New Books in Communications

It’s The Pop Culture Professors, and we analyze the third episode of Vince Gilligan’s new series Pluribus. We talk through this episode as a literalization of the problem of being an individual in late-stage capitalism or, if you prefer, the Amazonification of everything. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/communications

“We know what we want, and one day, our prince will come,” says Toby, the bicycle-shorts-wearing, double ententre-making, unacknowledgely-gay neighbor in RTE’s Upwardly Mobile. Though the first queer characters in Irish entertainment television were tropes and stereotypes, they represented an important shift in LGBTQ visibility in Irish media. The road to early representations in entertainment media was a hard road paved by gay rights activists, AIDS stigma, and production teams looking for sensationalism. In LGBTQ Visibility, Media, and Sexuality in Ireland, Páraic Kerrigan explores the dynamics of queer visibility and sexuality in Ireland through televised media between 1974 and 2008. Tune in for our chat about Gay Byrne and the Late Late Show, queer soap stars, the AIDS crisis and globalization of Ireland, and the LGBTQ rights tug-of-war that played out in turn-of-the-century television.Avrill Earls is the Executive Producer of Dig: A History Podcast (a narrative history podcast, rather than interview-based), and an Assistant Professor of History at Mercyhurst University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/communications

Business as Usual: How Sponsored Media Sold American Capitalism in the Twentieth Century, (U Chicago Press, 2024) reveals how American capitalism has been promoted in the most ephemeral of materials: public service announcements, pamphlets, educational films, and games—what Caroline Jack calls “sponsored economic education media.” These items, which were funded by corporations and trade groups who aimed to “sell America to Americans,”found their way into communities, classrooms, and workplaces, and onto the airwaves, where they promoted ideals of “free enterprise” under the cloaks of public service and civic education. They offered an idealized vision of US industrial development as a source of patriotic optimism, framed business management imperatives as economic principles, and conflated the privileges granted to corporations by the law with foundational political rights held by individuals. This rhetoric remains dominant—a harbinger of the power of disinformation that so besets us today. Jack reveals the funding, production, and distribution that together entrenched a particular vision of corporate responsibility—and, in the process, shut out other hierarchies of value and common care. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/communications

How are influencers changing the arts? In Influencer Creep: How Optimization, Authenticity, and Self-Branding Transform Creative Culture (U California Press, 2025) Sophie Bishop, an Associate Professor in the University of Leeds’ School of Media and Communication analyses the lives of artists and influencers to understand the working and living conditions shaping modern culture. The book draws a comparison between the two sets of workers, showing how artists are having to engage with influencer’s techniques to be successful in the online economy, and how both groups struggle with the inequalities of the platform economy. Rich with fascinating case studies, alongside a range of theoretical insights that can be applied across many other aspects of the modern world, the book is essential reading for anyone interested in art, culture and contemporary social life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/communications

The hosts dive into the intriguing world of a new series that envisions a utopia through a virus that quells individuality. They discuss the slow-burn tension reminiscent of horror and Hitchcock's score. Focusing on the complex character of Carol, they analyze her artistic struggles and misanthropy. The conversation explores deeper themes of coercive happiness and societal critiques, comparing the show to classic invasion narratives. They also examine the show's meta-commentary and broader implications about media and political homogenization.

Vanesa Rodríguez-Galindo, a cultural historian and expert in urban studies, delves into 19th-century Madrid's transformation. She discusses how modernization influenced visual culture, with advancements in print media reshaping identity and societal norms. The rise of illustrated periodicals dazzled readers, showcasing social interactions and urban life. Rodríguez-Galindo contrasts Madrid's adaptations to French influence while highlighting the city's unique identity. Engaging in public space and the role of migrants, she reflects on how the past resonates with today's digital connectivity and cultural imagery.

Andrea Kitta, an Associate Professor of Folklore at East Carolina University, dives into the intersection of contagion and folklore. She discusses the role of narratives in public health, arguing that storytelling is key to building trust. The conversation highlights the societal constructs of contagion, the stigmatization in patient-zero narratives, and the reflections of moral anxiety through vampires and zombies. Kitta also explores the implications of kiss-of-death legends and their gendered control, emphasizing the importance of vernacular beliefs in addressing contemporary health issues.

Dr. Joanne Kuai, a Research Fellow focused on digital journalism and AI’s societal impact, shares insights into how artificial intelligence is reshaping journalism in China. She discusses the challenges reporters face with accountability and authorship in an increasingly automated landscape. Joanne highlights the differences in news distribution across various platforms and compares AI regulation strategies between China, the US, and EU. She emphasizes the importance of human accountability in AI systems and offers intriguing cultural recommendations.

Dr. Muhammad Atique, an expert in Digital Governance and founder of Atique Mindscape Publishing, dives into the transformative power of algorithms in our daily lives. He discusses how these algorithms shape our newsfeeds and influence our critical thinking. Atique highlights the risks of confirmation bias and advocates for mindful media consumption. He also explores the future of jobs in the AI landscape and emphasizes the importance of digital literacy. Ultimately, he urges a balance between technology use and maintaining personal connections.

From the United States to China and from Brazil to India, an authoritarian approach to news is spreading across the world. Increasingly, the media is no longer a check on power or a source of objective information but a means by which governments and leaders can propagate their versions of reality, however biased or false. In Dictating Reality: The Global Battle to Control the News (Columbia UP, 2025), Dr. Martin Moore and Dr. Thomas Colley show how states are battling to control and shape the news in order to entrench their power, evade scrutiny, and ensure that their political narratives are accepted. Combining in-depth analyses of seven countries with a compelling range of stories and characters from around the world, they demonstrate the unprecedented scale and scope of governments’ efforts to take control of the media. Dictating Reality details how Xi’s China, Putin’s Russia, Modi’s India, AMLO’s Mexico, Bolsonaro’s Brazil, and Orban’s Hungary have all sought, in their different ways, to exploit news to manufacture alternative realities—and how their methods have taken hold in the United States, the United Kingdom, and other democracies. Combining keen analysis of contemporary world events with years of original research, this book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how authoritarian leaders use the media, why more and more people are living in different realities, and the ways democracy is under threat. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/communications