Amusing Ourselves to Death
Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
by Neil Postman
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Technology executive and investor
“@AlanReillyIRL @t0nyyates @WhelanKarl Yes! Fantastic book. So glad you're rereading it. | @ParkerMolloy oh, this is great. I used a lot of this book when teaching Persuasion in Media classes 15 or so years ago. | Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I?ve ever read. | Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I’ve ever read. | I recommend this book so much whether your politics are left, right or centre. We?ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. | I recommend this book so much whether your politics are left, right or centre. We’ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. | This book is an incredibly relevant and prescient analysis of the mess we finds ourselves in. Brilliant. | This book is now 37 years old, but its premise is still true: our culture of entertainment is one of the main driving forces behind our politics, business, and social practices. | We’re kind of, like the title of the book, amusing ourselves to death. We’re so caught up in distractions and pleasure and entertainment that we might be missing out on the bigger things. | Worth reading.”
Source →“@AlanReillyIRL @t0nyyates @WhelanKarl Yes! Fantastic book. So glad you're rereading it. | @ParkerMolloy oh, this is great. I used a lot of this book when teaching Persuasion in Media classes 15 or so years ago. | Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I?ve ever read. | Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I’ve ever read. | I recommend this book so much whether your politics are left, right or centre. We?ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. | I recommend this book so much whether your politics are left, right or centre. We’ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. | This book is an incredibly relevant and prescient analysis of the mess we finds ourselves in. Brilliant. | This book is now 37 years old, but its premise is still true: our culture of entertainment is one of the main driving forces behind our politics, business, and social practices. | We’re kind of, like the title of the book, amusing ourselves to death. We’re so caught up in distractions and pleasure and entertainment that we might be missing out on the bigger things. | Worth reading.”
Source →“@AlanReillyIRL @t0nyyates @WhelanKarl Yes! Fantastic book. So glad you're rereading it. | @ParkerMolloy oh, this is great. I used a lot of this book when teaching Persuasion in Media classes 15 or so years ago. | Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I?ve ever read. | Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I’ve ever read. | I recommend this book so much whether your politics are left, right or centre. We?ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. | I recommend this book so much whether your politics are left, right or centre. We’ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. | This book is an incredibly relevant and prescient analysis of the mess we finds ourselves in. Brilliant. | This book is now 37 years old, but its premise is still true: our culture of entertainment is one of the main driving forces behind our politics, business, and social practices. | We’re kind of, like the title of the book, amusing ourselves to death. We’re so caught up in distractions and pleasure and entertainment that we might be missing out on the bigger things. | Worth reading.”
Source →“@AlanReillyIRL @t0nyyates @WhelanKarl Yes! Fantastic book. So glad you're rereading it. | @ParkerMolloy oh, this is great. I used a lot of this book when teaching Persuasion in Media classes 15 or so years ago. | Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I?ve ever read. | Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I’ve ever read. | I recommend this book so much whether your politics are left, right or centre. We?ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. | I recommend this book so much whether your politics are left, right or centre. We’ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. | This book is an incredibly relevant and prescient analysis of the mess we finds ourselves in. Brilliant. | This book is now 37 years old, but its premise is still true: our culture of entertainment is one of the main driving forces behind our politics, business, and social practices. | We’re kind of, like the title of the book, amusing ourselves to death. We’re so caught up in distractions and pleasure and entertainment that we might be missing out on the bigger things. | Worth reading.”
Source →“@AlanReillyIRL @t0nyyates @WhelanKarl Yes! Fantastic book. So glad you're rereading it. | @ParkerMolloy oh, this is great. I used a lot of this book when teaching Persuasion in Media classes 15 or so years ago. | Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I?ve ever read. | Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I’ve ever read. | I recommend this book so much whether your politics are left, right or centre. We?ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. | I recommend this book so much whether your politics are left, right or centre. We’ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. | This book is an incredibly relevant and prescient analysis of the mess we finds ourselves in. Brilliant. | This book is now 37 years old, but its premise is still true: our culture of entertainment is one of the main driving forces behind our politics, business, and social practices. | We’re kind of, like the title of the book, amusing ourselves to death. We’re so caught up in distractions and pleasure and entertainment that we might be missing out on the bigger things. | Worth reading.”
Source →“@AlanReillyIRL @t0nyyates @WhelanKarl Yes! Fantastic book. So glad you're rereading it. | @ParkerMolloy oh, this is great. I used a lot of this book when teaching Persuasion in Media classes 15 or so years ago. | Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I?ve ever read. | Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I’ve ever read. | I recommend this book so much whether your politics are left, right or centre. We?ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. | I recommend this book so much whether your politics are left, right or centre. We’ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. | This book is an incredibly relevant and prescient analysis of the mess we finds ourselves in. Brilliant. | This book is now 37 years old, but its premise is still true: our culture of entertainment is one of the main driving forces behind our politics, business, and social practices. | We’re kind of, like the title of the book, amusing ourselves to death. We’re so caught up in distractions and pleasure and entertainment that we might be missing out on the bigger things. | Worth reading.”
Source →“@AlanReillyIRL @t0nyyates @WhelanKarl Yes! Fantastic book. So glad you're rereading it. | @ParkerMolloy oh, this is great. I used a lot of this book when teaching Persuasion in Media classes 15 or so years ago. | Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I?ve ever read. | Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I’ve ever read. | I recommend this book so much whether your politics are left, right or centre. We?ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. | I recommend this book so much whether your politics are left, right or centre. We’ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. | This book is an incredibly relevant and prescient analysis of the mess we finds ourselves in. Brilliant. | This book is now 37 years old, but its premise is still true: our culture of entertainment is one of the main driving forces behind our politics, business, and social practices. | We’re kind of, like the title of the book, amusing ourselves to death. We’re so caught up in distractions and pleasure and entertainment that we might be missing out on the bigger things. | Worth reading.”
Source →“@AlanReillyIRL @t0nyyates @WhelanKarl Yes! Fantastic book. So glad you're rereading it. | @ParkerMolloy oh, this is great. I used a lot of this book when teaching Persuasion in Media classes 15 or so years ago. | Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I?ve ever read. | Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I’ve ever read. | I recommend this book so much whether your politics are left, right or centre. We?ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. | I recommend this book so much whether your politics are left, right or centre. We’ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. | This book is an incredibly relevant and prescient analysis of the mess we finds ourselves in. Brilliant. | This book is now 37 years old, but its premise is still true: our culture of entertainment is one of the main driving forces behind our politics, business, and social practices. | We’re kind of, like the title of the book, amusing ourselves to death. We’re so caught up in distractions and pleasure and entertainment that we might be missing out on the bigger things. | Worth reading.”
Source →“@AlanReillyIRL @t0nyyates @WhelanKarl Yes! Fantastic book. So glad you're rereading it. | @ParkerMolloy oh, this is great. I used a lot of this book when teaching Persuasion in Media classes 15 or so years ago. | Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I?ve ever read. | Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I’ve ever read. | I recommend this book so much whether your politics are left, right or centre. We?ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. | I recommend this book so much whether your politics are left, right or centre. We’ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. | This book is an incredibly relevant and prescient analysis of the mess we finds ourselves in. Brilliant. | This book is now 37 years old, but its premise is still true: our culture of entertainment is one of the main driving forces behind our politics, business, and social practices. | We’re kind of, like the title of the book, amusing ourselves to death. We’re so caught up in distractions and pleasure and entertainment that we might be missing out on the bigger things. | Worth reading.”
Source →“@AlanReillyIRL @t0nyyates @WhelanKarl Yes! Fantastic book. So glad you're rereading it. | @ParkerMolloy oh, this is great. I used a lot of this book when teaching Persuasion in Media classes 15 or so years ago. | Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I?ve ever read. | Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I’ve ever read. | I recommend this book so much whether your politics are left, right or centre. We?ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. | I recommend this book so much whether your politics are left, right or centre. We’ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. | This book is an incredibly relevant and prescient analysis of the mess we finds ourselves in. Brilliant. | This book is now 37 years old, but its premise is still true: our culture of entertainment is one of the main driving forces behind our politics, business, and social practices. | We’re kind of, like the title of the book, amusing ourselves to death. We’re so caught up in distractions and pleasure and entertainment that we might be missing out on the bigger things. | Worth reading.”
Source →Recommended by 12 notable people, including Nat Eliason and Patrick Collison
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Recommended by 18 sources and appears in Sociology, Books Recommended by CEOs, and Books Recommended by Investors.
What happens when media and politics become forms of entertainment? As our world begins to look more and more like Orwell's 1984, Neil's Postman's essential guide to the modern media is more relevant than ever. "It's unlikely that Trump has ever read Amusing Ourselves to Death, but his ascent would not have surprised Postman.” -CNN Originally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book published in the twentieth century. Now, with television joined by more sophisticated electronic media—from the Internet to cell phones to DVDs—it has taken on even…
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Recommended by 18 sources and appears in Sociology, Books Recommended by CEOs, and Books Recommended by Investors.
Recommended by notable people
People and public figures who have recommended this book.
Recommendation Signals
Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.
Tristan Harris
“@AlanReillyIRL @t0nyyates @WhelanKarl Yes! Fantastic book. So glad you're rereading it. | @ParkerMolloy oh, this is great. I used a lot of this book when teaching Persuasion in Media classes 15 or so years ago. | Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I?ve ever read. | Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I’ve ever read. | I recommend this book so much whether your politics are left, right or centre. We?ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. | I recommend this book so much whether your politics are left, right or centre. We’ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster. | This book is an incredibly relevant and prescient analysis of the mess we finds ourselves in. Brilliant. | This book is now 37 years old, but its premise is still true: our culture of entertainment is one of the main driving forces behind our politics, business, and social practices. | We’re kind of, like the title of the book, amusing ourselves to death. We’re so caught up in distractions and pleasure and entertainment that we might be missing out on the bigger things. | Worth reading.”
Appears In
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Consider Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Recommended by 31 sources.
“Outliers reads like a series of captivating magazine profiles, each unpacking a hidden factor behind extraordinary success. Gladwell’s storytelling makes complex social science accessible, but the book relies on memorable anecdotes rather than offering systematic analysis. The book explores the idea that individual brilliance rarely stands alone; success often hinges on birth dates, cultural legacies, and the 10,000-hour rule. While the narratives are strong, the book overgeneralizes from handpicked examples, leaving skeptical readers questioning the conclusions. It’s most useful as a conversation starter about luck and timing—annoying if you want a rigorous academic treatise or a how-to guide for your own life.”
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Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.