Why am I passionate about this?
My name is Daniel Robert McClure, and I am an Associate Professor of History at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas. I teach U.S., African diaspora, and world history, and I specialize in cultural and economic history. I was originally drawn to âinformationâ and âknowledgeâ because they form the ties between culture and economics, and I have been teaching history through âinformationâ for about a decade. In 2024, I was finally able to teach a graduate course, âThe Origins of the Knowledge Society,â out of which came the â5 books.â
Daniel's book list on the history of information-knowledge
Why did Daniel love this book?
This book also operates as both a primary source as well as a scholarly work, essentially updating Boorstin. Postmanâs classic book wrestles with the paradox presented by George Orwell and Aldous Huxley: Huxley, rather than Orwell, anticipated the future, as one does not need to outlaw certain books if one does not care to readâas one revels in the pleasures of âpseudo-events.â
Read in lightâor glareâof the more recent smartphone revolution, Postmanâs book becomes even more relevant to contemporary discussions about information, knowledge, and overload.
5 authors picked Amusing Ourselves to Death as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
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.â -CNN
Originally published in 1985, Neil Postmanâs 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 mediaâfrom the Internet to cellâŠ