Propaganda (Edward Bernays)

Why it’s on the list: Bernays in 1928 arguing that the conscious manipulation of the public mind is a necessary feature of democracy, and describing how to do it. Short, and startlingly unembarrassed.

Where I saw it: A reply to @SpencrGreenberg’s question on X, June 5, 2025 — “What non-fiction book taught you the most about how the world (or how humanity or society) really works?” — recovered from that thread and saved to Kyle’s Apple Note “Books To Read”. Thread: https://x.com/spencrgreenberg/status/1930639380424577198

Filed under a disambiguated title because wiki/concepts/Propaganda.md already owns the short form; the bare name is deliberately NOT an alias here.

Connections

• A question for you — What non-fiction… (tweet) — the saved thread this recommendation came from.
• Edward Bernays · Propaganda · Advertising · Marketing — where this sits in the corpus.