sanity to our daily (perhaps even hourly) interactions with the news machine.

Renowned interviewer David Barsamian showcases his unique access to Chomky's thinking on a number of topics of contemporary and historical import. Chomsky offers insights into the institutions that shape the public mind in the service of power and profit. In an interview conducted after the important November 1999 "Battle in Seattle," Chomsky discusses prospects for building a movement to challenge corporate domination of the media, the environment, and even our private lives. Whether discussing U.S. military escalation in Colombia, attacks on Social Security, or growing inequality worldwide, Chomsky shows how ordinary people, if they work together, have the power to make meaningful change. -- Book Cover

In this groundbreaking book, acclaimed media scholar and author Douglas Rushkoff tells us how to combine the best of human nature with the best of modern technology. Tying together disparate threads - big data, the rise of robots and AI, the increasing participation of algorithms in stock market trading, the gig economy, the collapse of the eurozone - Rushkoff provides a critical vocabulary for our economic moment and a nuanced portrait of humans and commerce at a critical crossroads. -- From the Amazon

"Are rural white Christians the real Americans? Should teachers be armed or should the Second Amendment be repealed? Is abortion murder or an ethically sound choice for women? Should migrant babies be caged or should ICE be abolished? Should billionaires exist while children go hungry? These are some of the bitter ideological disputes that have turned social media into a political battlefield. In Digital Civil War, Peter Daou, a veteran digital-media adviser to presidential candidates, investigates the underlying value systems and moral arguments of the warring parties, arguing that democracy itself is under assault by an emboldened and empowered Far Right. Daou shows how the digital civil war is waged with words and images that are designed to inflict psychological harm, to injure through verbal violence, to wreak havoc with rhetoric. And he explains that the relentless toxicity of social media - often treated as an aberration - is a feature, not a bug, of digital warfare."--Amazon.com.

The author of the groundbreaking work Slut! explores the phenomenon of slut-shaming in the age of sexting, tweeting, and "liking." She shows that the sexual double standard is more dangerous than ever before and offers wisdom and strategies for alleviating its destructive effects on young women's lives. Young women are encouraged to express themselves sexually. Yet when they do, they are derided as "sluts." Caught in a double bind of mixed sexual messages, young women are confused. To fulfill the contradictory roles of being sexy but not slutty, they create an "experienced" identity on social media-even if they are not sexually active - while ironically referring to themselves and their friends as "sluts." But this strategy can become a weapon used against young women in the hands of peers who circulate rumors and innuendo - elevating age-old slut-shaming to deadly levels, with suicide among bullied teenage girls becoming increasingly common. Now, Leora Tanenbaum revisits her influential work on sexual stereotyping to offer fresh insight into the digital and face-to-face worlds contemporary young women inhabit. She shares her new research, involving interviews with a wide range of teenage girls and young women from a variety of backgrounds as well as parents, educators, and academics. Tanenbaum analyzes the coping mechanisms young women currently use and points them in a new direction to eradicate slut-shaming for good.

The first of two volumes: How a Game Lives, Vol. 1 is an artfully packaged must-have book for the devoted and casual fans alike, inviting readers to look at gaming and video games from an intellectual, psychological, and emotional perspective as a major part of our cultural fabric. Jacob Geller has 1 million subscribers to his YouTube channel, where he shares in-depth videos on modern gaming and analysis of the games themselves-- interwoven with conversations about politics, art, history and popular culture. Placing video games into the larger media, cultural and artistic context, How a Game Lives, Vol.1 will be a stunning four-color collection that takes Geller's most popular YouTube essays, puts them into print for the first time, and updates them with full annotation by Geller himself and commentary by other writers. Illustrated throughout with original artwork inspired by the games, How a Game Lives, Vol. 1 is truly unique. The games covered in this volume include: The Legend of Zelda series Shadow of the Colossus Returnal Control Call of Duty and more... Geller has taught audiences how to think about video games as art, and how that art has affected them.

Today the smallest details of our daily lives are tracked and traced more closely than ever before, and those who are monitored often cooperate willingly with the monitors. From London and New York to New Delhi, Shanghai and Rio de Janeiro, video cameras are a familiar and accepted sight in public places. Air travel now commonly involves devices such as body-scanners and biometric checks that have proliferated in the wake of 9/11. And every day Google and credit-card issuers note the details of our habits, concerns and preferences, quietly prompting customized marketing strategies with our active, all too often zealous cooperation. In today's liquid modern world, the paths of daily life are mobile and flexible. Crossing national borders is a commonplace activity and immersion in social media increasingly ubiquitous. Today's citizens, workers, consumers and travellers are always on the move but often lacking certainty and lasting bonds. But in this world where spaces may not be fixed and time is boundless, our perpetual motion does not go unnoticed. Surveillance spreads in hitherto unimaginable ways, responding to and reproducing the slippery nature of modern life, seeping into areas where it once had only marginal sway. In this book the surveillance analysis of David Lyon meets the liquid modern world so insightfully dissected by Zygmunt Bauman. Is a dismal future of moment-by-moment monitoring closing in, or are there still spaces of freedom and hope? How do we realize our responsibility for the human beings before us, often lost in discussions of data and categorization? Dealing with questions of power, technology and morality, this book is a brilliant analysis of what it means to be watched - and watching - today.

"The media theorist who gave us the concepts of viral media, social currency and screenagers is back with his most far-reaching appraisal yet of digital media" --Cover, p. 4.

"New technologies are offering companies, politicians, and others unprecedented opportunity to manipulate us. Sometimes we are given the illusion of power - of freedom - through choice, yet the game is rigged, pushing us in specific directions that lead to less wealth, worse health, and weaker democracy. In, Manipulation, nudge theory pioneer and New York Times bestselling author, Cass Sunstein, offers a new definition of manipulation for the digital age, explains why it is wrong; and shows what we can do about it. He reveals how manipulation compromises freedom and personal agency, while threatening to reduce our well-being; he explains the difference between manipulation and unobjectionable forms of influence, including 'nudges'; and he lifts the lid on online manipulation and manipulation by artificial intelligence, algorithms, and generative AI, as well as threats posed by deepfakes, social media, and 'dark patterns,' which can trick people into giving up time and money. Drawing on decades of groundbreaking research in behavioral science, this landmark book outlines steps we can take to counteract manipulation in our daily lives and offers guidance to protect consumers, investors, and workers." --

A humorous, motivational memoir in the vein of Tyler Oakley's Binge and Marcus Butler's Hello Life, from high-energy comedic social media phenomenon Jake Paul. How do you become Vine famous? What is life like when you have millions of followers on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram. In this extremely positive, motivational, and often laugh-out-loud memoir, unstoppable Jake Paul pauses long enough from his super-charged life as a nineteen-year-old social media superstar and smiling heartthrob on the Disney Channel series Bizaardvark to share his takes on life, love, fame, and shooting for your dreams. From growing up a regular kid with his brother (and fellow social media star) Logan to his goals and aspirations as he became Vine famous to the bullying and jealousy he experienced to the crazy, creative, behind-the-scenes details of his life in Hollywood as a teen powerhouse, Jake shares the most hysterical and intimate details of his life--all with his signature humor and honesty and you-gotta-want-it attitude that has won him millions of devoted followers.

An “extremely funny...brilliantly alive” ( The New York Times Book Review ) social satire of the highest order from bestselling author Sam Lipsyte, centered around an unwitting mindfulness guru and the phenomenon he initiates. In an America convulsed by political upheaval, cultural discord, environmental catastrophe, and spiritual confusion, so many of us find ourselves anxious and distracted, searching desperately for peace, salvation, and—perhaps most immediately—just a little damn focus. Enter Hark Morner, a failed stand-up comic turned mindfulness guru whose revolutionary program is set to captivate the masses. But for Fraz and Tovah, a middle-aged couple slogging through a very rough patch, it may take more than the tenets of Hark’s “Mental Archery” to solve the riddles of love, lust, work, and parenthood on the eve of civilizational collapse. And given the sudden power of certain fringe players, including a renegade Ivy League ethicist, a gentle Swedish kidnapper, a social media tycoon with an empire on the skids, and a mysteriously influential (but undeniably slimy) catfish, it just might be too late. But what’s the point of a world, even a blasted-out post-apocalyptic world, if they don’t try with all their might to keep their marriage alive? In this “awfully funny...tartly effective sendup of 21st-century America” ( Star Tribune , Minneapolis) Sam Lipsyte reaches new peaks of daring in a novel that revels in contemporary absurdity and the wild poetry of everyday language while exploring the emotional truths of his characters. “Recommended reading” ( Vanity Fair ), in which “every line feels as thrillingly charged as a live wire” ( O, The Oprah Magazine ), Hark is a smart, incisive look at men, women, and children seeking meaning and dignity in a chaotic, ridiculous, and often dangerous world.

"Judy Gold, a concise, funny, and thoughtful polemic on the current assault on comedy, that explores how it is undermining free speech and a fundamental attack against the integrity of the art. From Mae West and Lenny Bruce to Richard Pryor and Howard Stern to Kathy Griffith and Kevin Hart, comedians have long been under fire for using provocative, often taboo subjects to challenge mores and get a laugh. But in the age of social media, comedians are at greater risk of being silenced, enduring shaming, threats, and damaged careers because of angry, censorious electronic mobs. But while comedians' work has often been used to rile up detractors, a new threat has emerged from the left: identity politics and notions like "safetyism" and trigger warnings that are now creating a cultural and political standard that runs perilously close to censorship. From college campuses to the Oscars, comics are being censured for old jokes, long-standing comedy traditions, unfinished bits and old material that instead of being forgotten, go viral. For comics like Judy Gold, today's attacks on comics would have Richard Pryor and Lenny Bruce "rolling in their graves." "No one has the right to tell comics what they can or cannot joke about. Do you tell artists what they can or cannot paint?" she asks. Freedom of speech is fundamental for great stand-up comedy. Humor is the most palatable way to discuss a subversive or taboo topic, but it better be funny. A comic's observations are deliberately delivered to entertain, provoke, and lead to an exchange of ideas. "We are truth tellers." More important, the tolerance of free speech is essential for a healthy democracy. In addition to offering readers a quick study on the history of comedy and the arts (noting such historical reference points as The Hays Code) and the threats to them., Gold takes readers on a hilarious ride with chapters such as "Thank God Don Rickles is Dead," as well as her singular take on "micro-aggressions," such as: Person: "OMG! You're a lesbian? I had no idea. I mean you wear make-up. When did you become a lesbian?" Judy Gold: "Coincidently, right after I met you!" (micro-assault!) In this era of "fake news," partisan politics, and heated rhetoric, the need to protect free speech has never been greater, especially for comics, who often serve as the canaries in the coalmine, monitoring the health of our democracy. Yes I Can Say That is a funny and provocative look at how safe spaces are the very antithesis of comedy as an art form-and an urgent call to arms to protect our most fundamental Constitutional right. There's a good reason it was the FIRST amendment"--

"The book is arranged by theme and occasion: Memorials and Patriotic Speeches, War and Revolution Speeches, Tributes and Eulogies, Debates and Argumentation, Trial Speeches, Gallows and Farewell Speeches, Sermons, Inspirational Speeches, Lectures and Instructive Speeches, Speeches of Social Responsibility, Media Speeches, Political Speeches (in Safire's words, "the anthologist's mother's milk"), and Commencement Addresses. Each speech is expertly introduced by the editor, who places the speech's occasion in historical context and analyzes the particular techniques that give the speech its force and effect. William Safire enlivens many of these introductions with personal anecdotes of the circumstances of the speechmaker and the speech. His Introduction is a brisk, compact, effective short course in how to make a great speech - with a cornucopia of examples to follow." "No one faced with the need to go before an audience of any size to argue, persuade, uplift, introduce, memorialize, or amuse should be without Lend Me Your Ears. It serves equally as a work of permanent reference use and as a treasure-house for the browser in search of inspiration, instruction, and entertainment. In this anthology, editor and subject matter have met to result in a book that draws from the ages - and that will last for decades as the definitive word on human eloquence."--BOOK JACKET.

American children spend a substantial part of their lives watching television and movies, playing video games, and listening to music containing explicit sex and violence. From Doom and Grand Theft Auto III to Eminem and Marilyn Manson, a strain of the popular culture has become increasingly toxic. One of the most pressing—and controversial—issues facing parents and educators in America today is understanding how exposure to these media affects the social and psychological development and behavior of children and teenagers. In Kid Stuff , Diane Ravitch and Joseph P. Viteritti bring together experts in media studies, child psychology, and public health to assess the dangers posed by "tox pop" to American society. Drawing on thirty years of research, the contributors find convincing evidence that such "entertainment" can harm children and teenagers, despite the self-serving denials of the media industry. Balancing their concerns for the welfare of children with respect for the First Amendment, Kid Stuff furthers the ongoing dialogue about how a democratic society can protect its children from the pernicious extremes of popular media. Contributors: Craig A. Anderson, Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, Peter G. Christenson, Edward Donnerstein, Jeanne B. Funk, Todd Gitlin, Kay S. Hymowitz, Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn, Nell Minow, Newton Minow, Thomas N. Robinson, Stacy L. Smith

Is the "Will of the People" a myth? Discover the controversial classic that shattered the romantic illusion of democracy. In a world saturated with media manipulation, fake news, and political polarization, do you ever feel like a "deaf spectator in the back row" of history? You are not alone. In 1925, legendary journalist and political critic Walter Lippmann wrote a book so prophetic it reads like a commentary on today’s headlines. The Phantom Public is a cold splash of water for anyone who believes that the average citizen is capable of governing a complex world. Lippmann argues that the "public" is an abstraction—a phantom—and that the idea of the "omnicompetent citizen" is a dangerous fiction. Why is this 20th-century masterpiece essential reading for the modern era? Understand the Machinery of Power: Learn why Lippmann believed that the average voter is too busy, distracted, and uninformed to manage public affairs, leaving the real power to insiders and experts. The Origins of "Manufacturing Consent": Before Noam Chomsky, there was Lippmann. This text lays the foundation for understanding how public opinion is shaped, controlled, and often ignored by the elite. A Realist View of Democracy: Move beyond idealistic slogans. Lippmann proposes that the true purpose of democracy is not to express a mystical "will," but simply to manage conflicts without violence. Navigate the Information Age: Written decades before the internet, Lippmann’s analysis of how limited information leads to bad policy is the key to decoding our current political philosophy and social unrest. "The private citizen today has come to feel rather like a deaf spectator in the back row... He lives in a world which he cannot see, does not understand and remains unable to direct." Whether you are a student of political science, a skeptic of the mainstream narrative, or a reader of Edward Bernays and Hannah Arendt, this book will challenge everything you think you know about your role in society. Stop watching the shadows on the wall. Scroll up and click "Buy Now" to confront the reality of The Phantom Public.

"From New York Times bestselling author Naomi Wolf, Facing the Beast is a devastating, detailed account of wrongthink, deplatforming, and an unexpected political, personal, and spiritual transformation that followed during one of the most divisive times in American history. In this uncompromising investigation into today's most urgent issues, Naomi Wolf uses her own wildly politicized pilgrimage-from New York Times bestselling author and high-level Democratic consultant to a journalist cast out from the elite political and social circles she once moved through-as a stunning narrative framework that is both chilling and incisive. Wolf's sin? Doing the job that good journalists once prided themselves on: asking questions, challenging authority, and, during one of the most politically divisive moments in modern history, exposing the many failures of the public health response during the COVID-19 pandemic by chronicling the dangerous descent of our democracy into tyranny, censorship, and totalitarianism. Unable to remain silent in the shadows and unwilling to collude with the mainstream, Wolf bravely covers topics that few other writers dare to address critically for fear of being deplatformed. Facing the Beast explores reproductive rights, medical freedom, the uncurious thought-policing of the "progressive" left, the Second Amendment, the criminal relationship between the FDA and Pfizer-Wolf's clear writing repeatedly shines light in the dark corners of our fractured society. A decades-long champion of free speech, freedom of the press, and the Constitution, Wolf found herself not only in the midst of a political rebirth but a spiritual transformation as well-one in which the events of the day could only be described in terms of good, evil, and a metaphysical quest on the nature of reality. For readers of Matt Taibbi, Glenn Greenwald, and Bari Weiss, Facing the Beast is a fearless indictment of legacy media and the political class, as well as a brutal reminder that searching for and defending the truth can be dangerous. "Naomi Wolf is one of the bravest, clearest-thinking people I know. The reason you hear the forces of repression so desperately trying to dismiss her is because she is right."-Tucker Carlson"--

"The different ways that social change happens, from unleashing to nudging to social cascades. "Sunstein's book is illuminating because it puts norms at the center of how we think about change."--David Brooks, The New York Times How does social change happen? When do social movements take off? Sexual harassment was once something that women had to endure; now a movement has risen up against it. White nationalist sentiments, on the other hand, were largely kept out of mainstream discourse; now there is no shortage of media outlets for them. In this book, with the help of behavioral economics, psychology, and other fields, Cass Sunstein casts a bright new light on how change happens. Sunstein focuses on the crucial role of social norms--and on their frequent collapse. When norms lead people to silence themselves, even an unpopular status quo can persist. Then one day, someone challenges the norm--a child who exclaims that the emperor has no clothes; a woman who says "me too." Sometimes suppressed outrage is unleashed, and long-standing practices fall. Sometimes change is more gradual, as "nudges" help produce new and different decisions--apps that count calories; texted reminders of deadlines; automatic enrollment in green energy or pension plans. Sunstein explores what kinds of nudges are effective and shows why nudges sometimes give way to bans and mandates. Finally, he considers social divisions, social cascades, and "partyism," when identification with a political party creates a strong bias against all members of an opposing party--which can both fuel and block social change."

In 1965, when psychologists Sandra and Daryl Bem met and married, they were determined to function as truly egalitarian partners and also to raise their children in accordance with gender-liberated, anti-homophobic, and sex-positive feminist ideals. During the next ten years, they exuberantly shared the details of their daily lives in both public lectures and the mass media in order to provide at least one concrete example of an alternative to the traditional heterosexual family. In the 1990s, Sandra Bem also published an award-winning book, The Lenses of Gender , which spelled out the feminist theory behind their feminist practices. This second book by Sandra Bem, an autobiographical account of the Bems` nearly thirty-year marriage, is both a personal history of the Bems` past and a social history of a key period in feminism`s past. It is also a look into feminism`s future, because the Bems` children, Emily and Jeremy, now in their early twenties, speak at length in the book as well. Bem analyzes what aspects of family background and psychological makeup led her and Daryl to bond so immediately and to become gender pioneers. She describes the egalitarianism and feminist child-rearing that they invented for their private needs and tells how these family agendas were transformed into public feminist discourse. Finally she reassesses this early feminist union now that the marriage has come to an end and the children are young adults, evaluating (with the help of lengthy interviews with Emily and Jeremy and a brief epilogue by Daryl) what the Bems` experiences--both positive and negative--have to say about the viability and necessity of nontraditional gender arrangements in society today.

"The traits that make Sam Zell one of the world's most successful entrepreneurs also make him one of the most surprising, enigmatic, and entertaining mavericks in American business. Self-made billionaire Sam Zell consistently sees what others don't. From finding a market for overpriced Playboy magazines among his junior high classmates, to buying real estate on the cheap after a market crash, to investing in often unglamorous industries with long-term value, Zell acts boldly on supply and demand trends to grab the first-mover advantage. And he can find opportunity virtually anywhere--from an arcane piece of legislation to a desert meeting in Abu Dhabi. "If everyone is going left, look right," Zell often says. To him, conventional wisdom is nothing but a reference point. Year after year, deal after deal, he shuts out the noise of the crowd, gathers as much information as possible, then trusts his own instincts. He credits much of his independent thinking to his parents, who were Jewish refugees from World War II. Talk to any two people and you might get wild swings in their descriptions of Zell. A media firestorm ensued when the Tribune Company went into bankruptcy a year after he agreed to steward the enterprise. At the same time, his razor-sharp instincts are legendary on Wall Street, and he has sponsored over a dozen IPOs. He's known as the Grave Dancer for his strategy of targeting troubled assets, yet he's created thousands of jobs. Within his own organization, he has an inordinate number of employees at every level who are fiercely loyal and have worked for him for decades. Zell's got a big personality; he is often contrarian, blunt, and irreverent, and always curious and hardworking. This is the guy who started wearing jeans to work in the 1960s, when offices were a sea of gray suits. He's the guy who told The Wall Street Journal in 1985, "If it ain't fun, we don't do it." He rides motorcycles with his friends, the Zell's Angels, around the world and he keeps ducks on the deck outside his office. As he writes: "I simply don't buy into many of the made-up rules of social convention. The bottom line is: If you're really good at what you do, you have the freedom to be who you really are." Am I Being Too Subtle?--a reference to Zell's favorite way to underscore a point--takes readers on a ride across his business terrain, sharing with honesty and humor stories of the times he got it right, when he didn't, and most important, what he learned in the process. This is an indispensable guide for the next generation of disrupters, entrepreneurs, and investors"--

This book analyzes and defines media appeals specific to American pro-fascist and anti-Semite agitators of the 1940s, such as the application of psychosocial manipulation for political ends. The book details psychological deceits that idealogues or authoritarians commonly used. The techniques are grouped under the headings "Discontent", "The Opponent", "The Movement" and "The Leader". The authors demonstrate repetitive patterns commonly utilized, such as turning unfocused social discontent towards a targeted enemy. The agitator positions himself as a unifying presence: he is the ideal, the only leader capable of freeing his audience from the perceived enemy. Yet, as the authors demonstrate, he is a shallow person who creates social or racial disharmony, thereby reinforcing that his leadership is needed. The authors believed fascist tendencies in America were at an early stage in the 1940s, but warned a time might come when Americans could and would be "susceptible to ... [the] psychological manipulation" of a rabble rouser.