The Reading Room

The Pentagon Papers and New York Times v. United States, a Reading Room essay

On The Pentagon Papers and New York Times v. Un...

Michael Fowler

In 1971 the United States government tried to stop newspapers from publishing a secret history of the Vietnam War, and the Supreme Court told it that it could not.

On The Pentagon Papers and New York Times v. Un...

Michael Fowler

In 1971 the United States government tried to stop newspapers from publishing a secret history of the Vietnam War, and the Supreme Court told it that it could not.

Public Opinion, a Reading Room essay

On Public Opinion

Michael Fowler

Walter Lippmann asked, in 1922, a question that has only grown more urgent: how can the people govern themselves if they cannot actually know the world they are trying to...

On Public Opinion

Michael Fowler

Walter Lippmann asked, in 1922, a question that has only grown more urgent: how can the people govern themselves if they cannot actually know the world they are trying to...

Politics and the English Language, a Reading Room essay

On Politics and the English Language

Michael Fowler

George Orwell's 1946 essay Politics and the English Language is the shortest entry in this library's media cluster and one of the most useful things a citizen can read, because...

On Politics and the English Language

Michael Fowler

George Orwell's 1946 essay Politics and the English Language is the shortest entry in this library's media cluster and one of the most useful things a citizen can read, because...

Propaganda, a Reading Room essay

On Propaganda

Michael Fowler

Edward Bernays opened his 1928 book Propaganda with a sentence that still chills: the conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses, he wrote, is...

On Propaganda

Michael Fowler

Edward Bernays opened his 1928 book Propaganda with a sentence that still chills: the conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses, he wrote, is...

Amusing Ourselves to Death, a Reading Room essay

On Amusing Ourselves to Death

Michael Fowler

Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death, published in 1985, opens with a comparison that frames everything after it.

On Amusing Ourselves to Death

Michael Fowler

Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death, published in 1985, opens with a comparison that frames everything after it.

Understanding Media, a Reading Room essay

On Understanding Media

Michael Fowler

The medium is the message. Marshall McLuhan's famous and famously puzzling phrase, from Understanding Media in 1964, is the gateway to one of the most original and disorienting bodies of...

On Understanding Media

Michael Fowler

The medium is the message. Marshall McLuhan's famous and famously puzzling phrase, from Understanding Media in 1964, is the gateway to one of the most original and disorienting bodies of...