Monday, April 20, 2015

We Are Being Programmed (Part 4): The Golden Age of Propaganda

We are all affected by it...call it advertising, propaganda, programming, social engineering, psychological operations, or whatever other term could be applied.  The act of a force outside of your mind trying to convince you to do something. In the forth episode of this series we take a look at the Golden Age of Propaganda, World War II.  We do this by analyzing several audio clips from films played in motion picture theaters during the 1940's.  The clips include: Education for Death (made by Walt Disney), The Batman - The Electrical Brain (an 8-part serial), Japanese Relocation (Office of War Information), Our Enemy - The Japanese (United States Navy Training Film), Remember Pearl Harbor - Buy War Bonds (again, the US Government), Wartime Nutrition (Office of War Information) and It's Your War Too (made by the War Activities Committee of the Motion Picture Industry and the US War Dept.).  [Click to Listen]

Monday, April 6, 2015

Propaganda (1928): Part 2

In this second episode of the Mic Check Radio Book Club series we continue with the audio book of Propaganda by Edward L Burnays, published in 1928.  Noam Chomsky has called this book "the main manual of the public relations industry".  It may be 87 years old, but the ideas and concepts are still used (and successful) today.  This book explores the psychology of manipulating the masses in order to influence consumerism, politics, social change and gender dynamics.  On this episode we will hear Chapter 3: The New Propagandists and Chapter 4: The Psychology of Public Relations[Click to Listen]