Everything Bad is Good for You. How Popular Culture is Making Us Smarter, Paperback/Steven Johnson

The author puts forward a radical alternative to the endless complaints about reality TV, throwaway movies and violent video games. In this title, he shows that mass culture - "The Simpsons", "Desperate Housewives", "The Apprentice", "The Sopranos", "Grand Theft Auto" - is actually more sophisticated and challenging than ever before.