200,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿 

Black Friday Sale on Now! Save up to 25% off Books, Toys, Board Games, & Puzzles! ✨

Screen People

How We Entertained Ourselves into a State of Emergency
By Megan Garber
0.0 (0 reviews)
Brief Description
From America's reality-TV-star-cum-ex-president to our expertly curated Instagram feeds, it's never been less clear what's real and what's been simply fabricated for our entertainment. SCREEN PEOPLE is a deep dive into what happens when we cede our reality to spectacle. Garber explains how the internet-inflected culture... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
Save 18% Off
Savings are calculated from our regular price of $33.99 compared to the current price of $28.00.
$2800
Elsewhere:
$3999
On Sale
in Black Friday Sale until 30 Nov or while stocks last
OVERNIGHT NZ-WIDE DELIVERY

Found a better price? Request a price match

A snappy, sharp and urgent look at what happens when we cede our reality to entertainment at any cost -- for fans of Jia Tolentino and Lauren Oyler, as well as the international bestselling HOW DEMOCRACIES DIE

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description
From America's reality-TV-star-cum-ex-president to our expertly curated Instagram feeds, it's never been less clear what's real and what's been simply fabricated for our entertainment.

SCREEN PEOPLE is a deep dive into what happens when we cede our reality to spectacle. Garber explains how the internet-inflected culture of the present moment conditions us, every day, to see each other less as people than as characters in an ongoing show, and how some of our most chronic and harmful social conditions - loneliness, depression, mistrust, misinformation, cynicism - stem from our demand for diversion.

In ten chapters, each themed around an element of stagecraft - from 'The Producers', who edit our reality, to 'The Props', the strangers we turn into objects of our amusement, all the way through to 'the Haters', the worshipful Qanon-types who expect the prophecies of their anonymous leader to play out on live TV - Garber builds toward an argument as urgent as it is ironic: our fun is quickly becoming our emergency. And we can't understand our politics without first understanding our culture.

Part critical investigation, part manifesto, part fan's diary, SCREEN PEOPLE will be an eye-opening journey into the cultural underbelly of our present malaise.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781035430468

Publisher: Headline Publishing Group

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 21 April 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Wildfire

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 26.0mm

Width: 154.0mm

Height: 232.0mm

Weight: 377g

Pages: 304

Collections

Best Sellers at Book Hero Black Friday Sale Black Friday Sale: Books Black Friday Sale: Non-Fiction Education & Reference Gifts $20-$50 In Stock Books Megan Garber New Release Books Non-Fiction Science & Nature

About the Author

Megan Garber is a staff writer at The Atlantic. She is the recipient of a Mirror Award for her writing about the media and a fellowship from the New America Foundation, and she previously worked as a reporter for the Nieman Journalism Lab, as well as a critic for the Columbia Journalism Review. At The Atlantic, she writes about the intersection of politics and culture (which often, but not always, means that she writes about reality TV). She is the author of On Misdirection: Magic, Mayhem, American Politics. She lives in Washington, DC.

Browse lists from our team

The Latest at Book Hero

View all

More from Science & Nature

View all
  • What If? 10th Anniversary Edition
    CELEBRATING TEN YEARS OF THE MILLION-SELLING POP SCIENCE CLASSIC WITH A SPECIAL EDITION. THIS IS WHAT IF? . . . x10. THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Nerd royalty' — BEN GOLDACRE 'Totally brilliant' — TIM HARFORD 'Required reading across the world' — NEW YORK TIMES From the creator of the wildly popular xkcd.com, experience hilarious and informative answers to important questions...
    By Randall Munroe
    Hardback
    $4200
    Elsewhere:
    $5000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Nuclear War
    The Sunday Times bestselling non-fiction thriller that has to be read to be believed. Baillie Gifford shortlisted, a favourite of Steven Bartlett, with an average reader rating of 4.6, sure to be a mass-market hit. Up to now, no one outside of official circles has known exactly what would happen if a rogue state launched a nuclear missile at the...
    By Annie Jacobsen
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $2800
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • On Sale
    17% off
    The Anxious Generation
    A powerful argument for reclaiming childhood—and all human relationships—from the online world, from the influential social psychologist and international bestselling author. Jonathan Haidt has spent his career speaking truth and wisdom in some of the most difficult spaces—communities polarised by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the mental health emergency hitting teenagers today in many countries around...
    By Jonathan Haidt
    Paperback
    $1900
    Elsewhere:
    $3000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • On Sale
    17% off
    Prisoners of Geography
    Prisoners of Geography looks at the past, present, and future to offer crucial insights into one of the major factors that determine world history – because if you don’t know geography, you’ll never have the full picture. Originally published in 2015, this completely revised and updated edition brings it up to date with the events and trends of the past...
    By Tim Marshall
    Paperback
    $2400
    Usually:
    $2899
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Diddly Squat: Home to Roost
    It's been another memorable year on Diddly Squat Farm - will the chickens finally come home to roost? Welcome back to Clarkson's Farm. The spring crop failed. Farming sheep, pigs, and cows was hardly more lucrative (better off breeding ostriches...) But in the face of uncooperative weather, bureaucracy, and the world's persistent refusal to recognise his genius, our hero's not...
    By Jeremy Clarkson
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $3000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • On Sale
    30% off
    The Place of Tides
    To save the world, we have to start somewhere. One afternoon many years ago, James Rebanks met an old woman on a remote Norwegian island. She lived and worked alone on a tiny rocky outcrop, caring for wild ducks and gathering their down. Hers was a centuries-old trade that had once made men and women rich, but had long been...
    By James Rebanks
    Paperback
    $2100
    Usually:
    $3000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • On Sale
    20% off
    Ultra-Processed People
    Launching the runaway bestseller with ambitions to be the biggest non-fiction paperback of the year IT'S NOT YOU. IT'S THE FOOD. "If you only read one diet or nutrition book in your life, make it this one" - Bee Wilson "You've got to get this book in your life . . . Completely compelling . . . Read a page...
    By Chris van Tulleken
    Paperback
    $2000
    Elsewhere:
    $2800
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Pokemon Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded 2024
    The essential guide to all things Pokémon, this year’s Encyclopedia includes all of the details of Ash Ketchum’s battle to become Pokémon World Champion! The new updated and expanded final edition of the Pokémon Encyclopedia! Ash Ketchum’s journey to becoming a Pokémon Master, and winner of the Masters Eight World Championships, has come to an end. Travel through all 8...
    By Pokémon
    Hardback
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • On Sale
    20% off
    Kitchen Confidential
    The classic bestseller from the star of Parts Unknown and No Reservations: 25th Anniversary edition, with a new introduction by Irvine Welsh. BEFORE THERE WAS THE BEAR, THERE WAS BOURDAIN. ‘Elizabeth David written by Quentin Tarantino’ — A.A. Gill ‘Fantastic: as lip-smackingly seductive as a bowl of fat chips and pungent aioli’ — Daily Telegraph After twenty-five years of sex,...
    By Anthony Bourdain
    Paperback
    $2000
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • That's not my... Zoo
    A perfect introduction to zoo animals with eye-catching illustrations, touchy-feely patches and a noisy finale! Discover the fun of the zoo in this sound-book addition to the bestselling That's not my... series. Turn the pages to explore the zoo and meet a monkey, an elephant, a tiger and a parrot in this larger format touchy-feely book. Press the sound button...
    By Fiona Watt
    Board book
    $2299
    Elsewhere:
    $2499
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Tim's Pick Tim's Pick
    Sapiens
    Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari is an extraordinary exploration of humanity's history from the dawn of our species to the present day. Harari delves into our evolution, offering insights into the cognitive revolutions that allowed Homo sapiens to rise above other animal species. Traversing through various stages of human development, he examines the Agricultural Revolution, the unification of humankind through...
    By Yuval Noah Harari
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $3000
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Talk
    A Harvard professor shows how we can become better talkers - and why effective conversation will help us all thrive. Conversation is at the heart of our relationships and decision-making, but the science behind our everyday interactions, and how to improve them, is little known. In Talk, Harvard Professor Alison Wood Brooks provides fascinating insights into the power of effective...
    By Alison Wood Brooks
    Paperback
    $3000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 200,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.