Episode 104: Rave Review: The Hucksters

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It turns out there are entertainments out there—books and movies mostly, but other entertainments as well—that cast a critical eye on advertising. It also turns out that these entertainments are seldom if ever seen or heard of today anywhere that relies on advertising dollars to keep the lights on. For that reason, you Dear Listeners have probably never heard of The Hucksters, either the 1946 novel or the 1947 movie adaptation of that novel. The movie version is the subject of this Episode 104: Rave Review: The Hucksters.

In this episode, I play copious excerpts from that movie, and quote once more Victor Pickard's 2013 book America's Battle for Media Democracy (NB: Link to a PDF preview of the book), the book that clued me in on the existence of this movie.

I'm releasing this and all my episodes under a Creative Commons 4.0 attribution, share-alike, and non-commercial license.

Episode 103: The Boob's Halo & Halo's Boob

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Ever wonder where the term "soap opera" comes from? After all, there are a variety of products sponsoring today's daytime serial dramas, not just soaps. It turns out that that wasn't always the case. In the past, only one sponsor dominated individual programs, as I'll demonstrate in Episode 103: The Boob's Halo & Halo's Boob.

In this episode, I read from: a footnote in Thomas Picketty's Capital in the Twentieth Century; from my computer's quickie dictionary; and from Victor Pickard's book, America's Battle for Media Democracy (NB: Link to a PDF preview of the book. Also, I neglected to mention Mr. Pickard's book in the show's concluding credits. I regret the omission.) I exerted quite a bit from a toothpaste company comedy hour featuring Spike Jones and the City Slickers Orchestra that aired February 11, 1950.

I also play: Lee Rosevere's "Last Call"; and Podington Bear's "Ideas" and "Crafty". I open with KMFDM backing Bruce Livesey's observations about the power of business interests; and I close with Spike Jones.

I'm releasing this and all my episodes under a Creative Commons 4.0 attribution, share-alike, and non-commercial license.