Drilled

March 11, 2020 1:33 PM

The MadMen of Climate Denial. "In this season we're tackling Big Oil's big propaganda machine — its origins, the spin masters who created it, and why it's been so effective. It all began more than 100 years ago with Standard Oil, John D. Rockefeller and his son, a bloody miners' strike, and the very first P.R. guy, who swooped in to clean it all up."
posted by blue shadows (4 comments total)

I'm adding this to my listen list! Though I'm sure I can only handle small doses of it at a time before I get all worked up.

Two books on the general subject:

The Republican War on Science, Chris Mooney (2005)
The Merchants of Doubt, by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway (2010)

I put the dates because topical books often age out of relevance within an election cycle or two, but I read both of these when they came out and they are still current. We have made zero headway against the problems listed. (If you want to read one, the Oreskes book is the better of the two listed IMHO.)
posted by mark k at 7:20 PM on March 11, 2020 [2 favorites]

Really great podcast! Also check out Hot Take with the host of Drilled and Mary Heglar.
posted by R343L at 7:30 PM on March 11, 2020

Sigmund Freud's nephew, Edward Bernays, coined the term "public relations" ...

It might seem like Bernays used his uncle's work to inform his own, but it's actually the other way around. Freud was obscure and hard-up for money, and asked his successful nephew to give him a loan. Bernays said, "I won't give you money, but I will develop a self-promotional PR campaign for you". The campaign was effective, and without it Freud would likely not be the household word he became.
posted by StickyCarpet at 4:44 AM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

Eddie. It's always Eddie.
posted by BS Artisan at 5:11 AM on March 12, 2020