Radio writing "makes more sense in bubbles"

In her forthcoming book from W.W. Norton, On the Media's Brooke Gladstone will appear as a cartoon version of herself to tell the story of the press's role in American history, the New York Observer reports. Gladstone first tried writing the book as a graphic science fiction novel set in the year 2032, but dropped that approach for a comic book collaboration with Brooklyn artist Josh Neufeld. "[A]s counterintuitive as it sounds, this is the closest I can get to radio," Gladstone said. "I feel that it’ll be a simulacrum of a radio presence, and that’s how I communicate best....Radio writing looks different from regular text—it makes more sense in bubbles.” The book's working title The Influencing Machine is a reference to the psychological syndrome in which patients believe their emotions and thoughts are controlled by some external device.“I think part of the case I’m making is that people are not the passive consumers of media that they often present themselves to be--they are the shapers of the media,” Gladstone said. During a recent interview with WNYC's Brian Lehrer, Gladstone reveals her bent for science fiction, describing herself as a "huge Trekkie" in a discussion of the new movie and the inspiration of the original TV series.