Competing Realities: 24/7 Politics & the Rise of Cable News (with Kathryn Cramer Brownell)

Greg Olear talks to Kathryn Brownell, history professor at Purdue University, about her new book, “24/7 Politics: Cable Television and the Fragmenting of America from Watergate to Fox News” (Princeton University Press, 2023): how cable TV came to be, how politicians from Eisenhower to Trump have used television for messaging, why Roger Ailes was inspired to start Fox News, and where our media is headed. Plus: Roman Empire daydreams.