**A Sunday Times (London), Best Book of 2018“A thoughtful, entertaining, and occasionally profound critical study of the texts that entertain, move and, sometimes, shape us.”—The Spectator (London)“A bold, witty, and brilliantly argued analysis of the role pop culture has played in the rise of American extremism.”—Ruth Reichl“You'll never look at your favorite movies and TV shows the same way again. And you shouldn't.”—Steven S...

In this “dishy…superbly reported” (Entertainment Weekly) New York Times bestseller, Peter Biskind chronicles the rise of independent filmmakers who reinvented Hollywood—most notably Sundance founder Robert Redford and Harvey Weinstein, who with his brother, Bob, made Miramax Films an indie powerhouse.As he did in his acclaimed Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, Peter Biskind “takes on the movie industry of the 1990s and again gets the story” (

A NEW YORKER BEST BOOKS OF 2023 SELECTION“Biskind’s saga about the rise and fall of prestige television explains, in punchy, propulsive prose, how we went from Tony Soprano to Ted Lasso.” —New YorkerBestselling author of Easy Riders, Raging Bulls and Down and Dirty Pictures, cultural critic Peter Biskind turns his eye toward the new golden age of television, sparked by the fall of play-it-safe net...

A dazzling, no-holds-barred chronicle of the wild 1970s that transformed Hollywood, capturing the sex, drugs, genius, and chaos that ignited a cinematic revolution and changed movies forever.In 1969, a low-budget biker movie, Easy Rider, shocked Hollywood with its stunning success. An unabashed celebration of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, Easy Rider heralded a decade in which a rebellious wave of talented young filmmakers invigorated the movie in...

A Sunday Times (London), Best Book of 2018"A thoughtful, entertaining, and occasionally profound critical study of the texts that entertain, move and, sometimes, shape us."— The Spectator (London)"A bold, witty, and brilliantly argued analysis of the role pop culture has played in the rise of American extremism."— Ruth Reichl"You'll never look at your favorite movies and TV shows the same way again. And you shouldn't."— St...

Based on long-lost recordings between Orson Welles and Henry Jaglom, My Lunches with Orson presents a set of riveting and revealing conversations with America's great cultural provocateur.There have long been rumors of a lost cache of tapes containing private conversations between Orson Welles and his friend the director Henry Jaglom, recorded over regular lunches in the years before Welles died. The tapes, gathering dust in a garage, did indeed exist, and ...

In this compulsively readable and constantly surprising book, Peter Biskind, the author of the film classics Easy Riders, Raging Bulls and Down and Dirty Pictures, writes the most intimate, revealing, and balanced biography ever of Hollywood legend Warren Beatty.Famously a playboy—he has been linked to costars Natalie Wood, Julie Christie, Diane Keaton, and Madonna, among others—Beatty has also been one of the most ambitious and successful stars in Hollywood. Seve...

"A brilliant and imaginative analysis of the political and sexual crosscurrents of the fifties in the movies" from the New York Times–bestselling author (Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed).Seeing is Believing is a provocative, shrewd, witty look at the Hollywood fifties movies we all love—or love to hate—and the thousand subtle ways they reflect the political tensions of the decade. Peter Biskind, former executive editor of

Bestselling author of Easy Riders, Raging Bulls and Down and Dirty Pictures, cultural critic Peter Biskind turns his eye toward the new golden age of television, sparked by the fall of play-it-safe network TV and the rise of boundary-busting cable, followed by streaming, which overturned both—based on exclusive, candid, and colorful interviews with executives, writers, showrunners, directors, and actorsWe are now lucky enough to be living ...

In 1969, a low-budget biker movie, Easy Rider, shocked Hollywood with its stunning success. An unabashed celebration of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll (onscreen and off), Easy Rider heralded a heady decade in which a rebellious wave of talented young filmmakers invigorated the movie industry. In Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, Peter Biskind takes us on the wild ride that was Hollywood in the '70s, an era that produced such modern classics as The Godfather, Chinatow...

Down and Dirty Pictures chronicles the rise of independent filmmakers and of the twin engines—the Sundance Film Festival and Miramax Films—that have powered them. Peter Biskind profiles the people who took the independent movement from obscurity to the Oscars, most notably Sundance founder Robert Redford and Harvey Weinstein, who with his brother, Bob, made Miramax an indie powerhouse. Candid, penetrating and controversial, Down and Dirty Pictures is a must–read for anyon...

Almost everything has been invoked to account for Trump’s victory and the rise of alt-right, from job loss to racism to demography—everything, that is, except popular culture. In The Sky Is Falling bestselling cultural critic Peter Biskind dives headlong into two decades of popular culture—from superhero franchises such as the Dark Knight, X-Men, and the Avengers and series like The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones to thrillers like Homeland and 24