This provocative new edition examines the mass media as economic and cultural institutions that shape our social identities, particularly regarding gender, race and class. A comprehensive introductory section outlines the book's integrated approach to media studies, which incorporates three distinct but related areas of investigation: the political economy of production, textual analysis and audience response.

"In her writing for Harper's, the London Review of Books, The New Yorker, and elsewhere, Lauren Oyler has emerged as one of the most trenchant and influential critics of her generation, a talent whose judgments on works of literature--whether celebratory or scarily harsh--have become notorious. But what is the significance of being a critic and consumer of media in today's fraught environment? How do we understand ourselves, and each other, as space...

"From Covid-19 to runaway technology to climate change, we are currently living in an apocalyptic state. And it's nothing new: As a species we've been surviving-and evolving from-apocalypses for as long as we've walked the Earth. So, we're capable of dealing with them, surviving them, and yes, thriving through them. In A Field Guide to the Apocalypse, cooperation theorist and zombie enthusiast Athena Aktipis has assembled a lively, unexpected field...

"Readers will learn how to build a complete working science lab (starting with a workbench) for chemistry, biology, and physics--and how to perform experiments with those tools. The instructions and experiments may appear fearless and bold by today's standards, but many from previous generations fondly remember how we as a society used to approach scientific learning. As you build your equipment, you'll get ready for the over 1600 experiments in the...

"Features 25 all-new recipes and a guide where the foods can be found in the series"--Cover

"An economist takes on the most urgent social issue of our time, exploring the evolution of the global loneliness crisis, the sweeping impact of social isolation during the coronavirus, and the opportunities a post-Covid world presents to reverse these trends--by finding new ways to reconnect with each other, our communities, and even our democracy. Even before the global pandemic brought terms like "social distancing" into the vernacular, loneliness...