University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Theses from the College of Journalism and Mass Journalism and Mass Communications, College of Communications 5-2016 This Machine Kills Fascists: Music, Speech and War Robert J. Crisler University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/journalismdiss Part of the Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Journalism Studies Commons, Mass Communication Commons, Musicology Commons, and the Social Influence and Political Communication Commons Crisler, Robert J., "This Machine Kills Fascists: Music, Speech and War" (2016). Theses from the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. 47. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/journalismdiss/47 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journalism and Mass Communications, College of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses from the College of Journalism and Mass Communications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS: MUSIC, SPEECH AND WAR by Robert J. Crisler A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts Major: Journalism and Mass Communications Under the Supervision of Professor John R. Bender Lincoln, Nebraska May, 2016 THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS: MUSIC, SPEECH AND WAR Robert J. Crisler, M.A. University of Nebraska, 2016 Adviser: John Bender This thesis examines the history and persuasive power of rhetoric through the mass medium of popular music from Woody Guthrie to the modern era. It focuses on the Vietnam War era as a particularly significant and prolific era of topical (“protest”) music.