Network of Lies

The Epic Saga of Fox News, Donald Trump, and the Battle for American Democracy

By: Brian Stelter

Narrated by: Brian Stelter

Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

Fox News paid almost a billion dollars in legal settlements to bury the contents of this explosive account of the network’s blatant attempts to manipulate the truth, mislead the public, and influence our elections—from the New York Times bestselling author of Hoax.

The ongoing criminal trials of Donald Trump are also a trial for the nation he once led. We are undergoing a stress test of American democracy, the rule of law, and the very notion of a shared political reality. Can we achieve accountability for premeditated assaults on democracy and what forms should accountability take?

In Network of Lies, New York Times bestselling author Brian Stelter answers these questions by weaving together private texts, unpublished emails, depositions, and other primary sources to tell the chilling story of Trump’s alleged conspiracy to steal the 2020 election, and the right-wing media’s mission to put him back in office in 2024.

Trump couldn’t have convinced millions of Americans of the Big Lie without Fox News. From the moment Joe Biden became president-elect in 2020, Fox hosts fueled a fire of misinformation and violence by spreading Trump’s tales of election fraud and suppressing the truth. Come January, Sean Hannity insisted Trump needed to stop listening to “crazy people” who swore he could stay in power, but it was too late—thousands of Trump’s deluded followers had stormed the Capitol and Trump operatives had breached Dominion Voting Systems’ voting machines in Georgia.

Now the 2020 lies are at the center of numerous indictments and his reelection campaign, but Trump is not the only one under fire. The once-untouchable Rupert Murdoch has been held accountable. Dominion’s legal war, chronicled in-depth for the first time here, revealed that the ninety-two-year-old Fox chairman knew Trump’s lies were dangerous but he allowed the lies to fill Fox’s airwaves because, as his “pain sponge” Suzanne Scott admitted, telling the truth was “bad for business.”

Network of Lies goes inside the chat rooms, board rooms, and court rooms where the pro-Trump media’s greed and selfishness were exposed. Featuring Stelter’s “thorough and damning” (The New York Times) investigative prowess and direct quotations so shocking they read like fiction, Network of Lies is the definitive origin story of Trump’s attempt to tear down the guardrails of American democracy, and an urgent plea to learn from past mistakes as we head into 2024’s pivotal presidential election.

©2023 Brian Stelter (P)2023 Simon & Schuster Audio

Insiders view of the propaganda machine.

As usual Stelter pulls no punches and lays out the facts. Excellent analysis, and informed opinion.

Stelter investigates the upside-down world that is Fox News

Brian Stelter worked on national television for more than a decade, and knows exactly how all of it fits together. Although he spent most of his broadcast career at CNN, he seems to know everyone at Fox News as well. That gives him the ability to really give the reader a high-resolution view of the corruption, brazen distortion of facts, and downright buffoonery that is Fox News. 

I’d read it instead of listening

I don’t generally review and I’m a big audible listener. I’d read this one, not listen. I think the quality of the information is lost in Stetler’s delivery. Very interesting reporting, good reporting. But tone detracts.

One of the best books I’ve read that explains what happened to the republican party after Ronald Reagan.

Brian’s story-telling talent comes through from the forward and doesn’t stop till the end. This is an incredibly complete read and I found myself listening to it through airports and keeping it playing while trying to go to sleep. I had no idea about Murdoch’s son’s commitment to Trumpism and MAGA. CNN lost an incredible talent when they canceled his show.

Fantastic book, nothing left out.

This was an amazing book. Loved the police intrigue about what happens inside of FNC.

The truth of what he was saying

I like this book because there’s a lot of times where the lies start to blend in and it’s hard to tell where the truth is and I used to watch Brian seltzer, so I know that he tells the truth

Well written

The Fox News that existed 20 years ago is NOT the same today. Sad that they traded in actual reporting and balanced commentary for propaganda and lies.

Comprehensive information re Fox

Delivered by author who sounds angry, sort of shouting, throughout. Consequently, hard to listen to.

Sad but true tale

Well researched…now Americans have to come out and vote. Trump and the GOP are existential threats to democracy.

Its about time.

Liked it all. Wish we'd have gone after FOX News once we had realized what Murdock and the far-right was really up to. Infiltrating Americans minds with authoritarian propaganda.