Dannagal Goldthwaite Young Libri

Irony and Outrage explores the aesthetics, underlying logics, and histories of two seemingly distinct genres: liberal political satire and conservative talk radio. While the audiences for conservative outrage and liberal satire come from opposing political ideologies, they both tend to have high rates of political interest and knowledge, engagement, and a lack of trust in core democratic institutions. While journalists and pundits have asked why there is nosuccessful political satire on the right and why there is no successful opinion talk on the left, this book turns that question on its head. Perhaps opinion talk is the political satire of the right. Perhaps political satire is the opinion programming of the left. They look and feel like two differentanimals because their audiences are...literally, two different animals.

Focusing on the dynamics of identity distillation, the author explores how these factors undermine democracy. The book offers insights into reversing this trend, emphasizing the importance of fostering a more inclusive and robust democratic society. Through a thoughtful analysis, it presents strategies to enhance civic engagement and counteract divisive narratives, ultimately aiming to strengthen the foundations of American democracy.