Episode · The Daily Stoic · 2024-08-31
Books mentioned on The New Age of Media Manipulation | Renée DiResta
How information (and misinformation) spreads online continues to change with the media landscape. Renée DiResta and Ryan continue their conversation on the role of podcasts as a medium, the pitfalls of audience capture, and the dynamics of social media silos.
Ryan Holiday recommended The Brass Check by Upton Sinclair and The Image by Daniel J. Boorstin, and discussed Invisible Rulers by Renee DiResta and Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Invisible Rulers
Invisible Rulers by Renee DiResta is an insightful book examining how information spreads online and how niche propagandists manage to turn lies into reality and shape public opinion.
Discussed“Her book, Invisible Rulers, is all about how information spreads online and how niche propagandists can, like, sort of shape public opinion,”
Where to get it
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The Brass Check
The Brass Check by Upton Sinclair is a searing early twentieth-century journalistic exposé examining media corruption, propaganda, and the profound commercial pressures influencing American news reporting.
Recommended“It's what Upton Sinclair was talking about over 100 years ago in The Brass Check, which is one of my all-time favorite books about media.”
Where to get it
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The Image
The Image by Daniel J.
Recommended“It's what Daniel Borson was talking about in The Image, all-time classic.”
Where to get it
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Amusing Ourselves to Death
Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman is a seminal media ecology critique arguing that television and modern visual media degrade public discourse by reducing serious thought to mere entertainment.
Discussed“It's what Neil Postman was talking about in Amusing Ourselves to Death.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (2) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“which is a lot of what I talk about in, trust me, I'm lying.”
“And when I was writing the updated version of Trust Me In Lying, I was talking about podcasting as a positive medium in that it's subscriber-based.”