Fluffy Kitty Cat19h ago
Artemis

Ok... What have y'all got for recommendations of books on propaganda & how it functions or historical accounts of wartime propaganda campaigns (or anything similar)?

I'm trying to analyze the Iranian Lego propaganda videos, & I could use some additional context.

Apr 11 at 11:28pmWeb
Show threadK-ZO da Snowman20h ago
@artemis stories are weapons by Anna Lee newitz. Look up the father of marketing and his history with WW2 propaganda
Show threadDeb Nam-Krane19h ago
@artemis I found Orality and Literacy by Walter Ong, as well as Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman, helpful.
Show threadSusan Calvin19h ago
@artemis Paul Linebarger, Psychological Warfare. He was a US propaganda operative in WW2 and also a sci fi writer. This is a manual for practitioners. It will give you an excellent framework for analyzing this sort of thing.
Show threadSusan Calvin19h ago
@artemis it's in print but there is also a Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/48612/48612-h/48612-h.htm
Psychological Warfare, a Project Gutenberg eBook by Paul M. A. Lineberger.

Show threadMark 🇨🇦💪19h ago
@artemis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_Not_Propaganda
This Is Not Propaganda - Wikipedia

Show threadDIRT WIZARD19h ago
@artemis Does anyone know who is making them? Are we to understand that government employees in Iran did this, or is there some independent outfit? It seems to me like these are far too well done for a government. Any government.
Show threadArtemis19h ago

@dirtwizard666
Supposedly the BBC knows. I have not yet had a chance to research this yet.

"We spoke to the man making viral Lego-style AI videos for Iran"

>He's a savvy social media operator who initially denies working for the Iranian government. In previous interviews the outlet has said it is "totally independent". But upon further questioning, Mr Explosive admits the regime is a "customer" - something he's never before confirmed publicly.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjd8jrd1vnyo

Iran war: We spoke to the man making Lego-style AI videos that experts say are powerful propaganda

"Slopaganda" is too weak a term to capture how powerful this "highly sophisticated" content is, one expert says.

Show threadDIRT WIZARD19h ago
@artemis That makes a lot of sense. A team of 10 social media experts sounds exactly right. I feel like it's weird to call an agile team of 10 artists "Iran", which is what most people in the Western media are doing. I get that it's *really* viral, but it's still just another influencer with a sponsor. A very talented influencer, but an influencer nonetheless. Not AI. Not an army. Not an intelligence agency. Just memelords with laptops. It's fascinating!
Show threadGavin Chait;19h ago
@artemis Politics and the English language, essay by Orwell. Not only astute, but contains the best writing advice ever.
Show threadGavin Chait;19h ago
@artemis oh, and the best short work on fascism, war, semiotics & propaganda, is Five Moral Pieces by Umberto Eco. This includes the amazing Urfascism essay.
Show threadAnnelies19h ago
@artemis @Susan_calvin Jacques Ellul, Propaganda (https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/jacques-ellul-propaganda)
Pretty much anything by Edward Bernays (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays)
Propaganda

Jacques Ellul Propaganda The Formation of Men’s Attitudes

The Anarchist Library
Show threadkali19h ago
@artemis iran is difficult, none of the traditional propaganda knows anything about memes, but naomi oreskes, "merchants of doubt" describes pretty well the russian playbook.
Show threadNagaram18h ago

@artemis

This is such an interesting set of words.

Brick speed, comrade

Show threadRev. Pickem Boogerly17h ago
@artemis Invisible Rulers by @Noupside
Show threadMark Connolly8h ago

@artemis @giflian This one is a good history of British propaganda in WW2:

https://openlibrary.org/books/OL27223537M/Persuading_the_people

Persuading the people by Welch, David | Open Library

Persuading the people by Welch, David, 2016, British Library Publishing edition, in English

Open Library