It's our responsibility as journalists to let the public know who is paid by what corporation, or if they're representing the government. Otherwise, it's unforgivable. The media is our lens on the world. And it is absolutely critical we trust the media. Because, ultimately, when people are terrorized, when people are targeted, when people are marginalized, that does not make any of us safer.

- Amy Goodman, interview in "Programming the Nation?" documentary

Amy Goodman, Noam Chomsky, and Congressman Dennis Kucinich are among a diverse group interviewed in Jeff Warrick's new documentary, "Programming the Nation [3]." The film is being released by the International Film Circuit [4] and opens Friday, August 19th, at Quad Cinema in New York City. Warrick both directed and produced the film.

The film discusses the history of subliminal messaging and advertising in America -- in music, in movies, in advertising, in the stores where we shop, by the military, by the media, by corporations, and by public figures. It presents a visual history of well-established practices of subliminal advertising, such as the 2007 quick flash of a McDonald's ad during the show "Iron Chef," reported at the time by CBS' "Inside Edition," to corporate and government use of "video news releases [5]" (VNRs), a story that PRWatch broke [6] in 2006. It also explores, with a less critical eye, contentious theories that the government is trying to influence human behavior and weather patterns with electromagnetic waves.

Judge for yourself. Have advertisers, pop culture, and the government succeeded in "Programming the Nation?" To find out more, watch the trailer below or find a screening near you [7].