LEADER 01937nam 2200193 a 450

001 277158

008 181031s2018 nyu b 000 0 eng d

010 $a2018010263

020 $a9780525574828 (hbk.)

020 $a9780525574842 (ebook)

035 $a00325818

050 00$aJK1726$b.K355 2018

082 00$a306.20973$223

090 $a306.20973/K123///UM061360

100 1 $aKakutani, Michiko.$3494154

245 14$aThe death of truth :$bnotes on falsehood in the age of Trump /$cMichiko Kakutani.

260 $aNew York :$bTim Duggan Books,$cc2018.

300 $a208 p. ;$c20 cm.

504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 175-208)

505 0 $aThe decline and fall of reason -- The new culture wars -- "Moi" and the rise of subjectivity -- The vanishing of reality -- The co-opting of language -- Filters, silos, and tribes -- Technology -- "The firehose of falsehood": propaganda and fake news -- The Schadenfreude of the trolls.

520 $aWe live in a time when the very idea of objective truth is mocked and discounted by the occupants of the White House. Discredited conspiracy theories and ideologies have resurfaced, proven science is once more up for debate, and Russian propaganda floods our screens. The wisdom of the crowd has usurped research and expertise, and we are each left clinging to the beliefs that best confirm our biases. How did truth become an endangered species in contemporary America? This decline began decades ago, and in The Death of Truth former New York Times critic Michiko Kakutani takes a penetrating look at the cultural forces that contributed to this gathering storm. In social media and literature, television, academia, and political campaigns, Kakutani identifies the trends -- originating on both the right and the left -- that have combined to elevate subjectivity over factuality, science, and common values. And she returns us to the words of the great critics of authoritarianism, writers like George Orwell and Hannah Arendt, whose work is newly and eerily relevant.

650 0$aPolitical culture$zUnited States.$3161207

650 0$aTruth$xPolitical aspects$zUnited States.$3494155

651 0$aUnited States$xPolitics and government$y2017-$3485890