Dr. Nick Cull
Appearances
It's Been a Minute
Is your favorite pop star spreading propaganda?
Yeah, for me as a historian who specializes in propaganda, I think that there's enough real political propaganda in the world attempting to manipulate people into doing things politically, voting one way, invading a particular country, that I'm fully occupied looking into that rather than looking at artists who have a political agenda that is coming out in their performance. So I don't find...
It's Been a Minute
Is your favorite pop star spreading propaganda?
the term propaganda particularly helpful as a way of talking about what Beyonce is doing right now. I won't be rewriting my introduction to propaganda course based on what happened on Christmas Day. There's plenty else going on.
It's Been a Minute
Is your favorite pop star spreading propaganda?
What struck me about this whole controversy is that the term propaganda is being used in two different ways. There is the idea that people will say, this is political persuasion, therefore it's propaganda. And then we have the evaluative use or the moral use of the term propaganda to say, this is a part of speech I disagree with. This is something that is untrue, that is negatively manipulative.
It's Been a Minute
Is your favorite pop star spreading propaganda?
And within these posts, people are using it in two ways. The word propaganda comes originally from the Catholic Church. But of course, as soon as it's terminology that the Catholic Church is using, there's people all over Northern Europe who think it's the worst thing in the world. And so almost from the moment of its birth, the term propaganda had a negative charge for some people.
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Is your favorite pop star spreading propaganda?
But, you know, this suggests to me that we're living in one of those regular panics in American life over propaganda. People become convinced that they're being manipulated. Think back to the panic that followed World War II with people like McCarthy claiming that America was full of manipulation. But we saw this after World War I. We saw this in the immediate aftermath of the American Revolution.
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Is your favorite pop star spreading propaganda?
And at various times, Americans become very concerned about manipulation. And maybe that's a function of being a democracy, that everything here has to happen because of what the people want. And so... forming people's ideas is going to be inherently controversial.
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Is your favorite pop star spreading propaganda?
We think of propaganda as being an idea that is invented by somebody and then transmitted from their head to our head. And to me, the most effective propaganda doesn't do that.
It's Been a Minute
Is your favorite pop star spreading propaganda?
Well, I not only notice when things are propaganda, but I also quite enjoy it because I can see that it's meant to connect to me and I enjoy that feeling.
It's Been a Minute
Is your favorite pop star spreading propaganda?
I think the first thing everyone has to ask themselves when consuming media is why are they telling me this? And that might sound like an obvious thing, but I think there's too little analysis goes on. People don't look for the motive behind the message. I think that Americans fundamentally misunderstand what propaganda is. We have a model of propaganda.
It's Been a Minute
Is your favorite pop star spreading propaganda?
where we think of propaganda as being an idea that is invented by somebody and then transmitted from their head to our head. And to me, the most effective propaganda doesn't do that. The most effective propaganda is when a communicator recognizes what's already in my head and then affirms it. with their messaging and connects the secret thought I've always had to something in the world.
It's Been a Minute
Is your favorite pop star spreading propaganda?
Yeah. Yeah. You know, Brittany, I tear up for everyone's national anthem. So you're highly susceptible to nationalism across the board. These are universal themes that are invoked.
It's Been a Minute
Is your favorite pop star spreading propaganda?
And maybe what Beyonce is doing that is like a propagandist is connecting to these images that are important to people because they're images of America and Images of Texas, images of rodeo culture. And she's putting herself in there and making a point through articulating those images. And for many people, what she's saying is you two are part of the mainstream of America.
It's Been a Minute
Is your favorite pop star spreading propaganda?
And that's a moving and a powerful thing.