a book

Amusing Ourselves to Death

Name: Amusing Ourselves to Death
Rating: 5 (15 reviews)
Author: Neil Postman
ISBN: 9780143036531

Neil Postman · 2005 · 208 pages

What happens when media and politics become forms of entertainment? As our world begins to look more and more like Orwell's 1984, Neil's Postman's essential guide to the modern media is more relevant than ever.

"It's unlikely that Trump has ever read Amusing Ourselves to Death, but his ascent would not have surprised Postman.” -CNN

Originally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book published in the twentieth century. Now, with television joined by more sophisticated electronic media—from the Internet to cell phones to DVDs—it has taken on even greater significance. Amusing Ourselves to Death is a prophetic look at what happens when politics, journalism, education, and even religion become subject to the demands of entertainment. It is also a blueprint for regaining control of our media, so that they can serve our highest goals.

“A brilliant, powerful, and important book. This is an indictment that Postman has laid down and, so far as I can see, an irrefutable one.” –Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World

recommended by 15 people

sourced from public statements

Tristan Harris
“Worth reading.”↗
Michael Batnick
“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.”↗
Renee DiResta
“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.”↗
Aaron Bastani
“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.”↗
Glen Mazzara
“This book is an incredibly relevant and prescient analysis of the mess we finds ourselves in. Brilliant.”↗
Timothy Burke
“@ParkerMolloy oh, this is great. I used a lot of this book when teaching Persuasion in Media classes 15 or so years ago.”↗
Patrick Collison
Keith Rabois
Matt Mullenweg
Patrick O'Shaughnessy
Steve Lance
David Perell
Stephen Kinsella
Timothy Keller
Nat Eliason