The Brainwashing of My Dad by Jen Senko

I thought it might make me too sad to read THE BRAINWASHING OF MY DAD by Jen Senko, but instead I felt a kind of kinship with the author who explains “How the Rise of the Right-Wing Media Changed a Father and Divided Our Nation—And How We Can Fight Back.” Senko begins as early as the 1980s and shows how her Dad’s long commute while listening to conservative talk radio changed his views. Senko produced a film (Webby award winning and funded by Kickstarter) about her Dad in 2016; here’s the New York Times review which acknowledges “the film’s most heartfelt moments” are actually stories of other families who had contacted her. This and other reviews point out how there is much more to explore and Senko’s film (and this subsequent text) are merely a starting point. She offers numerous specific suggestions about raising awareness regarding the “dangers of right-wing media.” However, Senko is sharing anecdotes and opinions without much documented research in support of her views. Since political polarization is a high interest topic for our students, I do think they, too, will be curious to learn more about media’s influence. We have been talking lately about works like One Nation, Two Realities, Prius or Pickup?, and How Democracies Die. Forthcoming in January are How Civil Wars Start and The Next Civil War.