Knife crime, hip hop, and... Vanessa Carlton?!? In 2018, drill music became known as the soundtrack to social collapse—accused of inciting violence, corrupting youth, and starting gang wars via YouTube beef. But Rich shows Ben that behind the panic lies a familiar story: bad data, racial scapegoating, and a government more comfortable censoring rap than tackling inequality. Hang on until the end for a bizarre cameo from a very confused young offenders’ playlist.

Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland  

Music by -  Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman 

Producer – Caroline Pringle 

Cover image: “Skengdo & AM backstage at Greener on the Other Side EP Launch, Ace Hotel, Shoreditch” (2018) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Skengdo_x_AM.jpg

Air Horn: Sound Effect by Waitwhatimsignedin from Pixabay

Air Horn 2: Sound Effect by SonixFXSounds from Pixabay

[Eat popcorn!] In 1957, market researcher James Vicary promised he could flash split-second commands on movie screens and subconsciously influence audiences to buy things. He called it subliminal advertising. [Drink Coca-Cola!] Ben drags Rich through the riotous history of hidden persuasion, packed with hucksters, gimmicks, and shrinks. But as silly as these experiments were, what do they reveal about our relationships to advertising today? [Consume!]

Show Notes:

Acland, C. R. (2011). Swift viewing The popular life of subliminal influence. Duke University Press.

Crandall, K. B. (2006). Invisible commercials and hidden persuaders: James M. Vicary and the subliminal advertising controversy of 1957. Undergraduate Honors Thesis. University of Florida. Available at http://plaza. ufl. edu/cyllek/docs/KCrandall_Thesis2006. pdf.

Fullerton, Ronald A. "The Devil's Lure?: Motivation Research, 1934-1954." In Proceedings of the Conference on Historical Analysis and Research in Marketing, vol. 12, pp. 134-143. 2005.

Heffernan, K. (2002). The hypnosis horror films of the 1950s: Genre texts and industrial context. Journal of Film and Video, 54(2/3), 56-70.

Horowitz, D. (1994). Vance Packard & American Social Criticism. Univ of North Carolina Press.

Key, W. B. (1973). Subliminal seduction: Ad media’s manipulation of a not so innocent America. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Mackay, J., & Anonymous. (2023). Hypnosis and pornography: a cultural history. Porn Studies, 10(1), 82-98.

Parkin, K. (2004). The sex of food and Ernest Dichter: the illusion of inevitability. Advertising & Society Review, 5(2).

Samuel, L. R. (2010). Freud on Madison Avenue: motivation research and subliminal advertising in America. University of Pennsylvania Press.

[Video] Aldous Huxley interviewed by Mike Wallace

[Video] Daniels, Harold (1958) My World Dies Screaming

Note: Journal articles are often behind paywalls. If you don't have institutional access but would like a copy of these papers please email Illeffectspod@gmail.com and we will happily send you a copy 

Credits: 

Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland  

Music by -  Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman 

Producer – Caroline Pringle 

Depression. Anxiety. Sleep deprivation. Addiction. The headlines about "screen time" and today’s kids sound like the end of the world. But in the Season 2 opener of ILL EFFECTS, Rich walks Ben through the panic—and the patchy science propping it up. He argues it’s time to ditch the outdated idea of screen time altogether, and to replace it with a smarter, more nuanced conversation about how, when, and why we use modern media.

NOTE: The initial version of this episode (published 10th April 2025) had some sound issues, a new version was published 17th April 2025.

Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland  

Music by -  Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman 

Producer – Caroline Pringle 

Sound Effect by Devrinta Rose Nataya from Pixabay

Sound Effect by Rasool Asaad from Pixabay

Cover art photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash