Stories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind Review

In the book Stories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind, published June 4, 2024, by W.W. Norton and Company, author Annalee Newitz argues that disinformation, propaganda and violent threats have evolved from military tools used against foreign adversaries into instruments deployed within domestic culture wars. Newitz, a journalist with a PhD in English and American Studies from UC Berkeley, examines how the process of weaponized storytelling has been integrated into American political and social conflict.

The research for the book draws on archival records from the Propaganda and Psychological Warfare archive at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, as well as contemporary interviews and archival research. Newitz traces the history of these techniques back to the Revolutionary War era, citing Benjamin Franklin’s use of a fake newspaper and a 1782 fake article describing a British officer receiving boxes of scalps from Native Americans as early examples of stories instrumentalized for political ends.

The Intersection of Psychology and Propaganda

Newitz explores the emergence of modern psychological operations, noting that during World War I, the U.S. Military’s propaganda and psychological operations—terms that were synonymous at the time—were led by Walter Lippman. This period saw the rise of modern psychology under Sigmund Freud and the subsequent application of those ideas to the advertising industry by Freud’s nephew, Edward Bernays, who is often described as the father of public relations.

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The book highlights a fundamental disagreement among these figures regarding the role of persuasion in society. In Public Opinion, Lippman argued that propaganda eroded democratic public life. Freud similarly believed that propaganda was corrosive to civil society. Conversely, Bernays viewed persuasion as a civil right in his work Crystallizing Public Opinion, treating it as a form of everyday communication.

Over time, these practices diverged, with psychological operations becoming more closely associated with the military while propaganda moved into a grey area between advertising and information warfare.

Military Doctrine and Cultural Influence

Following World War II, Newitz identifies the role of 20th-century science fiction authors in the solidification of the U.S. Military’s psychological warfare doctrine. The book also references Paul Linebarger, who authored a U.S. Army handbook on psychological warfare, as a key figure in this development.

The author provides examples of how these techniques were applied to cultural output to shape public perception. One such example is the 1941 creation of the superhero Wonder Woman, which is described as psychological propaganda for a new type of woman.

Transition to Domestic Culture Wars

Newitz asserts that the tools of psychological warfare have transitioned into the hands of domestic culture warriors through a long-unacknowledged weapons-transfer program. This shift is evident in contemporary conflicts, including campaigns against feminist viewpoints and school-board disputes involving LGBTQ+ students.

The book details the use of these tools in 21st-century elections. During Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, social media was used to distribute a decontextualized video clip suggesting that Hillary Clinton was hostile to Black people in an effort to dissuade them from voting.

Newitz also notes a 2020 incident during the Black Lives Matter protests, where a completely false story appeared on Twitter claiming that the entire Washington, D.C. Area was under lockdown.

Strategies for Psychological Disarmament

Beyond documenting the history of manipulation, the book addresses the process of psychological disarmament. Newitz highlights the work of several groups attempting to counter weaponized storytelling, including:

• Indigenous archivists who are preserving their histories using new methodologies.
• Activist storytellers.
• Technology experts working to transform the functioning of social media.