This anthology of hard-to-find primary documents provides a solid overview of the foundations of American media studies. Focusing on mass communication and society and how this research fits into larger patterns of social thought, this valuable collection features key texts covering the media studies traditions of the Chicago school, the effects tradition, the critical theory of the Frankfurt school, and mass society theory. Where possible, articles are reproduced in their entirety to pres...

Kris Marshall and Katherine Jakeways star as Mr & Mrs Pepys in this BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of the world famous diaries.Samuel Pepys was 26 when he decided to start keeping a diary, in January 1660. For the next ten years he faithfully recorded the day's events and confessed his innermost thoughts. That diary has since become one of our most important, and fascinating, historical documents.Pepys gave us eyewitness accounts of some of the great events of the 17th century, ...

Kris Marshall stars as a broke forty-something, watching his newly retired parents spend their hard-earned cash…What are cash-strapped 40-somethings like Harry (played by Kris Marshall) supposed to do when they see their cash-rich, equity-released parents spending all their inheritance? It doesn’t help that Harry’s rich brother seems to upstage him at every turn as he tries to make ends meet and support his family. As their father's 65th birthday a...

Sunday 1st JulyNO SMOKING DAY. A momentous day! Smoking in a public place or place of work is forbidden in England. Though if you are a prisoner, an MP or a member of the Royal Family you are exempt.Adrian Mole is thirty-nine and a quarter. He lives in the country in a semi-detached converted pigsty with his wife Daisy and their daughter. His parents George and Pauline live in the adjoining pigsty. But all is not well.The secondhand bookshop in which Adrian works is...

Dramatisations of six of Conrad's finest novels, plus bonus materialPolish-born author and mariner Joseph Conrad is widely regarded as one of the greatest English novelists. His 16 years in the merchant navy profoundly shaped his fiction, giving him transformative experiences of adventure and exotic places, and a unique insight into the human psyche. Included here are adaptations of six of his best works, brought together for the first time and collected in chronol...

A dazzling collection of comedies from the later Restoration periodEngland's 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688 and the reign of new monarchs William and Mary signified a turning point for Restoration comedy with laws being passed to restrict playwrights' freedoms. The latter years are marked by a shift towards more moral storylines, mixing humour with social and political issues, alongside the lighthearted 'comedy of manners'.The works in this collection bring ...

The complete Series 1-5 of the BBC Radio 4 comedy about parenting in modern timesTom and Rosie are solo parents living 250 miles apart. Both recently divorced, bruised and lonely, they're looking for a cyber pal who understands what they're going through. So when they log on to a parenting advice website, they make an instant, sparky connection. Gradually, their online friendship becomes something more, and a 'will they/won't they' relationship develops via emails,...

The biography of George Clinton, one of music’s most fascinating, colourful and innovative characters, featuring a new cover and foreword by critic Miles Marshall Lewis.The most comprehensive history of the life, music and cultural significance of a great Black music pioneer and the era which spawned him.Clinton stands alongside James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone as one of the most influential Black artists of all time who, along with his vast P-Funk a...

Monona Quinn and her husband Doug are taking a relaxing vacation in the northwoods of Wisconsin. Mo’s enrolled in a writing workshop, and Doug’s resolved to learn to fish. Naturally, it’s the perfect time to solve another murder. Pompous, self-important writer Fletcher Downs was supposed to be the writer-in-residence; he was supposed to teach a classroom full of hopefuls how to write a great mystery—but he hadn’t intended to teach by example. Now Fletcher’s dead, and Mo (and the other stud...

Kris Marshall (My Family) stars in this BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of the famous diarist's account of the aftermath of the Great Fire of London.Following on from the acclaimed radio dramatisation of Pepys' complete diaries, this further instalment of his chronicles focuses on events following the cataclysmic inferno that destroyed much of the capital four hundred years ago.When the Great Fire of 1666 was finally extinguished, little remained of London but smoulderin...