Brooke Gladstone

Brooke Gladstone's written a cunning little book (87 pps.)--The Trouble with Reality: A Rumination on Moral Panic in Our Time--that's a welcome addition to the worldwide library of books written by hyper-intelligent, passionate people who are curious to the point of being ashamed of what they can't possibly understand and write primarily to clear up self-imposed moritifications. Ms. Gladstone's subject is the improbable election of Donald Trump, an election made possible by the candidate's brazen use of the media in broadcasting his lies, half-truths, untruths, hyperbole, and bombast. Her vantage point is the weekly public radio show she co-hosts in New York City, On the Media, which "analyzes the media and how it shapes our perceptions of the world," as written on the french flaps of her handsomely compact new book.

If it is every citizens' responsibility to puzzle out on a daily basis the cost-benefit ratio of the Trump presidency--and it is--then Brooke Gladstone has done more than her fair share of heavy lifting; she's stuck the corkscrew in a bottle of wine and made a few deft turns. The wine, it turns out, is a very, very old vintage dating back to the glory days of the ancient democracy, now turned bitter with age; but it's not her fault, don't blame Brooke Gladstone, she's just the one who's hauled it up from the cellar.