ILL EFFECTS

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