What Orwell Didn't Know

Propoganda. Manipulation. Spin. Control. It has ever been thus-or has it? On the eve of the 60th anniversary of George Orwells classic essay on propaganda (Politics and the English Language), writers have been invited to explore what Orwell didnt-or couldnt-know. Their responses, framed in pithy, focused essays, range far and wide: from the effect of television and computing, to the vast expansion of knowledge about how our brains respond to symbolic messages, to the merger of journalism and entertainment, to lessons learned during and after a half-century of totalitarianism. Together, they paint a portrait of a political culture in which propaganda and mind control are alive and well (albeit in forms and places that would have surprised Orwell). The pieces in this anthology sound alarm bells about the manipulation and misinformation in todays politics, and offer guideposts for a journalism attuned to Orwellian tendencies in the 21st century.

• Contributors include: George Soros, Francine Prose, Drew Westen, George Lakoff, Victor Navasky, Nick Lemann, Orville Schell, Samantha Power, Mark Danner, Farnaz Fassihi, Francis Fitzgerald, Michael Massing, Aryeh Neier, David Rieff, Geoff Cowan, Patricia Williams

Author Biography

Formerly the Dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, Orville Schell is the author of over a dozen books and a frequent contributor to major newspapers and magazines. He divides his time between New York and Berkeley. Andras Szanto, is the co-author and editor of several books, and has written for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe and many other publications. He lives in New York.