With the holidays approaching, what better time to step back and take a look at modern consumer culture? Truthdig columnist Chris Hedges interviews an expert on the topic, Stuart Ewen, a professor and chair of the department of film and media at Hunter College. Ewen's latest book, "Captains of Consciousness: Advertising and the Social Roots of the Consumer Culture," explores how propaganda subtly infiltrates our everyday lives.

"The minute you start defining human identity away from the idea of engagement and citizenship, and more in terms of consumption, then everything becomes a product to be sold," Ewen tells Hedges. "In many ways, what Trump represents is a product that speaks to what is missing from people's lives. And although I'm not sure he has a clear, theoretical understanding of the role he is playing, he's somebody who is evoking the pictures that people carry around in their head."

Watch the full video, which also includes a segment by correspondent Anya Parampil, in the player above.

--Posted by Emma Niles.