How do the arts shape our political culture and civic life? Professor Adatto, multiple-award-winning Harvard lecturer and author of Picture Perfect: Life in the Age of the Photo Op, sits down with Matthew for a wide-ranging discussion of art and how it affects the way we view political candidates, fight wars, and relate to one another as human beings. How do politicians present themselves before the camera? Is there an ethical way to document war and suffering? In what way is persuasive rhetoric an art form, and how can modern politics rediscover it?
Professor Adatto is a Scholar in Residence at Harvard’s Mahindra Humanities Center and a Lecturer on Social Studies. In addition to Picture Perfect, she is the author of the children’s book Babayan and the Magic Star. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Atlantic, the New Republic, Time magazine, and other national publications, and her writings on the media helped spark a national debate about coverage of presidential campaigns.
Introduction: 0:00
Political photo ops: 4:12
Ethical relationship between photographer and subject: 12:38
Photographing war and suffering: 20:37
Persuasive rhetoric in politics: 26:01
Political rhetoric in popular music: 34:52
Babayan Story Project 41:08
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