The Reading Room

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...

Personal History, a Reading Room essay

On Personal History

Michael Fowler

Katharine Graham did not expect to run a newspaper, let alone to become one of the most consequential figures in the history of the American press.

On Personal History

Michael Fowler

Katharine Graham did not expect to run a newspaper, let alone to become one of the most consequential figures in the history of the American press.

On Tyranny, a Reading Room essay

Reading On Tyranny

Michael Fowler

Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny, published in 2017, is the smallest book in this library and one of the most widely carried civic books of its era.

Reading On Tyranny

Michael Fowler

Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny, published in 2017, is the smallest book in this library and one of the most widely carried civic books of its era.

On Democracy, a Reading Room essay

Reading On Democracy

Michael Fowler

Robert Dahl was among the most important students of democracy of the twentieth century, and On Democracy, published in 1998, is his attempt to set down, clearly and accessibly, what...

Reading On Democracy

Michael Fowler

Robert Dahl was among the most important students of democracy of the twentieth century, and On Democracy, published in 1998, is his attempt to set down, clearly and accessibly, what...

Bowling Alone, a Reading Room essay

On Bowling Alone

Michael Fowler

Robert Putnam noticed that Americans were still bowling, but they had stopped bowling in leagues, and out of that small observation he built one of the most influential works of...

On Bowling Alone

Michael Fowler

Robert Putnam noticed that Americans were still bowling, but they had stopped bowling in leagues, and out of that small observation he built one of the most influential works of...