Propaganda Presents: Second Season Summer (book) Series

S2 Book Club #1: Minority Rule by Ari Berman (Ch. 1-3)

The hosts launch season two of the Propaganda Loves You Book Club with Ari Berman’s Minority Rule, covering the prologue and chapters 1–3 (“Fear of a White Minority,” “Laboratory for Oligarchy,” “The Fear of Democracy,” and “The New Nullification”). They discuss how the book traces backlash to the civil rights era and the Voting Rights Act and argue the U.S. was never a pure democracy, citing anti-democratic structures like the Senate, Electoral College, gerrymandering, and the capped House. They connect elite fear of majority rule to founders’ class interests, quote Thurgood Marshall’s critique of constitutional mythmaking, and examine how dark money after Citizens United and state-level test cases like Wisconsin entrench minority rule. The conversation weighs cynicism against hope, emphasizing rereading, rising public consciousness, and using states to push democratic reforms, and previews covering chapters 4–6 next.

S2 Episode #10: NY 21 Midterms - Candidates and Campaigns

Propaganda Loves You: Who’s Running for Congress in New York’s 21st District (2026) Hosts Kodie, Arthur, and Joe, introduce a new focus on local races through an informative and propaganda lens, starting with New York’s 21st congressional district ahead of 2026. After brief personal updates and a true/false history quiz tied to their upcoming book series on Minority Rule, they outline NY-21’s geography, rural character, R+10 Cook PVI, and history from Bill Owens’ 2009 win amid a GOP split to Elise Stefanik’s tenure and past power-holder Bertrand Snell. They review two Democratic primary candidates—Blake Gendebien farming-and-community narrative and Stuart Amaral’s more detailed issue-focused approach—and two Republicans: Assemblyman Robert Smullen, whose debate included discussion of a 2018 felony tax fraud guilty plea, and Sticker Mule CEO Anthony Constantino, a Trump-endorsed self-funder with highly personal and pro-Trump messaging. They note upcoming debates, limited polling, and plans to follow the primaries and messaging. 00:00 Cold Open Banter 00:44 Show Intro and Catch Up 03:37 True False Icebreaker 07:06 NY 21 District Overview 08:18 Seat History and Stefanik Era 11:18 Flip Chances and Strategy Talk 16:44 Democrats Blake Profile 21:51 Democrats Stuart Profile 23:38 Republicans Smullen Profile 34:05 Republicans Constantino Profile 40:52 Polls Wrap and Outro Resources for this episode - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XAtnqjuixI - Republican Primary Debate 2021 https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/cbs6-to-host-ny-21-gop-primary-debate-constantino-agrees-to-participate-sticker-mule-smullen-stefanik-republican https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/53490/20260528/ny-21-both-republican-and-democratic-candidates-will-debate-before-the-primary Candidate Pages - https://blakegendebienforcongress.com/meet-blake/ https://www.constantino.com/about/ https://www.amoriell.com/about https://www.robertsmullenforcongress.com/about

Propaganda Presents: Second Season Summer (book) Series

Propaganda Loves You: Summer Book Series Preview, Biweekly Schedule, and Midterms Focus In this special preview episode of “Propaganda Loves You,” the hosts recap last season’s books—Timothy Snyder’s “On Tyranny,” Ira Katznelson’s “When Affirmative Action Was White,” and “The Dawn of Everything”—and announce a summer reading series running to the midterms while continuing core episodes with a new focus. The summer books are Ari Berman’s “Minority Rule,” about anti-democratic tactics like voter suppression, gerrymandering, dark money, and court capture; Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow,” on mass incarceration as contemporary racial control; and bell hooks’ “All About Love,” exploring love as a definable practice and political act. They also shift to a biweekly release schedule with one core and one book episode, and plan core coverage of local House and Senate races, including New York 21. 00:00 Summer Series Preview 00:50 Last Season Recap 01:48 Listener Map Challenge 03:25 Book One Minority Rule 07:13 Book Two The New Jim Crow 10:15 Book Three All About Love 16:14 Schedule and Midterms Focus 17:15 Local Election Talk 18:26 Wrap Up and Call to Action

S2 Deep Dive #2 (Part Two): The Century of the Self - Adam Curtis

Propaganda Loves You: A Century of Self (Episodes 3–4), Capitalism’s Co-opting of Rebellion, and the Rise of Data-Driven Politics The hosts of Propaganda Loves You continue their discussion of Edward Bernays and Adam Curtis’s The Century of the Self, recapping episodes 1–2 and focusing on episode 3 (“There Is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads and He Must Be Destroyed”) and episode 4 ("Eight people sipping wine in Kettering"). They describe a central theme: the shift from Freudian repression to promoted self-expression, and how capitalism absorbs its own critiques by selling rebellion and identity back as consumer products. They discuss figures like Wilhelm Reich and Fritz Perls, encounter the EST seminars’ link back to consumerism, and note the “inner directive” personality type that later aligned with Reagan and Thatcher. In episode 4, they examine Bill Clinton-era polling, focus groups, and niche policies that treat voters as consumers, alongside welfare reform and PR-driven politics. The conversation extends to social media, surveillance, and data exploitation, suggesting follow-ups on Cambridge Analytica and modern PR firms. 00:00 Capitalist Utopia Ending 01:36 Welcome and Recap 03:18 Episode Three Themes 03:59 Capitalism Absorbs Rebellion 06:05 Socialism Sameness Myth 08:35 William Reich Arc 10:53 Sex Revolution Reframed 12:28 Nuance and History 14:43 Therapy and Inner Parts 17:05 EST Back to Capitalism 17:32 Reagan and Politics Pivot 19:20 Inner Directive Voters 20:22 Identity as Construction 24:00 Ethical Consumption Limits 27:36 Systemic Blame Shift 29:12 Freedom for Corporations 32:34 Corporate Death Penalty 33:32 Policeman In Your Head 33:57 Collective Over Individualism 35:52 Privatized Stress Systemic 36:21 Episode Four Clinton Era 37:54 Self Liberation For Sale 39:08 Polling Voters As Consumers 41:45 Democracy Participation Limits 44:27 Authenticity And Social Media 49:10 Data Extraction And AI 51:48 Surveillance Devices Everywhere 55:34 Capitalist Realism And Rent 57:48 Beyond Business Ontology 59:55 Next Topics And Wrap Up 01:00:55 Plugs Meditation Resources 01:02:36 Final Thanks And Outro Resources: https://www.youtube.com/@justadamcurtis9178

S2 Episode #9: Modern PR and the Power of Spectacle

Propaganda Loves You: Voting Rights Act Gutted, Trump’s PR Stunts, and Mayday Organizing Kodie, Arthur, and Joe mark a year of the podcast with listener analytics, then play a real-or-fake headlines game that leads into discussion of recent political news. The hosts then cover the Supreme Court’s 6–3 ruling narrowing Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in a Louisiana redistricting case, citing Clarence Thomas’s critique of proportional representation and warning of intensified gerrymandering. They analyze Trump’s long history of publicity stunts and the broader propaganda ecosystem around him, from Roy Cohn to modern meme operations. The episode closes with Mayday updates via Democracy Now, emphasizing labor solidarity and collective action. 00:00 Welcome Back and Agenda 01:22 One Year Listener Milestone 03:45 State Quarters Nostalgia 04:43 Real or Fake Headlines Game 07:50 Debunking and Explaining Headlines 15:42 Voting Rights Act Under Attack 25:31 Organizing and Political Hope 29:46 Sponsor Break Skit 31:27 Trump PR Stunts Origins 35:34 WWE Kayfabe and The Apprentice 39:16 Branding vs Political Propaganda 42:45 Escalator Crowd Reveal 43:43 Free Media Spectacle 44:22 Fast Food And Mugshot Branding 46:58 McDonalds Fry Photo Op 48:29 DoorDash And Butler Image 52:23 Debating Attention And Optics 57:23 Architects Behind The Brand 01:03:25 Meme White House Machine 01:09:50 Satire Ad Break 01:11:01 Mayday And Worker Solidarity 01:21:43 Howard Zinn Utopian Vision 01:31:04 Solidarity Signals And Democracy 01:37:32 Wrap Up And Next Episodes