Episode Summary
Executive Summary: Amy Westervelt discusses her new project Rigged, a searchable archive and companion podcast on the long history of U.S. disinformation and public relations. The conversation traces how PR firms and fossil fuel interests developed modern propaganda techniques, shaped journalism, schools, and public beliefs, and why these tactics still outperform progressive communications.
Main Topics: Rigged: archive and podcast on disinformation history: Westervelt explains the new project as a database of original documents and a podcast showing how PR and mass persuasion developed in the U.S. long before social media. Origins of modern PR and propaganda: The discussion places the rise of PR in the late 1800s/early 1900s, when regulation, expanding democracy, and muckraking journalism pushed industry to develop coordinated persuasion strategies. Bernays, Lee, and early propaganda victories: Examples include Edward Bernays’ campaigns for wristwatches and women smoking, and Ivy Lee’s press work and language-shaping tactics, showing how subtle framing can rapidly change public norms. Fossil fuel influence on culture, schools, and worldview: Westervelt argues oil and related industries invested heavily in curricula, media, and institutions to normalize free enterprise, modernity, and the environment-vs-economy frame decades before climate politics. Weaknesses of left/progressive communications: Both speakers criticize the left for underinvesting in PR, avoiding emotional persuasion, and overvaluing purity or ‘objectivity’ while opponents exploit messaging aggressively. Social media, podcasts, and the new information ecosystem: The conversation covers how social platforms and podcasts enable misinformation because they operate with looser regulation than broadcast media and reward outrage and negative emotion. Needed responses: regulation, media literacy, and better framing: Westervelt calls for platform regulation, stronger scrutiny of sources, and climate messaging that emphasizes benefits like lower energy costs and technological opportunity instead of only denial or doom.
Key Arguments: Modern PR was designed not just to sell products but to shape democracy and public consciousness in ways favorable to wealth and power. The fossil fuel industry did not begin with climate denial; it spent decades building broader cultural frames that made denial and delay easier later. Many supposedly ‘natural’ shifts in culture—like men wearing wristwatches or women smoking—were manufactured through PR campaigns. Journalists are vulnerable to corporate framing because ideals like fairness and objectivity can be weaponized against them. Fossil fuel messaging has long targeted schools and children, making its worldview feel like common sense before people encounter policy debates. The left often loses because it treats propaganda as beneath it, underinvests in persuasion, and fails to repeat simple messages consistently. Social media and podcast advertising function like publishing without equivalent rules, making them especially hospitable to misinformation. Climate communication should highlight concrete benefits and emotional resonance, not only technical facts or moral appeals.
Data Points: First U.S. regulation on business: 1887 - Westervelt cites this as part of the context that pushed industry toward organized PR. Timeframe for rise of modern PR: Late 1800s to early 1900s - The period when expanding democracy, journalism, and regulation encouraged coordinated corporate persuasion. Edward Bernays lifespan of active work: 1920s through the 1970s - Described as a long-running pioneer of opinion shaping. Taboo-busting effect on women smoking: Within about 6 months - Bernays’ ‘Torches of Freedom’ stunt quickly helped normalize women smoking. Tobacco customer base growth: Doubled - Westervelt says the tobacco industry doubled its customer base after the women-smoking campaign. Standard Oil corporate-sponsored curriculum: 1928 - Cited as the first major corporate-sponsored school curriculum, via the Standard School Broadcast. Cost of PR campaigns: Millions of dollars - Earl Newsom’s archives show large companies already spending heavily on PR in the late 1920s. Length of California firefighting experience mentioned: 30 years - A Cal Fire chief’s comments on climate-driven wildfire worsening. Climate / PR outspending ratio on the left: 10 to 1 - Westervelt says the left is outspent by fossil fuel interests on PR and lobbying. Estimated emissions capture claim in ads: 90% - She cites Exxon podcast ads claiming carbon capture could capture 90% of factory emissions. Postwar public enterprise concern: 1944 - Earl Newsom warned clients Americans were getting too comfortable with government running things as World War II ended. Climate movement time horizon referenced: 50 years - Westervelt says industry framed environmental issues decades before climate change emerged.
Pivotal Quotes: "it was created to circumvent democracy" — Amy Westervelt: Her explanation of the purpose and historical function of modern PR. "you don't have to convince people to like fracking. You don't even have to convince them that it's not bad. You just have to get a tie" — Amy Westervelt: Describing Richard Berman’s approach to political persuasion. "Every story is about power" — Chenjirai Kumanyika and Sandhya Dirks (referenced by Amy Westervelt): Westervelt cites this as a guiding framework for journalism and media literacy.
Implications: The episode argues that misinformation is structural, not accidental. Listeners should scrutinize who benefits from narratives, expect aggressive corporate framing, and support regulation and more strategic progressive messaging, especially on climate.