Episode #153: Dr. Nick Cull

In Episode #153, propaganda expert Dr. Nick Cull joins Osi to explore the history and current use of propaganda by various regimes to influence public opinion and behavior. They also delve into the impact of social media on propaganda and discuss methods to identify it. Nicholas J. Cull (born 1964) is a historian and professor in the Master's in Public Diplomacy program at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. He was the founding director of this program and ran it from 2005 to 2019. Cull's research and teaching interests are broad and inter-disciplinary, and focus on public diplomacy, the role of advocacy, culture, exchange, broadcasting, and public opinion research in foreign policy. Cull has also worked more broadly on the history of propaganda, film, television and radio history and the role of mass media as a source for historical study. He is best known for detailed historical studies of the institutions behind public diplomacy and for emphasizing the importance of "listening" as a pre-condition for successful public diplomacy. He coined the term "reputational security" for a category of enhanced security that comes to an international actor when they are well thought of by external audiences