Cross Word Books
Cross Word Books
Michele McAloon
What Happens When Information Outruns A King
58 minutes Posted Feb 6, 2026 at 8:00 am.
Welcome And Guest Introduction
Paris As An Information Society
Publication As Parade And Fireworks Disaster
Literacy, Semiliteracy, And Idea Flow
Despotism From Streets To Salons
Kidnapped Children, Rumors, And Riot
Secrets Of Versailles And Necker’s Budget
Church Conflicts And Lost Credibility
Royal Mistresses, Satire, And Scandal
Songs As Oral Newspapers
Police Spies And The Affair Of The Fourteen
Street Theater And Public Opinion
Toward 1789: What The People Wanted
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Send us Fan Mail Contact michele at https://www.bookclues.com What if a city without modern newspapers learned to think like a public anyway? We sit down with historian Robert Darnton to chart how Paris, from 1748 to 1789, became an information society powered by parades, fireworks, songs, rumor, and street theater. Instead of headlines, “publication” meant a royal herald reading peace aloud while bands played—and a celebration that ended in a deadly crush. Those moments didn’t just info...