Celebrating Recent Work by Eunji Kim

by EUNJI KIM

In an age of growing wealth disparities, politicians on both sides of the aisle are sounding the alarm about the fading American Dream. Yet despite all evidence to the contrary, many still view the United States as the land of opportunity. The American Mirage addresses this puzzle by exposing the stark reality of today’s media landscape, revealing how popular entertainment media shapes politics and public opinion in an increasingly news-avoiding nation.

Drawing on an eclectic array of original data, Eunji Kim demonstrates how, amid a dazzling array of media choices, many Americans simply are not consuming the news. Instead, millions flock to entertainment programs that showcase real-life success stories, such as American Idol, Shark Tank, and MasterChef. Kim examines how shows like these leave viewers confoundingly optimistic about the prospects of upward mobility, promoting a false narrative of rugged individualism and meritocracy that contradicts what is being reported in the news.

By taking seriously what people casually watch every day, The American Mirage shows how rags-to-riches programs perpetuate the myth of the American Dream, glorifying the economic winners, fostering tolerance for income inequality, and dampening support for redistributive policies that could improve people’s lives.

About the Author

is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Columbia University. As a political communication scholar, she primarily studies the impact of media content on mass attitudes and political behavior. Her recent projects explore a range of topics, including the role of The Apprentice in helping Trump's electoral performance in 2016, the influence of popular cop procedural shows on public perceptions of the criminal justice system, and the effects of following social media influencers on Instagram, Tiktok, and YouTube. She is also studying the social media discourse surrounding the Gaza conflict and analyzing millions of book catalogs from school libraries to investigate censorship trends in the United States. Kim's work has been published in leading journals, including the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

About the Speakers

is an Associate Professor of Politics and Public Affairs and the Director of Undergraduate Studies at Princeton University. His research and teaching interests lie at the intersection of political communication, public opinion, and political behavior.

Via a combination of experimental methods, large datasets, machine learning, and innovative measurement, he studies how people choose, process, spread, and respond to information about politics. Recent work investigates the extent to which online Americans' news habits are polarized (the popular "echo chambers" hypothesis), patterns in the consumption and spread of online misinformation, and the effectiveness of efforts to counteract misperceptions encountered on social media. Coverage of these findings has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Slate, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and other publications.

is Professor of Journalism at Columbia Journalism School. Currently the staff music critic for The Nation, he served as music critic for The New Republic for 12 years. In a career spanning more than 30 years, he has written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books, Harper's and other publications. Hajdu is the author of eight books of cultural history, criticism and fiction. He is a three-time finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and four-time winner of the ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award for Music Writing. His book Lush Life was named one of "Hundred Best Nonfiction Books of All Time" by The New York Times.

is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Columbia University. His research lies at the intersection of comparative politics and political economy, and spans elections in developing and developed contexts. He studies how news consumption, indicators of government performance, levels of education, and social networks shape how voters select politicians. As well as bottom-up voter behavior, Professor Marshall is also interested in how politicians choose electoral strategies, when media outlets decide to report political news, and how institutions can be designed to improve bureaucratic performance. He generally analyzes these questions by combining quasi-experimental and experimental designs with theoretical models to identify and help interpret causal relationships.

is Eaton Professor of Political Science and chair of the Department of Political Science at Columbia University. He studies American state and urban politics and public opinion. He has published articles in the American Journal of Political Science, Legislative Studies Quarterly, and the Journal of Law, Economics and Organization. His current research projects include analyzing the effects of public opinion on sub-national policymaking and evaluating the power of state governors in negotiations with legislatures.

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