Janice Peck, author of The Age of Oprah: The Making of a Cultural Icon for the Neoliberal Era

This week our guest is Janice Peck. An Associate Professor at the University of Colorado, her research interests include critical theory, the relationship of media and society, the social meanings and political implications of mediated popular culture, communication history and theories of media and culture.

She is author of a book on the history and politics of religious television in the U.S., The Gods of Televangelism: The Crisis of Meaning and the Appeal of Religious Television (1993) and a forthcoming book The Age of Oprah: The Making of a Cultural Icon for the Neoliberal Era, an examination of examination of the place of Oprah Winfrey's media enterprise in the last quarter century of U.S. culture and politics (in press).

She has published articles and book chapters on the theoretical and intellectual history of cultural studies, issues in media theory, the family and television, TV talk shows, Oprah's Book Club and issues of literacy, religion and advertising, and representations of race in media.