Mr. Sorkin Goes to Washington
Mr. Sorkin Goes to Washington

Author: Melissa Crawley

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2014-06-26

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 0786455241

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Before the unprecedented televised presidential debates of 1960, most Americans were able to relate to their leaders in little more than an historical context. In the era of televised elections, however, the media have allowed Americans to witness the paternal, moral and intellectual qualities of their president up close. Television has been so critical to this process of political socialization that, for many Americans, the televised image of the president is the president. As the acclaimed television drama The West Wing demonstrates, fictional representations of the presidency can also be significant civic forces. This book examines how film and television drama contribute to shaping the presidency and the way most Americans understand it, and particularly the processes of political education. The text discusses The West Wing's didactic potential, its representation of White House politics, and its depiction of race and gender, with commentary on how fictional representations of the presidency become important elements of American political consciousness.

Too Big to Fail
Too Big to Fail

Author: Andrew Ross Sorkin

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2010-09-07

Total Pages: 673

ISBN-13: 1101443243

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Includes a new afterword to mark the 10th anniversary of the financial crisis The brilliantly reported New York Times bestseller that goes behind the scenes of the financial crisis on Wall Street and in Washington to give the definitive account of the crisis, the basis for the HBO film “Too Big To Fail is too good to put down. . . . It is the story of the actors in the most extraordinary financial spectacle in 80 years, and it is told brilliantly.” —The Economist In one of the most gripping financial narratives in decades, Andrew Ross Sorkin—a New York Times columnist and one of the country's most respected financial reporters—delivers the first definitive blow-by-blow account of the epochal economic crisis that brought the world to the brink. Through unprecedented access to the players involved, he re-creates all the drama and turmoil of these turbulent days, revealing never-before-disclosed details and recounting how, motivated as often by ego and greed as by fear and self-preservation, the most powerful men and women in finance and politics decided the fate of the world's economy.

Windows into The West Wing
Windows into The West Wing

Author: Patrick Webster

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2020-05-05

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 1476680353

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The West Wing, first broadcast in 1999, is thought by many to have been one of the most significant dramas shown on network television. Despite its overly idealized depiction of American political life, and blatant contradictions in the way we consider America, its values, its aspirations, and its behavior in the world, The West Wing nonetheless succeeds in attaining popular national and international aesthetic appeal. This book aspires to explain the appeal of the show by considering issues such as race, religion, sexuality, disability, and education--from both a practical and theoretical perspective--through the lenses of feminism, gender theory, Marxism, psychoanalytical theories, structuralism, poststructuralism, postcolonialism and more. It seeks to offer informative and revealing readings of one of the most significant television productions of recent times.

Blood on the Stage, 1975-2000
Blood on the Stage, 1975-2000

Author: Amnon Kabatchnik

Publisher: Scarecrow Press

Published: 2012-10-18

Total Pages: 648

ISBN-13: 0810883554

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Discussing more than 80 full-length plays, this volume provides an overview of the most important and memorable theatrical works of crime and detection produced between 1975 and 2000. Each entry includes a plot synopsis, production data, and the opinions of well-known and respected critics and scholars.

The Binge Watcher’s Guide to The West Wing
The Binge Watcher’s Guide to The West Wing

Author: Joshua Stein

Publisher: Riverdale Avenue Books LLC

Published: 2024-08-15

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 1626016941

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What's Next? The Bingewatchers' Guide to the West Wing looks back at the classic television show 25 years later. Aaron Sorkin's political drama had an enormous influence on American politics. The show is a time-capsule from the political moment after the Berlin Wall fell, but before 9/11. This first book focuses on the first two seasons of the show, examining how the television show explains political issues, scandals, and vision. The West Wing was a show about political optimism, something that's hard to imagine now; it also influenced less optimistic political dramas including Shonda Rhimes' Scandal and even sitcoms including Parks and Recreation. The show is a political and cultural touchstone. The book gives a critical appraisal of many of the show’s themes, including how its optimism and politics have held up over the years.

The West Wing
The West Wing

Author: Janet McCabe

Publisher: Wayne State University Press

Published: 2012-09-01

Total Pages: 142

ISBN-13: 0814338097

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Explores how the award-winning NBC drama offered a space for vibrant conversation about U.S. politics, identity, and culture. With its fast and furious dialogue, crackling wit, and political savvy, The West Wing became appointment TV for millions during its seven-season run between 1999 and 2006. The behind-the-scenes ensemble drama about Washington politics premiered on the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, was the first series to respond to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and concluded in the closing years of the Bush administration. Its subject matter was ambitious and germane, its cast star-studded, its production team acclaimed. In this volume, Janet McCabe explores The West Wing as both a space for political and social discourse and a force that reshaped contemporary television. McCabe begins by examining the series' broadcasting history, including its scheduling in the United States and around the world, and how the show defines channels and television markets. McCabe goes on to explore the role of the show's creator Aaron Sorkin as a TV auteur and investigates the program's aesthetic principles, including the distinctive look, feel, and sounds of the series. McCabe concludes by considering the political discourse of The West Wing, as the show spoke back to a U.S. culture divided by politics, race, and gender as well as the trauma of 9/11 and anxieties over terrorism and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. McCabe's analysis of The West Wing provides an intriguing look at the institutional, formal, and cultural politics of television. Fans of the series as well as students and teachers of television history will enjoy this detailed volume.

Women and the White House
Women and the White House

Author: Justin S. Vaughn

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 081314101X

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Known as the Great Compromiser, Henry Clay earned his title by addressing sectional tensions over slavery and forestalling civil war in the United States. Today he is still regarded as one of the most important political figures in American history. As Speaker of the House of Representatives and secretary of state, Clay left an indelible mark on American politics at a time when the country's solidarity was threatened by inner turmoil, and scholars have thoroughly chronicled his political achievements. However, little attention has been paid to his extensive family legacy. In The Family Legacy of Henry Clay: In the Shadow of a Kentucky Patriarch, Lindsey Apple explores the personal history of this famed American and examines the impact of his legacy on future generations of Clays. Apple's study delves into the family's struggles with physical and emotional problems such as depression and alcoholism. The book also analyzes the role of financial stress as the family fought to reestablish its fortune in the years after the Civil War. Apple's extensively researched volume illuminates a little-discussed aspect of Clay's life and heritage, and highlights the achievements and contributions of one of Kentucky's most distinguished families.

Viewing America
Viewing America

Author: C. W. E. Bigsby

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2013-10-10

Total Pages: 517

ISBN-13: 110704393X

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Christopher Bigsby explores the potential of television drama to offer a radical critique of American politics, myths and values.

Approaches to American Cultural Studies
Approaches to American Cultural Studies

Author: Antje Dallmann

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-05-20

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 1317227735

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Approaches to American Cultural Studies provides an accessible yet comprehensive overview of the diverse range of subjects encompassed within American Studies, familiarising students with the history and shape of American Studies as an academic subject as well as its key theories, methods, and concepts. Written and edited by an international team of authors based primarily in Europe, the book is divided into four thematically-organised sections. The first part delineates the evolution of American Studies over the course of the twentieth century, the second elaborates on how American Studies as a field is positioned within the wider humanities, and the third inspects and deconstructs popular tropes such as myths of the West, the self-made man, Manifest Destiny, and representations of the President of the United States. The fourth part introduces theories of society such as structuralism and deconstruction, queer and transgender theories, border and hemispheric studies, and critical race theory that are particularly influential within American Studies. This book is supplemented by a companion website offering further material for study (www.routledge.com/cw/dallmann). Specifically designed for use on courses across Europe, it is a clear and engaging introductory text for students of American culture.

Governing Fables
Governing Fables

Author: Sandford Borins

Publisher: IAP

Published: 2011-08-01

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 1617354929

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Governing Fables: Learning from Public Sector Narratives advocates the importance of narrative for public servants, exemplifies it with a rigorously selected and analyzed set of narratives, and imparts narrative skills politicians and public servants need in their careers. Governing Fables turns to narratology, the inter-disciplinary study of narrative, for a conceptual framework that is applied to a set of narratives engaging life within public organizations, focusing on works produced during the last twenty-five years in the US and UK. The genres discussed include British government narratives inspired by and reacting to Yes Minister, British appeasement narratives, American political narratives, the Cuban Missile Crisis narrative, jury decision-making narratives, and heroic teacher narratives. In each genre lessons are presented regarding both effective management and essential narrative skills. Governing Fables is intended for public management and political science scholars and practitioners interested in leadership and management, as well as readers drawn to the political subject matter and to the genre of political films, novels, and television series.