Shows
ILL EFFECTSCan the media sway an election?In this bumper Very Special Episode ahead of this week’s UK General Election, we take it in turns to examine whether “the media” can “sway” election results. First, Ben examines the always-silly and sometimes-sinister British tabloid press and their (in)famous claim that it was “The Sun Wot Won It” for John Major in 1992. Rich then looks at Cambridge Analytica, and the claims that its Facebook quizzes helped make Brexit happen. Politics podcasts deserve better: vote for ILL EFFECTS!
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Show Notes:
SOURCES...
2024-07-0201 min
ILL EFFECTSDid The Beatles make fans hysterical?In the 1960s, parents, the press, psychologists, and many others were confronted with a large, terrifying, global problem: Beatlemania. In this episode, Ben talks Rich through how the world tried to make sense of the screaming, potentially hysterical, pop fan. We encounter theories of red goddesses (what were shrinks taking in the 60s?), anti-communist creeds, and Adrienne from Brooklyn that really, really loves Paul.
Show Notes
Sources and Links
[Video] A taste of Beatlemania in the 1960s
[Video] CBS News reports on the Beatles in 1964
“What the Beatles Prove About Teen-agers” (1962) U.S. News & W...
2024-06-2001 min
ILL EFFECTSDid 13 Reasons Why increase teen suicides?Can media representations of suicide really be “contagious”, driving vulnerable audiences to end their own lives? Rich introduces Ben to a frustratingly large field of psychologists, counsellors and youth charities who made this argument about the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. We dive head-first into both the controversy and the research behind it, to figure out why so many smart, well-intentioned people keep getting this issue so wrong.
CONTENT WARNING: this episode includes discussion of suicide and its causes, clips where people discuss their suicidal feelings. It also contains passing references to sexual assault.
If you o...
2024-06-0601 min
ILL EFFECTSDid pro wrestling make kids try this at home?After a defence lawyer blamed the killing of a six-year-old on pro wrestling, the Parents Television Council went to war with the World Wrestling Federation. Lifelong pro wrestling fan, Ben, talks Rich through this bad blood feud: in one corner “family values” and in the other corner the sex and violence of “attitude era” pro wrestling. We explore the increasingly fraught tactics used by both organizations, and, surprisingly, what the battle tells us about modern culture wars, the American right, and Donald Trump. Let’s get ready to rumblllleeee.
Show Notes:
Bozell, B (2023) Free Speech Week calls for a return...
2024-05-2301 min
ILL EFFECTSDoes Cuties sexualise young girls?In 2020, a French indie movie called Cuties somehow found itself at the epicentre of the US culture wars. Outraged conservatives accused the filmmakers and Netflix of encouraging paedophilia and stoking the fires of global child sex trafficking trade. But were they right? Rich’s deep dive into the controversy takes Ben on a journey through “sexualisation,” twerking, Tucker Carlson’s gormless face, School of Rock, QAnon, and yes... even paedophilic robots.
Show Notes:
Sources and links
Barker, Martin, Jane Arthurs, Jane and Ramaswami Harindranath (2001) The Crash Controversy: Censorship Campaigns and Film Reception. Wallflower Press.
Barker, Martin (2009...
2024-05-0901 min
ILL EFFECTSDo racing games cause reckless driving?From Death Race to Grand Theft Auto, driving games have long fuelled claims that players might be inspired to start mowing down pedestrians outside of the game. Starting with a story about a Toronto police officer linking a hit and run to a copy of Need for Speed found on the offender’s passenger seat, Ben talks Rich through the surprisingly longstanding history of links between video games and reckless driving. We encounter early arcade video games, clowns being run over at anti-car carnivals, and Adam West’s Batman doing British road safety videos. Crash! Bang! Wallop! What a podc...
2024-04-2501 min
ILL EFFECTSDoes background music make you more focused?Before “deep focus” and “study beats” playlists came muzak—one of the most widespread (and widely hated) forms of music of the 20th Century. But does background music really have the power to improve worker productivity? To dictate our wine preferences? Or, God forbid, even affect how long we spend in our favourite brothel?!? Rich shows Ben that the genre’s history doesn’t always make for easy listening.
Show Notes:
Sources and links:
Advertising Cliche (n.d.) “The Visual Primer of Advertising Cliches: Muzak Corporation” [amazing online archive of historical print ads]
Allan, David (2008) “Sound retailing: A Revi...
2024-04-1101 min
ILL EFFECTSDid Lady Chatterley’s Lover corrupt wives and servants?Ben takes Rich back to the landmark case study of a book that was accused of changing the world forever by containing descriptions of sex and swearwords. Join us for a 150-year history of obscenity laws, the power of literature to corrupt, swinging 60s, explicit fan fiction, and whether you’d want YOUR wife or servant reading this filth.
Show Notes:
Chandos, John (1962) To deprave and corrupt...”. Original Studies in the Nature and Definition of 'Obscenity' Associated Press.
Erlanson, Erik, et al. (2020) Forbidden Literature: Case Studies on Censorship. Kriterium.
[Video] Hawes, James (2006) The Chatterle...
2024-03-2801 min
ILL EFFECTSCan YouTube turn you into a Flat Earther?Can the YouTube algorithm really turn you into a Flat Earther, or some other kind of radical conspiracy theorist? Rich takes Ben on a journey through terrible poetry, evangelical newsletters and 9/11 Truther videos. It turns out the “filter bubble” is an idea that might need bursting.
Show Notes:
Sources and links:
Blount, Lady Elizabeth (1898) “The ‘Why’ and ‘Because’” [poem included in her novel Adrian Galilio; Or, a Song Writer’s Story]
Bruns, Axel. (2019) Are Filter Bubbles Real? Polity Press.
Flat Earth News (1976-1994) [Newsletter of the Flat Earth Society]
Garwood, Christine (2008) Flat Earth: The History o...
2024-03-141h 14
ILL EFFECTSDoes Barbie give girls eating disorders?Barbie has been accused of a lot over the last 7 decades, but her most enduring criticism is that she sets unrealistic beauty standards for young girls. Ben talks Rich through the curious history of Barbie as a toy and a “role model”, the sometimes-warped world of body image research, and a creepy life-size doll that walks on all fours.
Show Notes:
Anschutz, Doeschka J., and Rutger CME Engels (2010). "The effects of playing with thin dolls on body image and food intake in young girls." Sex Roles 63, 621-630.
[Video] CNN: Woman Makes Life-Size Barbie Look-Alike
Blood, S...
2024-02-291h 27
ILL EFFECTSDid Child’s Play 3 turn kids into killers?When two children murdered toddler James Bulger in 1993, the British media lost their damn minds and tried to blame a horror video. Rich tells Ben that this argument really started a decade earlier with the “video nasties” panic. Join us as we unravel a tangled web of sensationalism, fraudulent research, and some truly bizarre claims about dogs.
Show Notes:
Links and references:
Bailey, Susan (1996) “Adolescents who murder,” Journal of Adolescence, 19, 19-39.
Barker, Martin and Julian Petley, eds. (2001) Ill Effects: The Media/Violence Debate. Routledge. (Especially Barker’s chapter on the Newson Report)
Barker, Martin...
2024-02-291h 31
ILL EFFECTSTrailer ILL EFFECTS - Series 1Welcome to ILL EFFECTS - the good podcast about bad media influences. Can a horror film turn kids into killers? Can music make you more productive? Can a video game cause dangerous driving? Dr Rich McCulloch and Dr Ben Litherland investigate the bad faith arguments, dodgy data, and moral panics behind claims that the media influence our behaviour and manipulate our minds. Each episode they take a deep dive into the past and present of the media that have been said to cause any number of effects, researching music, video games, movies, books, toys, and more. What power does...
2024-02-2601 min