"In the last James Bond movie, the villain was a culture captain, a tycoon of culture, a Murdoch figure. It's not as if people don't know what is going on." -- Thomas Frank
Thomas Frank (born 1965) is an American author, journalist and former columnist for the Wall Street Journal, authoring "The Tilting Yard" from 2008 to 2010.
Frank is a historian of culture and ideas and analyzes trends in American electoral politics and propaganda, advertising, popular culture, mainstream journalism and economics. With his writing, he explores the rhetoric and impact of the 'Culture Wars' in American political life, and the relationship between politics and culture in the United States.
"I think there's great potential for autonomy, but we have to remember that we live in a world where people may have free will but have not invented their circumstances.""I was in a bad mood when I wrote that.""In America, we no longer have an institutionalized, organized way of calling business to task - of taking them to account for what they've done - and this is especially true in the cultural realm.""These days, of course, the focus of talk about popular liberation through products is mostly associated with the Internet. I've been collecting computer ads and ads dealing with Internet industries.""What becomes fascinating is the way the culture industry doesn't deny it and doesn't try to mitigate it, but tries to sell its products as a way of liberating oneself."
Frank comes from a liberal political perspective and is highly critical of Republican governance, especially the presidency of George W. Bush. However, he has also criticized the Democratic Party for "swearing off economic 'liberalism'". Frank summarized his book, How Conservatives Rule, as "Bad government is the natural product of rule by those who believe government is bad."
He is unusual among writers on the American Left for his polemical style, which has been said to update that of the muckrakers of the same historical era Dead link.
Frank is the founder and editor of The Baffler and the author of several books. Other writings include essays for Harper's Magazine, Le Monde diplomatique, Bookforum, and the Financial Times. His book What's the Matter with Kansas?, published in 2004, earned him nationwide and international recognition.
Beginning in December 2010, Frank will write the monthly "Easy Chair" column for Harper's Magazine.
Frank was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1965. He grew up in a local suburb, Mission Hills, Kansas. Frank graduated from Shawnee Mission East High School. He later attended the University of Kansas. He also attended the University of Virginia and the University of Chicago, where he received a Ph.D. in history in 1994. He currently lives in Washington, DC with his wife, Wendy, and their children.