On this episode of American Prestige, Ross Benes on the year that laid the groundwork for life as we know it.
Jerry Springer appears on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on February 5, 1999.(Chris Haston / NBCU Photo Bank / NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
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In this week’s episode, Danny speaks with journalist Ross Benes about his book 1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times. They discuss the connection between the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and “trash culture”, what makes the instantiation of reality TV in 1999 unique and how early reality shows foreshadowed modern politics, how Beanie Babies were akin to “stock investments” for working class and lower middle class people, Pokémon as a pure distillation of unrestrained capitalism, and the other features of that moment that predicted American life as we now know it.
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In this week’s episode, Danny speaks with journalist Ross Benes about his book 1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times. They discuss the connection between the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and “trash culture,” what makes the instantiation of reality TV in 1999 unique and how early reality shows foreshadowed modern politics, how Beanie Babies were akin to “stock investments” for working- and lower-middle-class people, Pokémon as a pure distillation of unrestrained capitalism, and the other features of that moment that predicted American life as we now know it.
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Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.
Derek and Danny are joined by Bill Hartung and Ben Freeman to discuss the system that drives permanent war for the United States. They talk about the growth of the Pentagon budget and the bipartisan politics of defense spending; the U.S. dominating the global arms trade and the prevalence of U.S. weapons around the world; the rise of defense tech companies and the relationship between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon; the structure of defense lobbying, foreign government lobbying for arms sales, and how contractors benefit; think tank funding, Pentagon involvement in Hollywood and gaming; and public opinion, the national debt, and whether structural change is possible.
Read their book The Trillion Dollar War Machine.
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Daniel BessnerTwitterDaniel Bessner is an historian of US foreign relations, and cohost of American Prestige, a podcast on international affairs.