How Science Fiction Influenced America’s War on the Mind

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When you think about the relationship between science and war, the most obvious connections are in technology—advanced radar, spy satellites, more powerful bombs—and in medical innovations that seek to heal the wounds of conflict. But in the new book, Stories Are Weapons: The Battle for the Mind and the American Mindauthor Annalee Newitz says that stories and narratives can also be weapons, used in warfare on the psychological battlefield.

Ira talks with Newitz about the history of intellectual warfare, from Sun Tzu to Benjamin Franklin, and its modern American birth under the guidance of Paul Linebarger, also a fictional author of science known by the pen name Cordwainer Smith. They discuss the characteristics of psyops, how psychological warfare techniques have been chosen in modern politics, and whether there is a path towards “psychological disarmament”.

Read an excerpt from Stories Are Weapons: The Battle for the Mind and the American Mind.

Universe of Art is organized and produced by D. Peterschmidt, who also wrote the music. The first episode was produced by Charles Bergquist. Our art gallery is illustrated by Abelle Hayford. And support for Friday’s science and arts coverage comes from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

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