Today on the argument, has Putin's propaganda machine been overestimated?

I'm Jane Poston, and I've thought a lot, a lot, about propaganda.

Back in college, I wrote a history thesis on Nazi propaganda before and after the battle

of Stalingrad.

Nazi propaganda was intended to show both German greatness and Germany's vulnerability.

Its inherent need to strike out against those who would do it wrong.

Invading Poland, Ed Hapen murdering millions, a self-defense mechanism.

Of course, none of this was true, but an entire ministry existed within the German government

to tell the German people that not only was it true, but anyone telling them otherwise

was an enemy.

Well, now it's 2022.

And the idea of propaganda, what it is, what it isn't, and why that matters, seems increasingly

important to me as Russia's war in Ukraine continues.

And weirdly, even though propaganda has changed a bit since 1943, the propaganda used in

this war sounds awfully familiar.

The Russian government keeps using terms like do not suffocation to justify its invasion

of Ukraine.

One American academic even argued that the war reminds him specifically of Stalingrad,

the very battle I spent years of my life, and many cans of monster, obsessing over.

Now at the goal of some propaganda isn't just to change your mind, it's to overwhelm

your brain.

And propaganda can be and is used by anyone.

...