American Lies

He could make people do whatever he wanted them to. Change their eating habits. Change the clothes they wore. Change whether or not they wanted to go to war. And he could make them think it was their own idea.-------“We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, and our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of…. It is they who pull the wires that control the public mind.” That passage is from one of the most influential books of the twentieth century, and was written by one of those men who you probably have never heard of. That author also wrote that democratic society depends on “the conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses,” and that “those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.”The book was called Propaganda, and it became the basis for almost all media communication we consume today. Its author was Edward Bernays, a man who considered himself, rightly, to be one of the those ruling, invisible elites who was pulling the wires of the masses, a propaganda peddler who could make people do whatever he wanted them to. This is his story.

For over 200 years, cultural elites have been warning that overpopulation would destroy the world. To fight this false nemesis, these ideological colonizers have forced contraception, sterilization, and abortion on those they have deemed to most need it. In this episode, Don examines this racist, class based approach to "philanthropy" and draws back the curtain on some of the pain and injustice it has produced. For more on this topic, check out Target Africa by Obianuju Ekeocha.

In 1948, a gall wasp expert from Indiana University released a “scientific study” that would change the world, and make him a cultural hero. He now has a prestigious institute named after him, he was the subject of a recent major Hollywood movie, and his theories about human nature are taught in every public school in the nation. But he was a fraud, his study was a lie, and his theories have ruined millions of lies. Here’s the real story.Help us make the American Lies Documentary-series by supporting out Indiegogo campaign here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/american-lies/x/7441824#/

America was in a panic. Families huddled inside their houses, mothers too afraid to even take their kids to the park. In many areas of the country, swimming pools and movie theaters completely shut down to keep everyone safe from the epidemic that was sweeping across the land. Governments made millions of dollars available for scientists to find a cure. And then it came. The vaccine everyone was waiting for arrived to great fanfare, and the doctor that created it became a national hero. But is there more to the story? And has it really been the miracle that our cultural gatekeepers make it out to be? Here's a story for everyone seeking some historical perspective on our current crisis.Help us make the American Lies Documentary-series by supporting out Indiegogo campaign here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/american-lies/x/7441824#/