This Is Propaganda

As female soldiers get elevated from object to equal, they become both the army’s greatest PR asset, and greatest PR liability. 
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A production of BRINK, a narrative studio
Website: thisispropaganda.show
Instagram: instagram.com/thisispropagandashow
Email: propaganda@brink.com
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CREDITS 
Written, Produced, and Hosted by Malcolm Critcher and Joshua Belhumeur 
Co-Producer: Reed Chandler
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Some dialogue and quotations have been condensed, paraphrased, or reconstructed based on contemporaneous accounts, interviews, and other source material.
All archival clips from film and television used under fair use, for educational purposes only.

From flappers to factory workers, and suffrajitsu to cold war kitchens, we track how the 20th century woman was imagined time and again to meet the needs of a nation.
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A production of BRINK, original productions and branded entertainment
Website: thisispropaganda.show
Instagram: instagram.com/thisispropagandashow
Email: propaganda@brink.com
—
CREDITS 
Written, Produced, and Hosted by Malcolm Critcher and Joshua Belhumeur 
Co-Producer: Reed Chandler
__ 
Some dialogue and quotations have been condensed, paraphrased, or reconstructed based on contemporaneous accounts, interviews, and other source material.
All archival clips from film and television used under fair use, for educational purposes only.
No AI this time. Enjoy my Russian accent. 

How propagandists getting into bed with Hollywood caused the military to lose control of what women mean to their warriors. Or: How I learned to stop worrying, and love the military entertainment complex. 
—
A production of BRINK, original productions and branded entertainment.
 
Website: thisispropaganda.show
Instagram: instagram.com/thisispropagandashow
Email: propaganda@brink.com
—
CREDITS 
Written, Produced, and Hosted by Malcolm Critcher and Joshua Belhumeur 
Co-Producer: Reed Chandler
Additional Voice Acting: Rhiannon Lane 
__ 
Some dialogue and quotations have been condensed, paraphrased, or reconstructed based on contemporaneous accounts, interviews, and other source material.
All archival clips from film and television used under fair use, for educational purposes only.

White feathers, red light districts, and the rise of the military edging complex. How governments weaponized horniness to win WWI, and began to reimagine what women represent to a nation at war. 
—
A production of BRINK, original media and branded entertainment
 
Website: thisispropaganda.show
Instagram: @thisispropagandashow
Email: propaganda@brink.com
—
CREDITS
Written, Produced, and Hosted by Malcolm Critcher and Joshua Belhumeur 
Co-Producer: Reed Chandler
Additional Voice Acting: Rhiannon Lane 
__ 
DISCLOSURE
Some dialogue and quotations have been condensed, paraphrased, or reconstructed based on contemporaneous accounts, interviews, and other source material.
AI Disclosure: We use AI to create custom filters for our voices, but the original performances are our own. We also used AI for a custom composition using our own lyrics for “The Girl Behind The Man Behind The Gun”. All used under commercial license. This is a new frontier for all of us, and we are finding our footing when it comes to AI usage and transparency. We welcome any and all feedback.—
CHAPTERS
For Courage (0:00)
Order of the White Feather (4:51)
Wilson's War Drums (10:25)
Memoir of a Doughboy (12:20)
The Munson Magic (13:22)
Turn Off the Red Light (16:05)
Motivating the Warrior (21:11)—
SOURCES AND ATTRIBUTIONS AVAILABLE AT:thisispropaganda.show/season-two/horny-for-war-the-history-of-how-sex-became-a-weapon

This Is Propaganda is back, and more patriotic than ever. From WWI posters to TikTok E-Girls, strap in for an immersive narrative investigation into how the military uses sex to define the image of the soldier, and the weird and unexpected ways it has changed our culture. New episodes through Fall of 2025.

With endless bot armies infiltrating social media feeds and harnessing the algorithm to control narratives and public opinion, our media system is becoming increasingly polluted.How long will it be before the internet is officially “dead,” where more comments and views are bots than human?
Our conversation this week is with Amil Khan, a former Reuters foreign correspondent and BBC investigative journalist with over two decades of experience in media and communications.
Amil is now the CEO of Valent, a firm specializing in countermeasures for organizations under threat from bot networks and disinformation campaigns.
Welcome to DoubleThink, conversations inspired by This Is Propaganda. If you haven’t yet, check out the Webby Award–winning first season.
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BRINK media group is re-imagining how brands, causes and artists compete in the oversaturated attention marketplace through original productions and branded entertainment.
Website: thisispropaganda.show
Instagram: instagram.com/thisispropagandashow
Email: propaganda@brink.com

The average American's worldview is under constant assault from propaganda. Between the 5,000 advertisements we see daily, for profit journalism, and virtually every post on social media, the gulf between reality and the myths we are surrounded by has never been wider. And with the widespread adoption of algorithms guiding this entire process, we are in desperate need of a new set of skills to navigate the landscape. 
This set of skills is widely referred to as media literacy—a concept that extends literacy beyond the ability to read and write, into the ability to understand how and why messages work across different forms of media. 
Joining us is special guest Renee Hobbs, media literacy scholar, educator, and founder of the Media Education Lab. 
Welcome to DoubleThink, conversations inspired by This Is Propaganda. If you haven’t yet, check out the Webby Award–winning first season.
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BRINK media group is re-imagining how brands, causes and artists compete in the oversaturated attention marketplace through original productions and branded entertainment.
Website: thisispropaganda.show
Instagram: instagram.com/thisispropagandashow
Email: propaganda@brink.com

It probably won’t come as much of a surprise that the Pentagon was involved in the making of Top Gun. What may be more surprising is the sheer scope of film and television projects the Pentagon has had a hand in—and just how deeply involved it is in the production process.
From Pitch Perfect 3 to the reality show Wife Swap, today we’ll explore how the Pentagon became one of the most powerful forces behind Hollywood storytelling—and the long-term impact this influence has had on audiences both in America and around the world.
Joining us is special guest Tom Secker journalist author and podcaster. You can learn more about Tom's work at spyculture.com
Welcome to DoubleThink, conversations inspired by This Is Propaganda. If you haven’t yet, check out the webby award winning first season
—
BRINK media group is re-imagining how brands, causes and artists compete in the oversaturated attention marketplace through original productions and branded entertainment.
Website: thisispropaganda.show
Instagram: instagram.com/thisispropagandashow
Email: propaganda@brink.com

What aesthetics and ideas defined the branded propaganda targeting millennials in the 2010s, and why do they increasingly fail to resonate with Gen Z audiences?
Joining us is special guest Eugene Healey, brand strategy consultant and educator. Follow Eugene at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elkhealey
This is DoubleThink, conversations inspired by the themes of This Is Propaganda. If you haven’t yet, please listen to the Webby Award season one of the pod.
—
BRINK media group is re-imagining how brands, causes and artists compete in the oversaturated attention marketplace through original productions and branded entertainment.
Website: thisispropaganda.show
Instagram: instagram.com/thisispropagandashow
Email: propaganda@brink.com

San Francisco ad man Howard Gossage (1917–1969) is a bit more under the radar than his Madison Avenue contemporaries, but his work in both consumer marketing and advocacy messaging was brilliant. His unconventional and interactive approaches to advertising felt like a harbinger of what was to come a half-century later with the advent of social media. We discuss his work and what it can teach us about propaganda.
With special guest Justin Oberman, longtime advertising creative and social media influencer. Follow Justin at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinoberman/
This is DoubleThink, conversations inspired by the themes of This Is Propaganda. If you haven’t yet, please listen to the Webby Award season one of the pod.
—
BRINK media group is re-imagining how brands, causes and artists compete in the oversaturated attention marketplace through original productions and branded entertainment.
Website: thisispropaganda.show
Instagram: instagram.com/thisispropagandashow
Email: propaganda@brink.com