“We welcome into our homes the machines that vacuum the thoughts out of our heads and pump in someone else's. John Berger in Ways of Seeing said that television advertisers succeeded by persuading viewers to envy themselves as they would be if they bought the product. These programmes do something similar, by persuading the viewer to envy himself as he would be if his life were that little bit more exciting and melodramatic than it actually is. They can make things seem normal that are not.”

English author, broadcaster, journalist, and commentator

Peter Jonathan Hitchens is an English author, broadcaster, journalist, and commentator. He writes for The Mail on Sunday and has 105 quotes on this site. He worked as a foreign correspondent in both Moscow and Washington, D.C., and has also contributed to The Spectator, The American Conservative, The Guardian, First Things, Prospect, The Critic, and the New Statesman. His writing and commentary appear across politics and public affairs.