Decoding the Cable Revolution: How 24/7 Politics Shaped a Generation and Our Democracy with Kathryn Cramer Brownell

Decoding the Cable Revolution: How 24/7 Politics Shaped a Generation and Our Democracy with Kathryn Cramer Brownell

The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series

Welcome back to another episode of The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series on radio and podcast. I'm Paul Vogelzang, and we're broadcasting from just outside of Washington, D.C. Please check out our show notes today for more information about Smithsonian Associates and their wonderful programs.  The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series is dedicated to fostering thoughtful dialogues on subjects that matter. Today, we have a special guest, Smithsonian Associate Dr. Kathryn Cramer Brownell, an associate professor of history at Purdue University. She's here to discuss her new book, "24/7 Politics: Cable Television and the Fragmenting of America from Watergate to Fox News." Dr. Kathryn Cramer Brownell will be appearing at Smithsonian Associates coming up, so please check out our show notes today for specifics on Dr. Brownell’s presentation titled: "24/7 Politics: Cable Television and the Fragmenting of America from Watergate to Fox News."

As television began to overtake the political landscape in the 1960s, network broadcast companies, bolstered by powerful lobbying interests, dominated screens across the nation. Yet over the next three decades, the expansion of a different technology, cable, changed all of this.

Drawing on her new book, 24/7 Politics: Cable Television and the Fragmenting of America from Watergate to Fox News, Kathryn Cramer Brownell tells the story of how the cable industry worked with political leaders to create an entirely new approach to television, one that tethered politics to profits and divided and distracted Americans by feeding their appetite for entertainment—frequently at the expense of fostering responsible citizenship.

Dr. Kathryn Cramer Brownell argues today that cable television itself is not to blame for today’s rampant polarization and scandal politics: It’s the intentional restructuring of television as a political institution. She describes how cable innovations—from C-SPAN coverage of congressional debates in the 1980s to MTV’s foray into preside

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