Media giants such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter claim to champion free speech, unite people and make the world a better place.  In his new book (2022) Max Fisher provides a compelling, if not frightening, argument that these media platforms have failed in their stated missions, and are contributing to a world polarized, not by fact based truth, but by misinformation, anger, threats and fear.

His opening chapters reveal why social media can become addictive.  He calls this phenomenon the “casino effect.”  Receiving “likes” and having our posts shared provides a dopamine rush akin to hitting the play again button on a slot machine. The platforms and their algorithms are designed to utilize habit forming features. Like Pavlov’s dog we gradually get hooked on checking for the next social media hit.  He states that the average American checks their smartphone 150 times a day, often to check social media.   Read More »

If you want to read book more frightening than a Stephen King novel, I recommend Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator McCarthy by Larry Tye, 2020, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Most of us would not have watched the live telecast of the congressional anti-communism hearings chaired by the Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy in the early fifties. This was period in American politics known as the Red Scare. The Cold War was at its height and there was paranoia over the fear of the spread of communism.

In his attempt to uncover communists in the United States, Senator McCarthy engaged in recklessly charging innocent people, ignoring their civil liberties, and destroying lives. Several people committed suicide as a result of his bullying tactics.  The term “McCarthyism” is a lasting reminder of his abuse of power. His behaviour has led the author, Tye,  to brand him as a demagogue, a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument.   Read More »