6 chapters across the catalog
April Rainn explains how she created the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag in 2015 after no people of color were nominated in major acting categories. She details the transition of the movement from a snarky Twitter comment to a substantive push for institutional change within the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
A Frontline clip details a 1985 case where then-U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions indicted civil rights activists Albert and Evelyn Turner for absentee ballot fraud in Alabama. The jury eventually acquitted them. The hosts use this to show the long history of legal battles over absentee ballots, which they distinguish from the "unsolicited" mail-in ballots used in 2020.
The civil rights movement is described as a calculated media production designed to dramatize social issues for a national audience. Activists like John Lewis intentionally put themselves in harm's way in places like Selma, Alabama, to ensure violent responses were captured by television cameras. This strategy successfully reached white Americans in the North by highlighting the "good versus evil" narrative of the struggle.
The narrative continues through the 1950s and 60s, detailing the 1957 Civil Rights Act and the massive resistance in the Deep South. It highlights the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery and the subsequent signing of the Voting Rights Act by Lyndon Johnson. Moe emphasizes the severity of historical suppression, such as literacy tests and poll taxes, to provide context for his critique of modern political rhetoric.
Congressman John Lewis and author Hank Klibanoff discuss how the Civil Rights Movement used the media to dramatize racial injustice for a national audience. By putting their bodies on the line in places like Selma, activists forced northern newspapers and television networks to cover the violent response of southern authorities. The hosts contrast this era of "good vs. evil" drama with the more cynical media tactics used today.
The Civil Rights Movement is described as a strategically "dramatized" event designed to reach white Americans through media coverage. The hosts discuss the "casting" of the movement, noting that Claudette Colvin was the original choice for the bus protest but was passed over by the NAACP in favor of the more "palatable" Rosa Parks. They emphasize that leaders like John Lewis understood the necessity of performing protests in front of cameras.
