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As we prepare Censored 2013 for publication later this fall, here are some of the titles that we at Project Censored are reading—or re-reading—this summer.
Project Censored’s Summer Reading
Matthew A. Baum and Tim J. Groeling, War Stories: The Causes and Consequences of Public Views of War (Princeton University Press, 2010)
A landmark study of how media rhetoric influences public opinion during wartime.
Murray Edelman, Constructing the Political Spectacle, (University of Chicago, 1988)
With another election cycle underway, this slim classic proves timely and insightful once again.
Arundhati Roy, Walking with the Comrades (Penguin, 2011)
Essential reading for all who care about the commons, and a thoughtful challenge to those committed to non-violence.
Morris Berman, Why America Failed: The Roots of Imperial Decline (Wiley, 2011)
For anyone seeking to understand America today, how we got here, and where we unfortunately seem to be heading, cultural historian and social critic Morris Berman offers an unflinching and timely explanation. In an election year, this ought to be required reading.
Daniel J. Boorstin, The Image: A Guide to Psuedo-Events in America (Random House, 2012[1962])
The pseudo-events that Boorstin described fifty years ago now dominate our media landscape from “reality” TV to what passes for “news.” We might still heed his warnings about America’s obsession with celebrityhood and its consequences. In 2012, The Image reads like a user’s manual for the illusion that is America.
Medea Benjamin, Drone Warfare (OR Books, 2012)
Benjamin challenges the legality and morality of the US’s escalating use of drones to kill its enemies, and she documents global opposition to their use—topics glossed in the corporate media.
Peter Dale Scott, American War Machine (Rowman & Littlefield, 2010)
Important documentation on the history and contemporary reality of the deep politics of the international drug trade and the US war machine.
Dennis Loo, Globalization and the Demolition of Society (Larkmead Press, 2011)
Loo’s work is an adventure in cognitive rebellion, helping us understand the socio-economic forces destroying our world.
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 (Simon & Schuster 2012[1951])
A case study of censorship and resistance, the late Ray Bradbury’s novel inspired our introduction to the forthcoming Censored 2013.
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Sarah van Gelder and YES! Magazine, This Changes Everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99% Movement (Berrett-Koehler, 2011)
The good-news folks at YES! bring together some of the best and brightest minds and activists to remind us, the 99%, that we are the change agents for a better world and that our time for action is now. Read it and Occupy!
Charles Eisenstein, Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition (Evolver, 2011).
A breakthrough in thinking… Sacred Economics explores time-tested and emerging concepts of the new economics, including local and negative interest currencies, resource-based economics, gift economies and the restoration of the commons.
Ross Jackson, Occupy World Street: A Global Roadmap for Radical Economic and Political Reform (Chelsea Green, 2012)
A sweeping vision of how to reform our global economic and political structures, break away from empire, and build a world based on ecological sustainability and human rights.
Mickey Huff and Project Censored, Censored 2012 (Seven Stories Press, 2011)
The “sourcebook for the media revolution.”