Edward (Ted) Morgan introduces us to the core arguments of his book, What Really Happened to the 1960s: How Mass Media Culture Failed American Democracy, which explores how the United States changed from the 1960s-era’s promise-of-greater-democracy to today’s world in which wealth essentially owns the political system, the future of human life is threatened, US foreign policy still seeks to dominate the world, and a character like Donald Trump can manipulate the culture with lies and vindictiveness. He shows how mass media portrayals of the major social movements led to backlash attacks fed by right-wing politicians, pundits, and the corporate center, and cooptation of activism via entertainment and consumer media that embellished or created narcissistic forms of ‘rebelliousness’ — leading many activists of the era to withdraw from politics into countercultural communities.

Ted Morgan is emeritus distinguished university professor at Lehigh University, having served at the University from 1976 through 2016. He grew up in South Hadley, Massachusetts and received a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and a doctorate from Brandeis University. He is the author of What Really Happened in the 1960s: How Mass Media Culture Failed American Democracy (University Press of Kansas), The 60s Experience: Hard Lessons about Modern America (Temple University Press), Inequality in Classroom Learning (Praeger), and numerous articles about democracy, social movements, propaganda, and educational politics & policy in the United States. He is the 2012 recipient of Lehigh’s prestigious Hillman Faculty Award and the 1992 recipient of the Lindback distinguished teaching award.