Listen Now
Loading audio... Please wait for the audio to load before using controls.
0:0015:55
100%
Chapter Overview
Chapter 1: What’s in it for me? Learn how modern media is dumbing us down.
Chapter 2: Our ideas about truth have evolved in tandem with the evolution of communication media.
Chapter 3: Nineteenth-century America was dominated by the medium of print.
Chapter 4: Telegraphy and photography laid the foundation for the age of show business.
Chapter 5: On television, the content of public discourse becomes entertainment.
Chapter 6: Television turns religion and politics into entertainment and show business.
Chapter 7: Television affects our notion of education and gives a Huxleyan warning.
Description
Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985) explores the detrimental effects the medium of television is having on the content of public discourse. Over the course of two centuries, the United States has moved from being a culture defined by the printed word to one where television and triviality dominate.
Who Should Listen
- Anyone interested in public debates
- Newspaper journalists, newspaper readers and TV viewers
- Media scholars, communication theorists and philosophers