By Ben Litherland and Richard McCulloch
The podcast currently has 12 episodes available.
In this bumper Very Special Episode ahead of this week’s UK General Election, we take it in turns to examine whether “the media” can “sway” election results. First, Ben examines the always-silly and sometimes-sinister British tabloid press and their (in)famous claim that it was “The Sun Wot Won It” for John Major in 1992. Rich then looks at Cambridge Analytica, and the claims that its Facebook quizzes helped make Brexit happen. Politics podcasts deserve better: vote for ILL EFFECTS!
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Afriat, H., et al. (2021) “This is capitalism. It is not illegal”: Users’ attitudes toward institutional privacy following the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The Information Society, 37(2).
BBC (2018) “Cambridge Analytica: The data firm's global influence,” BBC News, 22nd March.
BBC (2020) “Cambridge Analytica 'not involved' in Brexit referendum, says watchdog,” BBC News, 7th October.
Berghel, H. (2018) “Malice Domestic: The Cambridge Analytica Dystopia,” Computer, 51(5), May.
Bruns, A. (2019) Are Filter Bubbles Real? Polity Press.
Cadwalladr, C., and Graham-Harrison, E. (2018) “Revealed: 50 million Facebook profiles harvested for Cambridge Analytica in major data breach,” The Guardian, 17th March.
Curtice, J. "Was it The Sun wot won it again? The influence of newspapers in the 1997 election campaign." Centre for research into elections and social trends working papers 75 (1999).
De Vany, A. (2004) Hollywood Economics: How extreme uncertainty shapes the film industry. Routledge.
Druckman, J. N. (2005). Media matter: How newspapers and television news cover campaigns and influence voters. Political communication, 22(4), 463-481.
Fuchs, C. (2013) Social Media: A Critical Introduction. Sage.
Gunther, A. C., Perloff, R. M., & Tsfati, Y. (2008). Public opinion and the third-person effect. The SAGE handbook of public opinion research, 184-191.
Heawood, J. (2018) “Pseudo-public political speech: Democratic implications of the Cambridge Analytica scandal,” Information Polity, 23.
Hern, A. (2018) "Cambridge Analytica: how did it turn clicks into votes?” The Guardian, 6th May.
Linton, M. (1996). Maybe The Sun won it after all. British Journalism Review, 7(2), 20-26.
Parliament.UK (2018) “The issue of data targeting, based around the Facebook, GSR and Cambridge Analytica allegations.” Disinformation and ‘fake news’: Interim Report. 29th July.
Price, V., & Feldman, L. (2009). News and politics. The Sage Handbook of Media Processes and Effects. Los Angeles: Sage Publications, 113-129.
Rathi, R. (2019) “Effect of Cambridge Analytica’s Facebook ads on the 2016 US Presidential Election,” Towards Data Science, 13th January.
Reeves, A., McKee, M., & Stuckler, D. (2016). ‘It's The Sun Wot Won It’: Evidence of media influence on political attitudes and voting from a UK quasi-natural experiment. Social science research, 56, 44-57.
Risso, L. (2018) ‘Harvesting Your Soul? Cambridge Analytica and Brexit’ in Jansohn, C. (ed.) Brexit Means Brexit? The Selected Proceedings of the Symposium, Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur -- Mainz 6–8 December 2017. Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Mainz.
Strömbäck, J. (2011). Mediatization and perceptions of the media's political influence. Journalism studies, 12(4), 423-439.
Thomas, J. (2007). Popular newspapers, the Labour Party and British politics. Routledge.
Wong, J. C., et al. (2018) “How academic at centre of Facebook scandal tried – and failed – to spin personal data into gold,” The Guardian, 24th April.
Note: Journal articles are often behind paywalls. If you don't have institutional access but would like a copy of these papers please email [email protected] and we will happily send you a copy
Episode artwork photo by Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street. Used under Creative Commons license (ATTRIBUTION-NONCOMMERCIAL-NODERIVS 2.0 GENERIC).
Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland
Music by - Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman
Creative producer – Rachel Wood
Technical producer – Caroline Pringle
Technical production – Colin Frank
In the 1960s, parents, the press, psychologists, and many others were confronted with a large, terrifying, global problem: Beatlemania. In this episode, Ben talks Rich through how the world tried to make sense of the screaming, potentially hysterical, pop fan. We encounter theories of red goddesses (what were shrinks taking in the 60s?), anti-communist creeds, and Adrienne from Brooklyn that really, really loves Paul.
[Video] A taste of Beatlemania in the 1960s
[Video] CBS News reports on the Beatles in 1964
“What the Beatles Prove About Teen-agers” (1962) U.S. News & World. 24 February.
Berman, G. (2007). "We're Going to See the Beatles!": An Oral History of Beatlemania as Told by the Fans who Were There. Santa Monica Press.
Davies, E. (1969). Psychological characteristics of Beatle mania. Journal of the History of Ideas, 30(2), 273-280.
Dempsey, D. (1964). Why the Girls Scream, Weep, Flip. The path to understanding is psychological, anthropological and a whole lot besides. New York Times Magazine, 23.
Ehrenreich, B., Hess, E., & Jacobs, G. (1992). “Beatlemania: Girls just want to have fun” In Lisa A. Lewis (ed) The Adoring Audience Routledge.
Leonard, C. (2016). Beatleness: How the Beatles and their fans remade the world. Skyhorse.
Millard, A. (2012). Beatlemania: Technology, Business, and Teen Culture in Cold War America. JHU Press.
Mills, R. (2019). The Beatles and Fandom: Sex, Death and Progressive Nostalgia. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
Taylor, A. J. W. (1966). “Beatlemania—A study in adolescent enthusiasm”. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 5(2), 81-88.
Taylor, A. J. W. (2014). “The 1964 Wellington Study of Beatlemania Revisited”, Psychology, 5(15), 1844.
Van Luling, T. (2017) “11 Things You Probably Didn't Know About The Beatles, Even If You're A Superfan”, Huffington Post. 7 December.
Womack, K., & O'Toole, K. (Eds.). (2021). Fandom and the Beatles: The Act You've Known for All These Years. Oxford University Press, USA.
Note: Journal articles are often behind paywalls. If you don't have institutional access but would like a copy of these papers please email [email protected] and we will happily send you a copy
Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland
Music by - Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman
Creative producer – Rachel Wood
Technical producer – Caroline Pringle
Technical production – Colin Frank
Can media representations of suicide really be “contagious”, driving vulnerable audiences to end their own lives? Rich introduces Ben to a frustratingly large field of psychologists, counsellors and youth charities who made this argument about the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. We dive head-first into both the controversy and the research behind it, to figure out why so many smart, well-intentioned people keep getting this issue so wrong.
CONTENT WARNING: this episode includes discussion of suicide and its causes, clips where people discuss their suicidal feelings. It also contains passing references to sexual assault.
If you or someone you know is having suicidal feelings, please seek help immediately. If you are in the UK, the following hotlines all provide support free of charge:
If you would prefer not to talk over the phone, the following services are available:
For listeners in countries outside of the UK, a useful list of hotlines and other support resources can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines#Crisis_lines_by_country
Credits:
Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland
Music by - Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman
Creative producer – Rachel Wood
Technical producer – Caroline Pringle
Technical production – Colin Frank
After a defence lawyer blamed the killing of a six-year-old on pro wrestling, the Parents Television Council went to war with the World Wrestling Federation. Lifelong pro wrestling fan, Ben, talks Rich through this bad blood feud: in one corner “family values” and in the other corner the sex and violence of “attitude era” pro wrestling. We explore the increasingly fraught tactics used by both organizations, and, surprisingly, what the battle tells us about modern culture wars, the American right, and Donald Trump. Let’s get ready to rumblllleeee.
Bozell, B (2023) Free Speech Week calls for a return to First Amendment liberties. Washington Examiner. Oct. 20.
Calvert, C., & Richards, R. D. (2010). The Parents Television Council Uncensored: An Inside Look at the Watchdog of the Public Airwaves and the War on Indecency with Its President, Tim Winter. Hastings Comm. & Ent. LJ, 33, 293
Dale, M. J. (2003). Making Sense of the Lionel Tate Case. Nova L. Rev., 28, 467.
Farhi, P (2002) TV Watchdog Apologizes for False Claims on Wrestling. The Washington Post. 9th July.
Foley, M (2001) Foley Is Good: And the Real World Is Faker Than Wrestling. Regan Books.
Lowney, K. S. (2003). Wrestling with Criticism: The World Wrestling Federation's Ironic Campaign against the Parents Television Council. Symbolic Interaction, 26(3), 427-446.
Sagba, C (2000) Vince McMahon Talks About Suing PTC and Negotiations with WCW!, IGN, June 18th,
Sammond, N. (2005). Squaring the family circle: WWF Smackdown assaults the social body. In Sammond, N. (Ed.) Steel chair to the head: the pleasure and pain of professional wrestling. Duke University Press, pp.132-166.
Specer, T (2000) Is Pro Wrestling to Blame for girls death? South Coast Today. 16th April.
[Video] The Rock Confronts Right to Censor At Smackdown
Note: Journal articles are often behind paywalls. If you don't have institutional access but would like a copy of these papers please email [email protected] and we will happily send you a copy
Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland
Music by - Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman
Creative producer – Rachel Wood
Technical producer – Caroline Pringle
Technical production – Colin Frank
In 2020, a French indie movie called Cuties somehow found itself at the epicentre of the US culture wars. Outraged conservatives accused the filmmakers and Netflix of encouraging paedophilia and stoking the fires of global child sex trafficking trade. But were they right? Rich’s deep dive into the controversy takes Ben on a journey through “sexualisation,” twerking, Tucker Carlson’s gormless face, School of Rock, QAnon, and yes... even paedophilic robots.
Barker, Martin, Jane Arthurs, Jane and Ramaswami Harindranath (2001) The Crash Controversy: Censorship Campaigns and Film Reception. Wallflower Press.
Barker, Martin (2009) “The Challenge of Censorship: ‘Figuring’ Out the Audience,” Velvet Light Trap, 63.
Barker, Martin, with Thomas Austin (2000) From Antz to Titanic: Reinventing Film Analysis. Pluto Press.
Buchanan, Vern (2020) “Buchanan Slams Netflix Film ‘Cuties’ for Exploiting Young Girls,” September 13. [Press Release]
Carlson, Tucker (2020) “From ‘WAP’ to an 11-year-old twerking girl,” Tucker Carlson Tonight, August 21. [Twitter/X video clip, posted by @ColumbiaBugle]
Carlson, Tucker (2020) “Netflix Slammed for Sexualizing Young Girls,” Tucker Carlson Tonight, September 11. [Facebook video]
Cassam, Quassim (2019) Conspiracy Theories. Polity.
Cruz, Ted (2020) “SEN. CRUZ CALLS FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION INTO NETFLIX’S ‘CUTIES’,” September 11. [Press Release]
Dickson, E.J. (2020) “How ‘Cuties’ Is Fueling the Far Right’s Obsession With Pedophilia,” Rolling Stone, September 14.
Dickson, E.J. (2020) “Netflix’s Cuties Was Just Charged With Lewdness. But That’s Not the Full Story,” Rolling Stone, October 8.
Egan, R. Danielle (2013) Becoming Sexual: A Critical Appraisal of the Sexualization of Girls. Polity Press.
Egan, R. Danielle and Gail L. Hawkes (2007) “Producing the Prurient through the Pedagogy of Purity: Childhood Sexuality and the Social Purity Movement,” Journal of Historical Sociology, 20(4).
Egan, R. Danielle and Gail L. Hawkes (2008) “Endangered Girls and Incendiary Objects: Unpacking the Discourse on Sexualization," Sexuality and Culture, 12.
Egan, R. Danielle and Gail L. Hawkes (2008) “Girls, Sexuality and the Strange Carnalities of Advertisements: Deconstructing the Discourse of Corporate Paedophilia,” Australian Feminist Studies, 23(57).
Egan, R. Danielle and Gail L. Hawkes (2009) “The problem with protection: Or, why we need to move towards recognition and the sexual agency of children,” Continuum, 23(3).
Egan, R. Danielle and Gail L. Hawkes (2013) “Disavowal and foundational fantasies: A psychosocial exploration of the class, race and the social construction of the sexual child in the Anglophone West,” Sexualities, 16(5/6).
Gallagher, Danny (2022) “District Attorney Lucas Babin? Where Have We Heard That Name? Oh, Right! School of Rock!” Dallas Observer, April 4.
Givas, Nick (2020) “Rep. Ken Buck calls for investigation into 'exploitation of children' in letter to DOJ regarding Netflix film 'Cuties',” Fox News, September 14.
Grater, Tom (2020) “‘Cuties’ Director Says She Received Death Threats After Netflix Poster Backlash; Ted Sarandos Called Her To Apologize,” Deadline, September 3. [Contains images of the contrasting French and American posters]
Gray, Jonathan (2010) Show Sold Separately: Promos, Spoilers, and Other Media Paratexts. New York University Press.
McCulloch, Richard, and William Proctor (2023) “The Cuties Controversy: Prefiguration, ‘Sexualisation’ and the New Conspiracism,” Participations, 19(3).
Netflix (2020) “Cuties | Official Trailer | Netflix,” [YouTube]
Paasonen, Susanna, et al. (2020) Objectification: On the Difference between Sex and Sexism. Routledge.
Rosen, Christopher (2020) “Netflix Apologizes for “Inappropriate” Cuties Poster That Sexualized Child Stars,” Vanity Fair, August 20.
Rosenblum, Nancy L., and Russell Muirhead (2019) A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy. Princeton University Press.
Schiffer, Zoë (2021) “Netflix scrambled internally to suppress a controversial movie from search results,” The Verge, October 27.
Note: Journal articles are often behind paywalls. If you don't have institutional access but would like a copy of these papers please email [email protected] and we will happily send you a copy
Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland
Music by - Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman
Creative producer – Rachel Wood
Technical producer – Caroline Pringle
Technical production – Colin Frank
From Death Race to Grand Theft Auto, driving games have long fuelled claims that players might be inspired to start mowing down pedestrians outside of the game. Starting with a story about a Toronto police officer linking a hit and run to a copy of Need for Speed found on the offender’s passenger seat, Ben talks Rich through the surprisingly longstanding history of links between video games and reckless driving. We encounter early arcade video games, clowns being run over at anti-car carnivals, and Adam West’s Batman doing British road safety videos. Crash! Bang! Wallop! What a podcast!
[Video] 1967 Adam West Batman UK Public Service Announcement
Beullens, K., Roe, K., & Van den Bulck, J. (2008). Video games and adolescents' intentions to take risks in traffic. Journal of Adolescent Health, 43(1), 87-90.
Carsten, O., & Jamson, A. H. (2011). Driving simulators as research tools in traffic psychology. In Handbook of traffic psychology (pp. 87-96). Academic Press.
[Video] Death Race News Report
Fischer, P., Greitemeyer, T., Morton, T., Kastenmüller, A., Postmes, T., Frey, D., ... & Odenwälder, J. (2009). The racing-game effect why do video racing games increase risk-taking inclinations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35(10), 1395-1409.
Howard, J., Bowden, V. K., & Visser, T. (2023). Do action video games make safer drivers? The effects of video game experience on simulated driving performance. Transportation research part F: traffic psychology and behaviour, 97, 170-180.
Hull, J. G., Draghici, A. M., & Sargent, J. D. (2012). A longitudinal study of risk-glorifying video games and reckless driving. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 1(4), 244.
Kocurek, C. A. (2012). The agony and the Exidy: a history of video game violence and the legacy of Death Race. Game Studies, 12(1).
Lumsden, K. (2013). Boy racer culture: Youth, masculinity and deviance. Routledge.
(2006) “NFS found in fatal drag-racing car crash”, Game Spot, Jan 26th.
Norton, P. D. (2007). Street rivals: Jaywalking and the invention of the motor age street. Technology and culture, 48(2), 331-359.
Redshaw, S. (2017). In the company of cars: Driving as a social and cultural practice. CRC Press.
Sala, G., Tatlidil, K. S., & Gobet, F. (2018). Video game training does not enhance cognitive ability: A comprehensive meta-analytic investigation. Psychological bulletin, 144(2), 111..
Stinchcombe, A., Kadulina, Y., Lemieux, C., Aljied, R., & Gagnon, S. (2017). Driving is not a game: Video game experience is associated with risk-taking behaviours in the driving simulator. Computers in Human Behavior, 69, 415-420.
Vingilis, E., Seeley, J., Wiesenthal, D. L., Wickens, C. M., Fischer, P., & Mann, R. E. (2013). Street racing video games and risk-taking driving: An Internet survey of automobile enthusiasts. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 50, 1-7.
Note: Journal articles are often behind paywalls. If you don't have institutional access but would like a copy of these papers please email [email protected] and we will happily send you a copy
Hosts – Ben Litherland & Rich McCulloch
Music by - Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman
Creative producer – Rachel Wood
Technical producer – Caroline Pringle
Technical production – Colin Frank
Before “deep focus” and “study beats” playlists came muzak—one of the most widespread (and widely hated) forms of music of the 20th Century. But does background music really have the power to improve worker productivity? To dictate our wine preferences? Or, God forbid, even affect how long we spend in our favourite brothel?!? Rich shows Ben that the genre’s history doesn’t always make for easy listening.
Advertising Cliche (n.d.) “The Visual Primer of Advertising Cliches: Muzak Corporation” [amazing online archive of historical print ads]
Allan, David (2008) “Sound retailing: A Review of Experimental Evidence on the Effects of Music on Shopping Behavior,” in Tina M. Lowrey, ed. Brick & Mortar Shopping in the 21st Century. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Anderson, Paul Allen (2015) “Neo-muzak and the business of mood,” Critical Inquiry, 41(4).
Bradshaw, Alan, and Morris B. Holbrook (2008) “Must we have Muzak wherever we go? A critical consideration of the consumer culture,” Consumption, Markets and Culture, 11(1).
Camp, Gregory (2017) "Mickey Mouse Muzak: Shaping Experience Musically at Walt Disney World,” Journal of the Society for American Music, 11(1).
Chebat, Jean-Charles, Dominique Valiant, and Gelinas-Chebat (2000) “Does Background Music in a Store Enhance Salespersons' Persuasiveness?” Perceptual and Motor Skills, 91.
Hulyer, Jake (2018) “Inside the booming business of background music,” Guardian, 6th November.
Illouz, Eva (2018) “Introduction: emodities or the making of emotional commodities.” In Illouz, ed. Emotions as Commodities: Capitalism, Consumption and Authenticity. Routledge.
Inside the Score (2022) “Satie's Furniture Music: Designed to be Ignored?” [YouTube]
Gorbman, Claudia (1987) Unheard Melodies: Narrative Film Music. Indiana University Press.
Jones, Simon C. and Thomas G. Schumacher (1992) “Muzak: On Functional Music and Power,” Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 9(2).
Kotler, Philip (1974) “Atmospherics as a Marketing Tool,” Journal of Retailing, 49(4).
Lanza, Joseph (1994) Elevator Music: A Surreal History of Muzak, Easy-Listening, and Other Moodsong. 1st ed. Picador.
Mercer, Jason C. (2018) “Elevator Music -- MUZAK -- Stimulus Progression” [YouTube]
[Muzak ads archived]
North, Adrian C., David J. Hargreaves and Jennifer McKendrick (1999) “The Influence of In-Store Music on Wine Selections,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(2).
[Satie, Carrelage Phonique]
Veix, Joe (2019) “Fitter, happier, more productive: The odd history of ‘productivity music’” Dropbox: Work in Progress.
Best of lofi hip hop 2023 🎉 - beats to relax/study to
Artist(s) name – squeeda x tonbo - Inertia
Provided by Lofi Girl – Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmKguZohAck
Listen: Spotify
Local Forecast - Elevator by Kevin MacLeod https://incompetech.com/
Promoted by MrSnooze
Creative Commons — CC BY 3.0 I https://goo.gl/Yibru5
Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland
Music by - Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman
Creative producer – Rachel Wood
Technical producer – Caroline Pringle
Technical production – Colin Frank
Ben takes Rich back to the landmark case study of a book that was accused of changing the world forever by containing descriptions of sex and swearwords. Join us for a 150-year history of obscenity laws, the power of literature to corrupt, swinging 60s, explicit fan fiction, and whether you’d want YOUR wife or servant reading this filth.
Chandos, John (1962) To deprave and corrupt...”. Original Studies in the Nature and Definition of 'Obscenity' Associated Press.
Erlanson, Erik, et al. (2020) Forbidden Literature: Case Studies on Censorship. Kriterium.
[Video] Hawes, James (2006) The Chatterley Affair, BBC
Hilliard, Christopher (2013). “Is It a Book That You Would Even Wish Your Wife or Your Servants to Read?” Obscenity Law and the Politics of Reading in Modern England. The American Historical Review, 118(3), 653-678.
[Video] 1960: Lady Chatterley's Lover Goes on Sale
Ozimek, John and Julian Petley (2009) ‘Our outdated obscenity law’, The Guardian, 1st July.
Roberts, M. J. D. (1985). ‘Morals, Art, and the Law: The Passing of the Obscene Publications Act, 1857’, Victorian Studies, 28(4), 609-629.
Rolph, C. H. (1991). The Trial of Lady Chatterley: Regina V. Penguin Books Limited: The Transcript of the Trial. Penguin
Thomas, Nick (2013). “‘To-Night's Big Talking Point is Still that Book’ Popular Responses to the Lady Chatterley Trial”, Cultural and Social History, 10(4), 619-634.
Note: Journal articles are often behind paywalls. If you don't have institutional access but would like a copy of these papers please email [email protected] and we will happily send you one.
Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland
Music by - Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman
Creative producer – Rachel Wood
Technical producer – Caroline Pringle
Technical production – Colin Frank
Can the YouTube algorithm really turn you into a Flat Earther, or some other kind of radical conspiracy theorist? Rich takes Ben on a journey through terrible poetry, evangelical newsletters and 9/11 Truther videos. It turns out the “filter bubble” is an idea that might need bursting.
Blount, Lady Elizabeth (1898) “The ‘Why’ and ‘Because’” [poem included in her novel Adrian Galilio; Or, a Song Writer’s Story]
Bruns, Axel. (2019) Are Filter Bubbles Real? Polity Press.
Flat Earth News (1976-1994) [Newsletter of the Flat Earth Society]
Garwood, Christine (2008) Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea. Pan Books.
Grusauskaite, Kamile, Luca Carbone, Jaron Harambam, and Stef Aupers (2023). “Debating (in) echo chambers: How culture shapes communication in conspiracy theory networks on YouTube,” New Media & Society. Online First.
Loose Change (2005) Dir. Dylan Avery. [Film]
Olshansky, Alex, Robert M. Peaslee and Asheley R. Landrum (2020) “Flat- Smacked! Converting to Flat Eartherism,” Journal of Media and Religion, 19(2).
Paolillo, John C. (2018) “The Flat Earth phenomenon on YouTube,” First Monday.
Pariser, Eli (2011) The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You. Penguin Books.
“Phillip Is Absolutely Baffled by the Men Who Believe the Earth Is Flat | This Morning” [Video]
Roose, Kevin (2020) Rabbit Hole, New York Times [Podcast]
Roose, Kevin (2021) “How a Viral Video Bent Reality,” New York Times, September 8.
Russell, Jeffrey Burton (1991) Inventing the Flat Earth. Praeger.
Sales, Nancy Jo (2006) “Click Here for Conspiracy”, Vanity Fair, October 10.
Sunstein, Cass R. (2001) Republic.com. Princeton University Press.
Note: Journal articles are often behind paywalls. If you don't have institutional access but would like a copy of these papers please email [email protected] and we will happily send you a copy
Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland
Music by - Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman
Creative producer – Rachel Wood
Technical producer – Caroline Pringle
Technical production – Colin Frank
Barbie has been accused of a lot over the last 7 decades, but her most enduring criticism is that she sets unrealistic beauty standards for young girls. Ben talks Rich through the curious history of Barbie as a toy and a “role model”, the sometimes-warped world of body image research, and a creepy life-size doll that walks on all fours.
Anschutz, Doeschka J., and Rutger CME Engels (2010). "The effects of playing with thin dolls on body image and food intake in young girls." Sex Roles 63, 621-630.
[Video] CNN: Woman Makes Life-Size Barbie Look-Alike
Blood, S. K. (2004). Body Work: The Social Construction of Women's Body Image, Routledge.
Brownell, Kelly D., and Melissa A. Napolitano (1995). "Distorting reality for children: Body size proportions of Barbie and Ken dolls." International Journal of Eating Disorders 18.3, 295-298.
Dittmar, Helga, Emma Halliwell, and Suzanne Ive (2006). "Does Barbie make girls want to be thin? The effect of experimental exposure to images of dolls on the body image of 5-to 8-year-old girls." Developmental Psychology 42.2, 283.
Dockterman, Eliana (2016) ‘Barbie’s Got a New Body’, Time
Driscoll, Catherine. (2002). Girls: Feminine Adolescence in Popular Culture and Cultural Theory. Columbia University Press.
‘Get Real Barbie Fact Sheet’
Henfield, M. (1990) ‘The Anorexics Aged Eight’, Daily Mail.
[Video] Mattel Barbie Commercial (1959)
Pearson, Marlys, and Paul R. Mullins (1999). "Domesticating Barbie: An archaeology of Barbie material culture and domestic ideology." International Journal of Historical Archaeology 3, 225-259.
Rand, Erica. (1995). Barbie's Queer Accessories. Duke University Press.
Note: Journal articles are often behind paywalls. If you don't have institutional access but would like a copy of these papers please email [email protected] and we will happily send you a copy
Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland
Music by - Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman
Creative producer – Rachel Wood
Technical producer – Caroline Pringle
Technical production – Colin Frank
The podcast currently has 12 episodes available.