Amusing Ourselves to Death

Forty years ago, Neil Postman wrote Amusing Ourselves to Death, a piercing analysis of the effect television had on American knowledge, communication, and culture. This series will revisit Postman’s account of America’s shift from a culture of print to a culture of pictures, and ask how it helps us understand the digital technological shift that Postman never lived to see.

Join Nathaniel Peters (Morningside) for this series reading and discussing Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death.

All sessions will be held at 6 PM. Dinner will be served. Please RSVP on the event pages below.

Schedule

Wednesday, January 29 | The Culture of Typography

This week, we will look at Postman’s analysis of how media shape culture and our relationship to the world. We will also consider his account of America’s origins as a culture of typography. Can American democracy sustain itself without a dominant culture of print?

Wednesday, February 5 | The Peek-a-Boo World

This week we will look at how television shaped all aspects of American culture. What happens when religion, education, and politics become forms of entertainment?

Wednesday, February 12 | The Digital Age

Since Postman’s death in 2003, America has undergone another technological revolution as the age of TV morphed into the digital age of the internet, social media, and smartphones. This week we will consider Postman’s analysis of television and how it applies to the digital age.