{"product_id":"2940169752601","title":"The Sky Is Falling: How Vampires, Zombies, Androids, and Superheroes Made America Great for Extremism","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA bestselling cultural journalist shows how vampires, zombies, superheroes, and androids made Americans embrace extreme politics\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlmost everything has been invoked to account for Trump's victory and the rise of alt-right, from job loss to racism to demographyamp;mdash;everything, that is, except popular culture. In \u003ci\u003eThe Sky Is Falling\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling cultural journalist Peter Biskind dives headlong into two decades of popular cultureamp;mdash;from superhero franchises such as the Dark Knight, X-Men, and the Avengers and series like \u003ci\u003eThe Walking Dead\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eGame of Thrones\u003c\/i\u003e to thrillers like \u003ci\u003eHomeland\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003e24\u003c\/i\u003eamp;mdash;and emerges to argue that these shows are saturated with the values that are currently animating our extreme politics.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhere once centrist institutions and their agentsamp;mdash;cops and docs, soldiers and scientists, as well as educators, politicians, and \"experts\" of every stripeamp;mdash;were glorified by mainstream Hollywood, the heroes of today's movies and TV, whether far right or far left, have overthrown this quaint ideological consensus. Many of our shows dramatize extreme circumstancesamp;mdash;an apocalypse of one sort or anotheramp;mdash;that require extreme behavior to deal with, behavior such as revenge, torture, lying, and even the vigilante violence traditionally discouraged in mainstream entertainment. In this bold, provocative, and witty cultural investigation, Biskind shows how extreme culture now calls the shots. It has become, in effect, the new mainstream.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blackstone Audio, Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47100491497712,"sku":"2940169752601","price":22.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940169752601_p0.jpg?v=1769899906","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940169752601","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}