Unspeak

Unspeak
An interactive documentary investigating the manipulative power of language

http://unspeak.submarinechannel.com/

Based on British journalist Steven Poole's intriguing book of the same name, Submarine Channel presents Unspeak, an interactive documentary investigating the manipulative power of language. Blending filmmaking, data, technology, and design, the story of Unspeak unfolds across a series of short films, data visualizations, and a participatory dictionary in an interface designed for the web and tablet.

Unspeak is a form of coded language that can be learned, and the documentary aims to kickstart the conversation, educate and empower audiences, and make the prevalence of Unspeak framing visible to the public. People will not be taken in for a moment by the power of deceptive language if we actually stop to think about it. Once you tune in to the wealth of daily Unspeak talk, you'll start seeing and hearing it everywhere. And then, perhaps, we can fight back.

Episodes:

1: Words are Weapons - An introduction to Unspeak

Unspeak is a name for something, but it's not a neutral name. It's language trying to smuggle in a particular point of view, and silence any possible dissent.

2: Money Talks - Spinning the global financial crisis

From "Too Big to Fail" to the "Fiscal Cliff", Unspeak is rampant in economic crisis rhetoric.

3: Natural Disasters - How to Unspeak violence against a nature that can't talk back

Public debates about science and the environment are won or lost as soon as the language to describe things is chosen.

4: Anti-Social Media - How hackers and vast media conglomerates disguise their true intentions to create a brave new world

On Facebook, on Twitter, and in the Cloud, content is king but Unspeak is the emperor.

5: Obamarama - Juvenile name-calling and rhetorical repetition during the 2012 presidential campaigns

Would citizens vote for a safe, trickle-down network of ladders for middle-class families, or a strong, top-down plan to build more peaceful battleships loaded with binders full of women?

6: Brave New Minds - How big pharma is using unspeak to "discover" more and more medical problems in everyday western life

Is the expanding lexicon of mental disorders a cynical medicalization of normality?