In this second part of our Edward Bernays series, we move from cigarettes and bacon to coups and Cold War politics. Max and Jess pick up where the last episode left off, diving into Bernays’ early work during World War I and how it shaped the modern world of propaganda, public relations, and mass persuasion.

First, they explore Bernays’ role in the U.S. government’s Committee on Public Information, the first large-scale American propaganda machine, and how he learned to shape public opinion by appealing to emotion instead of reason. Those wartime lessons would become the foundation of the public relations industry.

Then the story shifts south to Guatemala in the 1950s, where Bernays worked for the United Fruit Company. As land reforms threatened the company’s massive holdings, Bernays launched a sweeping PR campaign in the United States, framing Guatemala as a communist threat. That narrative helped build public support for a CIA-backed coup that overthrew the country’s democratically elected government.

It is a conversation about influence, corporate power, Cold War paranoia, and the long shadow of one man’s ideas. As always, we leave it up to you to decide whether Bernays was a genius, a villain, or something more complicated.

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