Why people recommend it
The Brass Check, a Study of American Journalism by Upton Sinclair is a heavily critical investigative work examining the systemic biases, corruption, and institutional flaws inherent in the early twentieth-century American media landscape. On The Daily Stoic, the guest asked the host whether he had read Sinclair's work and noted that the book described journalism as a lowly profession that historically lacked social structure, professional ethics, and proper institutional oversight. In another episode of The Daily Stoic, guest David Gelles referenced Upton Sinclair's critical perspective from The Brass Check to illustrate the persistent psychological and financial phenomenon wherein it remains nearly impossible to make someone understand a concept when their personal salary actively depends on them not understanding it. Additionally, Ryan Holiday mentioned The Brass Check on The Joe Rogan Experience while discussing Sinclair's extensive bibliography, which also famously includes the novel The Jungle.
Who recommended it
- Renee DiResta Discussed
- Ryan Holiday Discussed
Renee DiResta — 2 mentions
“And then I read this book—did you read Upton Sinclair’s book, The Brass Check?”
“And in the Upton Sinclair book, he’s talking about basically it’s like journalism was considered a low profession, so it didn’t have like a social structure, it didn’t have ethics, it didn’t have like institutions that gave awards to it; it was just like it was kind of a low-ass profession and so people just did whatever they could to”
Ryan Holiday — 2 mentions
“there's another book called the brass check which was written in i don't know 1910 1912 1930 anyways upton sinclair who wrote the jungle”
“It's like that expression from Upton Sinclair, who wrote sort of very critically about journalism in one of his great books called The Brass Check, he was saying like it's impossible to get someone to understand something that their salary depends on them not understanding.”