Because of research I’ve done on the relationship between entertainment and politics, I’m often asked how TV storytelling will change after Trump’s election. In our survey research at the Norman Lear Center, we have found over the years that the most popular shows on primetime broadcast TV appeal most to… More
What is your Egypt? The people, the food and the storytelling are what I love most about the Passover seder I go to, but I also really like the updates to the ritual. We spill drops of wine as we name the ten Biblical plagues, but we count off ten… More
Everyone knows TV political journalism failed us during the 2016 campaign. Everyone knows TV news was clueless about Donald Trump voters and blue states swinging red. Everyone knows anchors let lying candidates roll them. Everyone knows TV coverage hyped the horse race and gave issues the cold shoulder. Everyone knows… More
Back in the day, Truth began with a capital T, and it came straight from God. Then science had a long run with it. The Enlightenment. Good times. But modernity was no piece of cake for truth. All that everything-is-relative business was shattering. As for post-modernity, let’s just say that… More
Anyone who has ever pitched a movie or television idea in Hollywood knows the tyranny of the “high concept.” It’s a staple of the entertainment world. A high concept is a simple, succinct, immediately comprehensible gimmick: Abraham Lincoln is a vampire hunter; the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and… More
Is the U.S.-Mexico border a political calculation or a humanitarian crisis? Richard Misrach, Wall, east of Nogales, Arizona, 2014 © the artist There is a line between Richard Misrach and composer Guillermo Galindo. On the cover of Border Cantos, it is little more than a keystroke, a simple design flourish… More
Lear Center Senior Fellow Neal Gabler penned this scathing commentary originally for Moyers & Company. Consider for a moment the oxymoronic concept of “fake news,” which we have been hearing so much about lately. This isn’t your typical disinformation or misinformation — generated by the government, or foreign adversaries, or… More
The Norman Lear Center and the Paley Center for Media held an event on November 2 exploring how technology and storytelling are raising awareness about important social issues. I gave a presentation (which you can watch here) addressing how we can connect the dots between media exposure and social or… More
Why did UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon travel to Los Angeles last month to pitch the Sustainable Development Goals to a roomful of entertainment industry writers and producers? What motivated scores of Hollywood’s top show runners, as well as executives from 13 studios and networks, to head to Norman and Lyn… More
I just spent a happy week at a place it’s possible to detach from the news. If you want to, you can find a newspaper there. You don’t want to. Believe me. It’s in the high desert, where cellular service is spotty, and it’s not in the U.S., so the… More