One book. One week. One foot in the grave.

Last blog post, first and only play! "Enemy of the People" is a fascinating work that examines how people perceive truth, especially as it is presented by whistleblowers/those who go against the status quo. The play is centered around Dr. Thomas Stockmann, a Medical Officer who has overseen the development of the baths in his small Swedish town. The baths are set to employ many people and become a major source of growth. When he realizes that the water in the baths is contaminated and hurting those who touch it, he assumes the town will applaud him for his discovery. However, he finds many opponents to revealing the truth, including his own brother, who worries about the economic viability of the town and discredits Thomas on the basis of his own personal faults. Eventually, he finds many major sects of the town, including the press and common people, turning against him as well, and he must decide whether to stick with his convictions or dissent. This summary may make i

I am a communications major, and this has led me to be introduced to a wide array of communications theories throughout my college career. In that time, I had heard the author of this book's name thrown around many times. Neil Postman was a famous media theorist and critic who was extremely critical of the advent and popularization of television, adopting the ideas of technological determinism (the belief that the popular medium in which messages are distributed determines a society's cultural values). Neil Postman In Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman argues that television becoming the dominant medium of information in our society has caused us to become obsessed with entertainment. All information presented through television, he asserts, is skewed to entertain us first, thereby making it nearly impossible for people to prioritize being entertained in all aspects of our life. He believes this has major consequences to us as a society and will lead to the downfall

Sinclair Lewis's It Can't Happen Here is another work of political fiction that describes an alternate timeline in which President Franklin Delano Roosevelt loses the election for his second term to Senator Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip. He platforms on a populist and nationalist platform and promises to end the Great Depression and make all citizens rich. He wins the election and implements a fascist regime, including his own secret police called the Minute Men. The novel follows both Windrip's regime and the actions of Dormeus Jessup, a reporter from Vermont. Eventually, as Windrip's regime becomes increasingly authoritarian, Jessup joins an underground group that publishes anti-Windrip material. The novel ends with Windrip's regime ending after he is ousted by his Secretary of State, who is then ousted by another government official, leading into a state of rebellion and civil war. This novel was an interesting insight into how fascism takes a