Stories are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind, reviewed by A.J. Bauer

In the acknowledgments to Stories Are Weapons, Annalee Newitz notes that their book started as a "manifesto" but transformed along the way into an intensive work of historical research.As a weapon, the story Newitz tells has some political utility.It smartly and provocatively weaves the histories of US settler colonialism, eugenics, racial segregation, misogyny, and homophobia into contemporary debates over mis-and disinformation in electoral politics.It can best be read as a popular front text-an instrument for guiding "resistance" liberals toward more radical (and accurate) interpretations of US history.Perhaps the book's most intriguing throughline is its focus on Paul Linebarger-a US Army officer during World War II who helped build the Office of War Information and wrote the canonical text on military propaganda, Psychological Warfare (1948).Linebarger, a prolific writer of science fiction, was better known by the pen name Cordwainer Smith.Newitz draws fruitful parallels between the worldbuilding strategies of science fiction authors and successful psychological operations ("psyops"), noting that both science fiction and miliary propaganda involve mixing fact with fiction to create psychologically compelling narratives.As a fellow science fiction writer,