This Is Not Propaganda

Adventures in the War Against Reality

De: Peter Pomerantsev

Narrado por: Matthew Waterson

Learn how the perception of truth has been weaponized in modern politics with this "insightful" account of propaganda in Russia and beyond during the age of disinformation (New York Times).
When information is a weapon, every opinion is an act of war.

We live in a world of influence operations run amok, where dark ads, psyops, hacks, bots, soft facts, ISIS, Putin, trolls, and Trump seek to shape our very reality. In this surreal atmosphere created to disorient us and undermine our sense of truth, we've lost not only our grip on peace and democracy -- but our very notion of what those words even mean.

Peter Pomerantsev takes us to the front lines of the disinformation age, where he meets Twitter revolutionaries and pop-up populists, "behavioral change" salesmen, Jihadi fanboys, Identitarians, truth cops, and many others. Forty years after his dissident parents were pursued by the KGB, Pomerantsev finds the Kremlin re-emerging as a great propaganda power. His research takes him back to Russia -- but the answers he finds there are not what he expected.

Blending reportage, family history, and intellectual adventure, This Is Not Propaganda explores how we can reimagine our politics and ourselves when reality seems to be coming apart.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"The truth was supposed to set us free. But Peter Pomerantsev's brilliant This Is Not Propaganda shows how the very idea of truth has been weaponized by dictators and other enemies of liberty. These techniques, first used against us in Russia, have spread around the globe like a toxic cloud. Taking us from the Philippines to Ukraine to MAGA-land, Pomerantsev is an unparalleled tour guide of our post-truth world-and what we all must learn to survive in it."—Garry Kasparov, chairman of the Renew DemocracyInitiative and author of Winter Is Coming

"In this moving, unusual, and carefully reported book, Peter Pomerantsev reminds us that propaganda is not just a political tool: it can also shape individuals, their relationships with their children, their friendships, their marriages. Far more than just another take on today's chaotic information wars, this book argues that we will have to understand how propaganda seeks to shape our deepest thoughts and feelings before we can confront it."—Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Gulag and Red Famine

"Insightful. . . . Diagnoses our fact-distorting age with understanding and acuity."—New York Times

"This is a gripping and unsettling account of life in grim post-Soviet Russia."—Washington Post on Nothing is True and Everything is Possible

"It is hard to think of another work that better describes today's Russia; Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible may very well be the defining book about the Putin era."—Commentary Magazine on Nothing is True and Everything is Possible

"Captivating...keen observations."—New York Times Book Review on Nothing is True and Everything is Possible

"A patchwork tapestry that leaves you shaking your head in disbelief."—The Guardian on Nothing is True and Everything is Possible

"[Pomerantsev] describes in detail how social media have been weaponized by the bad guys...The contrast between the tight regulation of information by repressive regimes in the 20th century, and the free-for-all of today's media environment, gives the book its disconcerting force."—Economist

"Groundbreaking.... Every Democratic candidate should have a plan for how to counter disinformation and misinformation in American politics. Pomerantsev's book should be required reading for each of them."—CNN.com

"Vivid and chilling reports from the frontlines of the disinformation wars."—Foreign Affairs

favorite book in a long time

stories were relevant to the main theme. the scary but relevant thesis wound it's way through each story and chapter, and was summarized perfectly in the implicit last paragraph of the book.

How populism wins with lies. Very important to read in today’s world.

This book is so refreshing because it is not opinion or a doctrine it is simply the facts of how the facts are disparaged and manipulated to maintain or install a power elite. Peter describes over and over again how fictions describing the absolute opposite to what is happening in front of our eyes have been a tool to coerce and blind masses of people. This practice has been perfected by Putin and has been learned by populous leaders all over the world. The next review, is an example of how pervasive it is. The reviewer actually believes that somehow revealing facts is a danger to democracy because he has been listening to the blabber sphere of the Trump orb. Gives the review of this important book a 1 star to discourage other people from learning the truth about the lies. This is Insidious and horrendous but these are the times we live in… Very much worth a read.

Must read!

One of the most important books to understand current (and historical) events and a very engaging book to listen to. Well written and well read!

An important book, chilling

In Everything is Possible he exposed the sophisticated information machinery in Russia,. Here he goes global.

It should have come as no surprise to me that media has been weaponized but it did. Worse, I was surprised how far along that effort is, and how clever.

For one example, by contradicting scientific fact with disinformation consumers can be encourage to question truth itself, and then rally behind a leader who confidently mocks it. Why face real problems when you can deny them?

There are troll farms and AI bots, and fabricated protests which provide nothing but theater. He gets inside these institutions and turns them inside out for us.

I highly recommend this book.

Like his previous book, it's expertly crafted ... and this narration is solid.

incredible book

Incredibly important book. I'll be referring to it over and over again to make sense of the modern social and political landscape.