ILL EFFECTS

Does background music make you more focused?

Before “deep focus” and “study beats” playlists came muzak—one of the most widespread (and widely hated) forms of music of the 20th Century. But does background music really have the power to improve worker productivity? To dictate our wine preferences? Or, God forbid, even affect how long we spend in our favourite brothel?!? Rich shows Ben that the genre’s history doesn’t always make for easy listening. 

Show Notes:

Sources and links: 

Advertising Cliche (n.d.) “The Visual Primer of Advertising Cliches: Muzak Corporation” [amazing online archive of historical print ads] 

Allan, David (2008) “Sound retailing: A Review of Experimental Evidence on the Effects of Music on Shopping Behavior,” in Tina M. Lowrey, ed. Brick & Mortar Shopping in the 21st Century. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 

Anderson, Paul Allen (2015) “Neo-muzak and the business of mood,” Critical Inquiry, 41(4). 

Bradshaw, Alan, and Morris B. Holbrook (2008) “Must we have Muzak wherever we go? A critical consideration of the consumer culture,” Consumption, Markets and Culture, 11(1). 

Camp, Gregory (2017) "Mickey Mouse Muzak: Shaping Experience Musically at Walt Disney World,” Journal of the Society for American Music, 11(1). 

Chebat, Jean-Charles, Dominique Valiant, and Gelinas-Chebat (2000) “Does Background Music in a Store Enhance Salespersons' Persuasiveness?” Perceptual and Motor Skills, 91. 

Hulyer, Jake (2018) “Inside the booming business of background music,” Guardian, 6th November. 

Illouz, Eva (2018) “Introduction: emodities or the making of emotional commodities.” In Illouz, ed. Emotions as Commodities: Capitalism, Consumption and Authenticity. Routledge.  

Inside the Score (2022) “Satie's Furniture Music: Designed to be Ignored?” [YouTube] 

Gorbman, Claudia (1987) Unheard Melodies: Narrative Film Music. Indiana University Press. 

Jones, Simon C. and Thomas G. Schumacher (1992) “Muzak: On Functional Music and Power,” Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 9(2). 

Kotler, Philip (1974) “Atmospherics as a Marketing Tool,” Journal of Retailing, 49(4). 

Lanza, Joseph (1994) Elevator Music: A Surreal History of Muzak, Easy-Listening, and Other Moodsong. 1st ed. Picador.  

Mercer, Jason C. (2018) “Elevator Music -- MUZAK -- Stimulus Progression” [YouTube] 

[Muzak ads archived] 

North, Adrian C., David J. Hargreaves and Jennifer McKendrick (1999) “The Influence of In-Store Music on Wine Selections,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(2). 

[Satie, Carrelage Phonique]  

Veix, Joe (2019) “Fitter, happier, more productive: The odd history of ‘productivity music’” Dropbox: Work in Progress.  

Incidental Music:

Best of lofi hip hop 2023 🎉 - beats to relax/study to

Artist(s) name – squeeda x tonbo - Inertia

Provided by Lofi Girl – Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmKguZohAck

Listen: Spotify

Local Forecast - Elevator by Kevin MacLeod https://incompetech.com/

Promoted by MrSnooze 

Creative Commons — CC BY 3.0 I https://goo.gl/Yibru5

Credits: 

Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland  

Music by -  Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman 

Creative producer – Rachel Wood 

Technical producer – Caroline Pringle 

Technical production – Colin Frank

Did Lady Chatterley’s Lover corrupt wives and servants?

Ben takes Rich back to the landmark case study of a book that was accused of changing the world forever by containing descriptions of sex and swearwords. Join us for a 150-year history of obscenity laws, the power of literature to corrupt, swinging 60s, explicit fan fiction, and whether you’d want YOUR wife or servant reading this filth.  

Show Notes: 

Chandos, John (1962) To deprave and corrupt...”. Original Studies in the Nature and Definition of 'Obscenity' Associated Press. 

Erlanson, Erik, et al. (2020) Forbidden Literature: Case Studies on Censorship. Kriterium. 

[Video] Hawes, James (2006) The Chatterley Affair, BBC 

Hilliard, Christopher (2013). “Is It a Book That You Would Even Wish Your Wife or Your Servants to Read?” Obscenity Law and the Politics of Reading in Modern England. The American Historical Review, 118(3), 653-678. 

[Video] 1960: Lady Chatterley's Lover Goes on Sale 

Ozimek, John and Julian Petley (2009) ‘Our outdated obscenity law’, The Guardian, 1st July. 

Roberts, M. J. D. (1985). ‘Morals, Art, and the Law: The Passing of the Obscene Publications Act, 1857’, Victorian Studies, 28(4), 609-629. 

Rolph, C. H. (1991). The Trial of Lady Chatterley: Regina V. Penguin Books Limited: The Transcript of the Trial. Penguin 

Thomas, Nick (2013). “‘To-Night's Big Talking Point is Still that Book’ Popular Responses to the Lady Chatterley Trial”, Cultural and Social History, 10(4), 619-634. 

Note: Journal articles are often behind paywalls. If you don't have institutional access but would like a copy of these papers please email Illeffectspod@gmail.com and we will happily send you one. 

Credits: 

Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland  

Music by -  Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman 

Creative producer – Rachel Wood 

Technical producer – Caroline Pringle 

Technical production – Colin Frank 

Can YouTube turn you into a Flat Earther?

Can the YouTube algorithm really turn you into a Flat Earther, or some other kind of radical conspiracy theorist? Rich takes Ben on a journey through terrible poetry, evangelical newsletters and 9/11 Truther videos. It turns out the “filter bubble” is an idea that might need bursting.  

Show Notes: 

Sources and links: 

Blount, Lady Elizabeth (1898) “The ‘Why’ and ‘Because’” [poem included in her novel Adrian Galilio; Or, a Song Writer’s Story] 

Bruns, Axel. (2019) Are Filter Bubbles Real? Polity Press. 

Flat Earth News (1976-1994) [Newsletter of the Flat Earth Society] 

Garwood, Christine (2008) Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea. Pan Books. 

Grusauskaite, Kamile, Luca Carbone, Jaron Harambam, and Stef Aupers (2023). “Debating (in) echo chambers: How culture shapes communication in conspiracy theory networks on YouTube,” New Media & Society. Online First.  

Loose Change (2005) Dir. Dylan Avery. [Film] 

Olshansky, Alex, Robert M. Peaslee and Asheley R. Landrum (2020) “Flat- Smacked! Converting to Flat Eartherism,” Journal of Media and Religion, 19(2). 

Paolillo, John C. (2018) “The Flat Earth phenomenon on YouTube,” First Monday.  

Pariser, Eli (2011) The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You. Penguin Books. 

“Phillip Is Absolutely Baffled by the Men Who Believe the Earth Is Flat | This Morning” [Video]  

Roose, Kevin (2020) Rabbit Hole, New York Times [Podcast]  

Roose, Kevin (2021) “How a Viral Video Bent Reality,” New York Times, September 8. 

Russell, Jeffrey Burton (1991) Inventing the Flat Earth. Praeger.  

Sales, Nancy Jo (2006) “Click Here for Conspiracy”, Vanity Fair, October 10.  

Sunstein, Cass R. (2001) Republic.com. Princeton University Press. 

Note: Journal articles are often behind paywalls. If you don't have institutional access but would like a copy of these papers please email Illeffectspod@gmail.com and we will happily send you a copy 

Credits: 

Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland  

Music by -  Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman 

Creative producer – Rachel Wood 

Technical producer – Caroline Pringle 

Technical production – Colin Frank 

Does Barbie give girls eating disorders?

Barbie has been accused of a lot over the last 7 decades, but her most enduring criticism is that she sets unrealistic beauty standards for young girls. Ben talks Rich through the curious history of Barbie as a toy and a “role model”, the sometimes-warped world of body image research, and a creepy life-size doll that walks on all fours.   

Show Notes: 

Anschutz, Doeschka J., and Rutger CME Engels (2010). "The effects of playing with thin dolls on body image and food intake in young girls." Sex Roles 63, 621-630. 

[Video] CNN: Woman Makes Life-Size Barbie Look-Alike 

Blood, S. K. (2004). Body Work: The Social Construction of Women's Body Image, Routledge. 

Brownell, Kelly D., and Melissa A. Napolitano (1995). "Distorting reality for children: Body size proportions of Barbie and Ken dolls." International Journal of Eating Disorders 18.3, 295-298. 

Dittmar, Helga, Emma Halliwell, and Suzanne Ive (2006). "Does Barbie make girls want to be thin? The effect of experimental exposure to images of dolls on the body image of 5-to 8-year-old girls." Developmental Psychology 42.2, 283. 

Dockterman, Eliana (2016) ‘Barbie’s Got a New Body’, Time 

Driscoll, Catherine. (2002). Girls: Feminine Adolescence in Popular Culture and Cultural Theory. Columbia University Press. 

‘Get Real Barbie Fact Sheet’ 

Henfield, M. (1990) ‘The Anorexics Aged Eight’, Daily Mail. 

[Video] Mattel Barbie Commercial (1959) 

Pearson, Marlys, and Paul R. Mullins (1999). "Domesticating Barbie: An archaeology of Barbie material culture and domestic ideology." International Journal of Historical Archaeology 3, 225-259. 

Rand, Erica. (1995). Barbie's Queer Accessories. Duke University Press. 

Note: Journal articles are often behind paywalls. If you don't have institutional access but would like a copy of these papers please email Illeffectspod@gmail.com and we will happily send you a copy

Credits: 

Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland  

Music by -  Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman 

Creative producer – Rachel Wood 

Technical producer – Caroline Pringle 

Technical production – Colin Frank 

Did Child’s Play 3 turn kids into killers?

When two children murdered toddler James Bulger in 1993, the British media lost their damn minds and tried to blame a horror video. Rich tells Ben that this argument really started a decade earlier with the “video nasties” panic. Join us as we unravel a tangled web of sensationalism, fraudulent research, and some truly bizarre claims about dogs.  

Show Notes: 

Links and references: 

Bailey, Susan (1996) “Adolescents who murder,” Journal of Adolescence, 19, 19-39.  

Barker, Martin and Julian Petley, eds. (2001) Ill Effects: The Media/Violence Debate. Routledge. (Especially Barker’s chapter on the Newson Report) 

Barker, Martin, ed. (1984) Video Nasties: Freedom and Censorship in the Media. Pluto Press. (Check out Brian Brown’s chapter for the incredible full story about Clifford Hill’s research) 

Barlow, Geoffrey and Alison Hill, eds. (1985) Video Violence and Children. Hodder & Stoughton. 

Cumberbatch, Guy (1994) “Legislating mythology: Video violence and children,” Journal of Mental Health, 3:4, 485-494. 

Newson, Elizabeth (1994) “Video violence and the protection of children,” Journal of Mental Health, 3:2, 221-227 

[Video] 'Suitable For Viewing In The Home ?' (Video Censorship & Video Nasties Documentary). YouTube. 

[Film] Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape (2010). Dir. Jake West. 

Note: Journal articles are often behind paywalls. If you don't have institutional access but would like a copy of these papers please email Illeffectspod@gmail.com and we will happily send you a copy.

Credits: 

Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland  

Music by  - Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman 

Creative producer – Rachel Wood 

Technical producer – Caroline Pringle 

Technical production – Colin Frank 

Trailer ILL EFFECTS - Series 1

Welcome to ILL EFFECTS - the good podcast about bad media influences. Can a horror film turn kids into killers? Can music make you more productive? Can a video game cause dangerous driving? Dr Rich McCulloch and Dr Ben Litherland investigate the bad faith arguments, dodgy data, and moral panics behind claims that the media influence our behaviour and manipulate our minds. Each episode they take a deep dive into the past and present of the media that have been said to cause any number of effects, researching music, video games, movies, books, toys, and more. What power does the media really have? Find out in the first series of bi-weekly discussions of Ill Effects. First two episodes released 29th February 2024