42 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
Hulu's 2025 Alien franchise TV series set on Earth — the first Alien entry set on the home planet — expanding the franchise beyond confined spacecraft settings.
Disney+ Star Wars prequel series created by Tony Gilroy, following Cassian Andor's radicalization into the Rebel Alliance against an oppressive empire, distinguished by its political realism and adult tone.
American financial journalist, co-anchor of CNBC's Squawk Box, founder of the DealBook conference, and author of Too Big to Fail — the definitive narrative account of the 2008 financial crisis.
American media mogul who created the Fox Broadcasting Company, ran Paramount Pictures, and built IAC into a portfolio of internet companies including Expedia, Match Group, and Vimeo.
Charlie Brooker's British (later Netflix) anthology series — each episode an independent near-future technology satire — exploring how technology amplifies human weakness, cruelty, and self-deception.
British-American entertainer who was the most celebrated entertainer of American servicemen during WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf War — his USO tours bringing comedy to over a million soldiers — and one of the most successful entertainers in the history of American comedy, film, and television.
American screenwriter, director, and showrunner — co-creator of Rounders (1998), Ocean's Thirteen, and Billions (Showtime) — who created a podcast (The Moment) and who represents the creative entrepreneur approach to Hollywood.
A 1980 PBS television documentary series by Carl Sagan exploring the universe and humanity's place in it.
Dom Joly is a British comedian and writer best known for the hidden-camera show 'Trigger Happy TV', who attended Haileybury College at the same time as Christopher Nolan.
CBS's drama about a forensic psychologist, a priest-in-training, and a contractor investigating alleged miraculous and demonic events — notable for walking the line between supernatural and psychological explanations.
Amazon Prime Video's 2024 TV adaptation of the Fallout video game franchise — set in a post-nuclear apocalypse America governed by vault-dwelling survivors and mutant-populated wastelands — praised for its dark comedy, world-building fidelity, and production design.
American political journalist — co-founder of The Weekly Standard — long-time Fox News contributor and The McLaughlin Group panelist — who covered the Reagan and Bush administrations.
HBO fantasy drama series based on George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels — depicting a medieval-style world of dynastic struggle, political intrigue, and warfare — which became the most-watched television series in history and brought sophisticated political realism to fantasy television.
American comedian and actor — co-creator of Seinfeld (1989–1998, the most commercially successful TV comedy in history) — whose commitment to the craft of standup comedy (he has performed 80+ dates annually for 45 years) is the most documented example of creative discipline in comedy.
Taylor Sheridan's 2024 Paramount+ drama about the oil business in West Texas — following a troubleshooter managing the complex problems of a Texas oil company.
American economic commentator and former White House National Economic Council director (2018–2021) under Trump — former CNBC host — supply-side economics advocate — who worked under Reagan as OMB official.
History Channel's 2012 twelve-part documentary series covering the entire sweep of human history from the first humans through the modern era — one of the most ambitious popular history documentary series produced for American television.
British historian and documentary filmmaker who created In Search of the Dark Ages, In Search of Alexander the Great, The Story of India, and Story of China — combining serious historical scholarship with accessible television documentary presentation — one of the most influential popular historians.
Fred Rogers's PBS children's television program — one of the most culturally significant American television shows, built on developmental psychology and a theology of radical acceptance.
Marvel Studios' Disney+ limited series starring Oscar Isaac as a mercenary with dissociative identity disorder who becomes entangled with the Egyptian moon god Khonshu.
Canadian comedian and filmmaker whose work — Nathan for You, The Rehearsal, The Curse — uses elaborate real-world setups to probe authenticity, social contract, and the nature of performance.
American television host — host of Wheel of Fortune (1981–2024) — the longest-running game show host in television history — a quiet conservative commentator who occasionally expressed right-wing views on social media.
American television writer and producer — Cheers writer and showrunner — contributor to National Review — co-founder of Ricochet — who is the most prominent conservative entertainment industry figure to speak openly about Hollywood's political culture.
American political journalist — former Washington Post national political reporter — CBS News correspondent — co-author of Peril (with Bob Woodward) — known for his extensive Republican congressional source network.
American educational children's television program that began in 1969 — combining entertainment with evidence-based early childhood education — which has had documented positive effects on school readiness, literacy, and numeracy for generations of American children, particularly in low-income households.
FX's 2024 limited series adaptation of James Clavell's 1975 novel — following an English navigator stranded in feudal Japan during a period of civil war — praised as the definitive dramatization of the Sengoku period for Western audiences.
Mike Judge's HBO comedy about a startup founder whose revolutionary compression algorithm attracts the attention of both a tech billionaire and a competing company — a sharply accurate satire of Silicon Valley culture, VC dynamics, and startup absurdity.
Apple TV+ dystopian drama adapting Hugh Howey's Wool novel series, set inside an underground silo where the last remnants of humanity live under strict information control.
Japanese actress, television personality, and author — author of Totto-Chan — UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador — host of Tetsuwan! Dash — whose memoir of her progressive childhood schooling became the best-selling Japanese book.
Netflix's 2023 political drama about a US Ambassador to the UK caught in a geopolitical crisis — praised for its sharp dialogue, political authenticity, and the performances of Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell.
Rod Serling's 1959–64 American television anthology series presenting science fiction, fantasy, and supernatural stories with twist endings and moral commentary — one of the most influential American television series — addressing race, conformity, war, McCarthyism, and nuclear anxiety through allegory.
David Simon and Ed Burns's HBO drama set in Baltimore — examining the drug trade, the police department, the schools, the docks, and the media across five seasons — widely considered the greatest TV series ever produced, notable for treating the city as character and institutional dysfunction as its true subject.
Netflix comedy series set in an auto shop, created by and starring Shane Gillis, focusing on the relationship between cousins running a struggling tire business.
Damon Lindelof's 2019 HBO limited series expanding the Watchmen universe, set in an alternate present-day Tulsa and centering the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre as a foundational historical trauma.
NBC's sitcom about a gay man and his straight female best friend — one of the first mainstream American sitcoms to have gay lead characters — credited with shifting American public opinion on gay rights more than any other media.
Taylor Sheridan's Paramount Network drama about the Dutton family's control of Montana's largest cattle ranch — a modern Western about land, power, and the collision between indigenous rights, corporate development, and ranch culture.
American actor and filmmaker known for Scrubs and his directorial debut Garden State — a touchstone film for millennial identity and malaise — whose work engages with themes of purpose, loss, and emotional authenticity.
Ian McKellen is a renowned English actor who has been a major figure in British theatre and film, known for his commanding stage presence and iconic roles in Shakespearean productions and popular franchises like X-Men and The Lord of the Rings.
American media mogul and talk show host whose program was the most-watched daytime talk show for 25 years — and whose cultural influence on reading, wellness, and self-help is unparalleled.
Roseanne Barr is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and television producer whose working-class sitcom Roseanne (1988-1997, revived 2018) was groundbreaking in its frank portrayal of blue-collar American family life. Known for her abrasive, politically incorrect persona and later controversial social media activity.
American animated satirical TV series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone — debuted 1997 on Comedy Central — set in the fictional Colorado town of South Park — featuring four elementary school boys — the most sustained, incisive, and equal-opportunity satirical television series in American broadcast history.
American supernatural horror TV series created by the Duffer Brothers — premiered on Netflix in 2016 — set in the fictional Indiana town of Hawkins in the 1980s — featuring a group of children encountering supernatural phenomena — the series that defined 1980s nostalgia aesthetics in prestige streaming television.