Barry Glassner

The author of seven books on contemporary social issues, Barry Glassner is Professor of Sociology at the University of Southern California. His book, The Culture of Fear, is a national bestseller and was named a Best Book of the Year by Knight-Ridder newspapers and by the Los Angeles Times Book Review.

In his new bestseller, The Gospel of Food, Glassner argues that by abandoning food fads and mythical beliefs about diet, Americans will eat better and lead happier lives. The book reveals the true reason we're so captivated and confused by food. Marketers of everything from organic pizzas to three-star restaurants to diet plans have a pecuniary interest in complicating our relationship to food. "Glassner exposes the strained interpretations, 'prejudices dressed up as science,' and pure fabrications behind much received wisdom," The New York Times wrote of The Gospel of Food, a book that The Los Angeles Time described as "pure fun to read."

Described by The New York Times as "a master at the art of dissecting research," Glassner has published research studies in The American Sociological Review, American Journal of Psychiatry, and other leading journals in the social sciences. His articles and commentaries have appeared in newspapers including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and The Chronicle of Higher Education, and he is the recipient of several honors, including an "outstanding book of the year" award from Choice magazine and a visiting fellowship at Oxford University.

Featured prominently in Michael Moore's Academy Award-winning documentary, Bowling for Columbine, Glassner has appeared on numerous television programs, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Hardball, The O'Reilly Factor, The Dennis Miller Show, and Nightline, and various news programs on CNN, CNBC, and MSNBC, and on radio shows including NPR's "Morning Edition," "All Things Considered", "Fresh Air", "Talk of the Nation," and "Marketplace," and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's "Ideas" program.