Amusing Ourselves to Death
Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
Neil Postman
This thought-provoking book explores the role of television in shaping our society and its impact on critical thinking and public discourse. The author highlights how our obsession with visually stimulating content is hampering our ability to engage in meaningful conversations about important issues. With compelling insights and solutions, the book urges readers to take control of their media consumption and strive towards a more reasoned and informed society.
Publish Date
2005-12-27T00:00:00.000Z
2005-12-27T00:00:00.000Z
first published in 1985
Goodreads Rating
4.15
ISBN
8601420133051
Recommendations
9
Recommendations
2022-08-05T18:33:00.000Z
This book is now 37 years old, but its premise is still true: our culture of entertainment is one of the main driving forces behind our politics, business, and social practices. – source2019-01-30T00:19:57.000Z
Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day.
From Amusing Ourselves to Death
Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I’ve ever read. – source2022-06-26T01:32:54.000Z
This book is an incredibly relevant and prescient analysis of the mess we finds ourselves in. Brilliant. – sourceWe’re kind of, like the title of the book, amusing ourselves to death. We’re so caught up in distractions and pleasure and entertainment that we might be missing out on the bigger things. – source
2022-10-08T19:15:10.000Z
I recommend this book *so much* whether your politics are left, right or centre.
We’ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. – source2020-02-18T15:51:31.000Z
@ParkerMolloy oh, this is great. I used a lot of this book when teaching Persuasion in Media classes 15 or so years ago. – source2022-08-08T16:57:01.000Z
The Neil Postman book that @ezraklein references in here - “Amusing Ourselves to Death” - is worth a read. As I’ve been working on my 📕 I’ve been curious ab solutions broached in other media environments. One of P’s main suggestions is that we watch less TV. Agency/adaptation. – source2019-08-01T09:38:38.000Z
@AlanReillyIRL @t0nyyates @WhelanKarl Yes! Fantastic book. So glad you're re-reading it. – source