I am a great fan of Brooke Gladstone's work with the public radio show "On the Media." And as much as I equally appreciate her co-host and wonder twin, Bob Garfield, I was irritated over the last year or so when Gladstone took leaves from the radio desk to work on her book. Ah, the show just wasn't the same ... by which I mean, it wasn't as good without her there. But I'm making my peace with it. Especially now that a glimpse of her book is available over at Slate. And I find out that this book is a graphic novel. A graphic novel that begins with the invention of writing and ends in the year 2045.
Oh, Brooke Gladstone, you slay me.
The book is called The Influencing Machine: Brooke Gladstone On the Media, with Josh Neufeld illustrating, and it is released this month. The author writes:
Another reason for using comics: The world is full of media books with competing predictions of cyber-utopia or annihilating chaos. I steer between those shoals, and sometimes bump up against both of them. My argument (don't rejoice, don't panic) is built on many small, historical moments. I want those moments to stick with the reader. Pictures, especially the sly, evocative pictures drawn here by Josh Neufeld, are sticky.
... The point of the book is that the media are not the "influencing machine" of popular imagination, but rather a mirror. We can change the reflection, but it's very hard to do.
See the substantive excerpt published today here ... and look for another excerpt to be available tomorrow.
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